Women's clothing and measurements

CD asked me yesterday how women's clothing were sized. What were the standards? Like most men he does not understand that most of our clothing cannot be purchased by waist and length. For instance, 36" waist x 31" instep. Don't we wish? Of course that would mean that we would have to know our waist measurement and I'm not sure I want to. I cannot remember the last time I took a tape measurer to my waist, or thighs, let alone the breast area. How do you measure breasts that are sagging, by the way??

He said: "How do you know what size to buy" Good question. Harder still to answer. "Well," I said, "you know approximately what size you are - 10, 12, 14 so when you go into the fitting room you take all 3 sizes with you and try them on. The one that fits the best is the size you are".

He then asked what about the instep? Again, a good question. The answer is is that it doesn't matter. If you are short or do not wear 4" heels then they will need to be hemmed. In amazement, he said: "so you buy pants that are too long for you every time"? "No", I replied: "sometimes they are labeled short, medium, and long". "So what you are telling me, he says, is that you cannot buy off the rack and expect the item of clothing to fit correctly". "You got it!", I said.

In further explanation to his consternation, I said: "if you are lucky you can find a good designer and her/his clothing will always fit you. There are no standards for women's clothing. Every designer, clothing manufacturer makes up their own standard." "Why?", he queried. "The designer has one model that he determines is the perfect size 8. All their clothing sizes are either increased or decreased from this size 8 to make the other sizes."

Now a size 8 is in the Missy category: The perfect woman according to Designer A is 5.4, her bust is 35-1/2, her waist is 27-1/2, and her hips are 38. Designer B disagrees: The model woman is 5.7, 36, 26, 36 - his customers are a bit taller. (both heights are within size 8 standard) and it goes on from there. Now, CD is totally lost at sea.

And I make it worse by adding that since the American woman is heavier than she used to be the designers do not want to make her feel bad and reject his clothing by putting the correct size on them. As an example, Designer A's perfect woman put on 10 pounds and she should be wearing a size 10. But he wants her money so he just relabels all his clothing. Her perfect size 8 is actually a 10 but only the designer knows for sure. And the label that one size fits all is actually a joke.

There has been attempts to bring women's clothing sizes to one standard but don't look for it any time in the near future. There is an interesting website available that allows you to post your measurements, your favorite brand names/stores, and it will give you what size you should shop for. You can find it at FitMe. I threw in my measurements as best I know without touching that tape measurer and got back sizes I really didn't what to know about. So in conclusion just let me say: "CD, forget about it!".