The Great Size Debate

Having finished having a delicious lunch with my delightful friends today, I decided to do a little shopping.  Yes I know I should be saving money for a deposit for a house but to be honest, I was in the mood for a little retail therapy and every shop had a mid-season sale.  So off I went on an adventure and ended up in H & M (or Hennes, if you please).  Now I am a Dorothy Perkins obsessive.  I am a big fan of their clothes and their prices (I don’t think they have them in America you have Forever 21 – a fantastic alternative) but I also like H & M because their clothes are not only beautiful but again their prices rock.  You will notice a theme here i.e. that I like a bargain.  However I also like quality...and I like clothes that fit me.   I am a size 12-14 (US 8-10, I will use UK sizes throughout the article...to get the equivalent UK size just add 4) a normal woman, with normal curves.  I have taken my sweet time to accept the fact that I will never be in single figures, but now that I have embraced it, I am revelling in it! The small fly in my ointment is that I have found that shopping for clothes has turned into something of a trial.  Why?  Because being a shade under 5ft 10 (around 177 cms) with what is described as an athletic build, I have a bit of an odd shape – broad shoulders included which means, I have to go a few sizes up to get a good fit when I buy tops and dresses but not so often  when I buy trousers. So anyway, enticed by the prices and in need of some smart trousers, in I went in search of the inevitable bargain.  After scouring the rails for a few minutes, I found what I was looking for – a smart pair of slim leg trousers AND a pair of smart cropped trousers with black and gold buttons.  What was this going to cost me? The total cost was going to be £20 (about $32) for both.  They were the right size and the right shape – a size 14-16. So off I went to the fitting room ready to revel in my new soon-to-be purchases.  However, I went in confident and came out a few minutes later deflated.  I could get into them, I could even walk in them, but would I be comfortable?  Err no.  And breathing would be a no-no too.  Talk about a confidence drainer.  I did get the slim leg trousers but in a monster size 18.  Size 18! There was a time I could fit easily into a size 14 H&M pair of trousers.  But today was not that day.  I don’t know whether credit crunch means women’s stores are using less material to save money, but I have noticed the worrying trend that sizes are getting smaller (or are women getting bigger?  The debate rages on...)  I mean there is nothing wrong with being a size 8 or size 18 just as long as you are healthy and confident in who you are as a woman...

So get to the point already, I hear you say.  Ok I will (as I stand on my soapbox) what I want is for stores to have a uniform sizing policy and have clothes that fit normal women.  You know, women with hips, boobs, bums and tums. No more size shift as you go from store to store and no more disconsolate women coming out of stores whose fashion tells them that having curves is a problem when it comes to having good well fitting clothes. As the Good Book says, “let your yes be yes and let your no be no.”  So I am laying down a fashion commandment – let your size 12 be your size 12 in every store without exception.

Take care and God bless readers...