Labels that lie...

By Jody Marich 

Vanity sizing, also known as size inflation: 

"clothing is sized smaller, in theory it will please the buyer. Vanity sizing may result in the removal of a garment of smallest measurements, if, for example, all garments were taken down a size, the smallest garment's previous measurements would no longer exist in that line of clothing. So as not to lose customers, companies often add smaller and smaller size labels, the smallest thus far being zero."

 - apparelsearch.com

America is obsessed with size. People are always worrying about being the "right" size in this world of  too thin, too big. I admit, I have fallen victim to it and it has even created eating issues for me in the past. 

Working in retail, I definitely have noticed vanity sizing. When I first started working at my clothing store, four years ago, I was a solid 4.  In the last 2 years, moving away to college and being on my own, I have lost weight, not too much but between 7-10 lbs. I was shocked when, last year, I could fit into a size 0 at my store. I thought there was no possible way. In the last year and half- ish, I have fit into anything from a 0 - 4. Now I comfortably fit into a 2, but sometimes I still have the trouble of going up or down a size, depending on the piece. That's why, at work, I always suggest my customers to try on our clothes. It doesn't matter if you know your size, vanity sizing has become an epidemic that mis-lables sizes and creates confusion. 

 It's all about fitting into the smallest size. Here are a few examples of different stores size charts. 

Abercrombie & Fitch

Bebe

American Eagle 

Women's | ELLE™, Simply Vera Vera Wang, Dana Buchman & LC Lauren Conrad

Size	XS	S		M		L		XL
	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18
Waist	24 1/2	25 1/2	26 1/2	27 1/2	28 1/2	30	31 1/2	33	35
Hip	35	36	37	38	39	40 1/2	42	43 1/2	45 1/2

Gap

Long & Lean and Curvy Jean Sizes		Regular			Petite			Tall
				Waist	Hip	Thigh	Waist	Hip	Thigh	Waist	Hip	Thigh
00	24			23"	35¼"	20¾"	22½"	34¾"	20½"	23"	35¼"	20¾"
0	25	24"	36¼"	21¼"	23½"	35¾"	21"	24"	36¼"	21¼"
2	26	25"	37¼"	22"	24½"	36¾"	21¾"	25"	37¼"	22"
4	27	26"	38¼"	22½"	25½"	37¾"	22¼"	26"	38¼"	22½"
6	28	27"	39¼"	23"	26½"	38¾"	22¾"	27"	39¼"	23"
8	29	28"	40¼"	23¾"	27½"	39¾"	23½"	28"	40¼"	23¾"
10	30	29"	41¼"	24½"	28½"	40¾"	24¼"	29"	41¼"	24½"
12	31	30¼"	42½"	25¾"	29¾"	42"	25½"	30¼"	42½"	25¾"
14	32	31½"	43¾"	26¾"	31"	43¼"	26½"	31½"	43¾"	26¾"
16	33	33¼"	45½"	28"	32¾"	45"	27¾"	33¼"	45½"	28"
18	34	35¼"	47½"	29¼"	34¾"	47"	29"	35¼"	47½"	29¼"
20	35	37¼"	49½"	30½"	36¾"	49"	30¼"	37¼"	49½"	30½"

Last but not least is Old Navy, the store who is "borderline dishonest" as Esquire's size chart called it.

** Notice, even though Gap and Old Navy are part of the same corporation, the sizes are different in both waist and hips. The 00 at Gap has the same waist as 0 at Old Navy, and the hips are different.

 This chart is Old Navy's chart:

SIZE	XS 0    1    2			S 4    6		M 8    10		L 12    14		XL 16    18		XXL 20
WAIST	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30½	32½	34½	37	39½
HIPS	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41½	43½	45½	48	50½
INSEAM PETITE	29½
INSEAM SHORT	30
INSEAM REGULAR	32
INSEAM LONG	34
INSEAM TALL	36
PETITE SIZES	XS 0    1    2			S 4    6		M 8    10		L 12    14		XL 16    18		XXL 20
WAIST	22½	23½	24½	25½	26½	27½	28½	30	32	34	36½	39
HIPS	33½	34½	35½	36½	37½	38½	39½	41	43	45	47½	50
INSEAM	29½
TALL SIZES	XS 0    1    2			S 4    6		M 8    10		L 12    14		XL 16    18		XXL 20
WAIST	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30½	32½	34½	37	39½
HIPS	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41½	43½	45½	48	50½
INSEAM	36

Body image is so important to us. With everyone striving to look more like models and actresses, vanity sizing has created a sense of higher self-esteem because you can fit into that "forbidden" size. But is it really fair to fool consumers? 

As sizes "shrink", consumers grow, thinking that they are losing weight. With obesity becoming a bigger problem in America, vanity sizing only increases it -- dimming the lights on a widespread health issue. The idea that you can fit into a smaller size is nice, but when you look at the size in past decades, your self-esteem can take a real blow.  While the sneaky mislabeling was designed to fluff us up and encourage consumers to buy a new sexy, slim wardrobe, vanity sizing has created a lot of controversy with its customers. 

This is a chart from Cosmopolitan.com showing the shrinking sizes over the decades:

Cosmo also did a comparison of Gap khakis, one from 1996 and the other from 2006. 

In an article from the UK's Sunday Times, Marks & Spencer last changed clothing sizes in 2003 after conducting a survey. It examined 2,500 women using 3-D body scanners. But a size 16 at M&S has since increased in its guidelines from 97-80-104 to 101-84-109. The increased sizing is equivalent to an extra dress size.

"Gap, the American manufacturer which still uses inches, has seen some of its clothing measurements grow in the past two years. In 2008 a size 14 garment would be 37in at the bust, 29in at the waist and 39in at the hip. Today the size has grown to 37.5-29.5-40." - The Sunday Times. 

Vanity sizing affects both women and men's clothing. Here is a chart of men's labeled waistline vs. actual waistline from Esquire's Style blog:

From the looks of it, vanity sizing isn't going anywhere. In fact, it is only spreading to more companies. As America strives to be the "perfect" size, vanity sizing helps create a better self image BUT ultimately lies to the consumer. It all comes down to money: smaller sizes = larger profits and more returning customers.