Why do womens clothes designers do this?

I like 12-14 rather than 14-16 as that is exactly my size on the top half. I am also ok with S,M,L etc. I find M&S medium is a perfect fit as it is in many shops but I ordered Woolovers and found their idea of medium in most of their cardigans and jumpers was enormous and small fits perfectly. In Zara I would probably need XXXL! Fat Face is very generously sized too.

Years ago M&S did 11/13/15 and they fitted perfectly. I am not short 5ft 5 but their regular trousers are too long. Some of the short are just right sole are too short.

When I buy in Boden sale ( too expensive full price) their 14 or Medium is perfect. I agree Iwoah other shops would do 12-14 instead of 14-16 .

I once did my own 'size survey' in our local supermarket. I'm 5' 0", and buying clothes is a nightmare. Waistlines around my hips, sleeves and legs far too long, and that's without the actual sizing problems you all mention.
I stood for 10 minutes, and counted how many women of around my height walked past me, and was amazed at just how many there were.
I wrote to some of the popular outfitters, pointing out my research, and that they were missing out on a huge market by not catering more for short women. Most didn't reply, and those that did said that they would 'bring the matter up with our buyers'. Needless to say, nothing has changed. The cost of dealing with so many returned items must make quite a dent in their profits, but they don't seem to realise this, and sort out their sizing.

The Roman Originals on-line catalogue has a 'Curve' range that goes up to size 26, with some lines up to 32

LovelyLady

Antonia
I’m a large lady needing outsize clothes.
M&S did fit me when their sizing was generous. Sadly now their sizing is inconsistent. I bought 2 multi packs of pants same size yet 2” difference.
I tried to buy a petticoat and told they didn’t have my size and was directed to their on line provision. I do try to support the local store and don’t feel, on line shopping does give them support.
Where are the shops for bigger sizes?

If you're looking for fun or funky tops, Tee Public shop.teepublic.com/ sizing go up to 5XL.

Redbubble www.redbubble.com do an A line dress that goes up to 4XL and they have thousands of prints to choose from. These choices are probably best for youngish at heart people wanting something a bit different, though.

For more traditional clothing , Landsend www.landsend.co.uk/ is brilliant as they go up to size 28-30 and Yours Clothing yoursclothing.co.uk is pretty large sizes too- they cater for sizes 14-40!
Simply Be is sizes up to 32 as well! www.simplybe.co.uk/

Lots of choices out there, but all online as there doesn't seem to be anything worth buying on the high street, sadly.

I used to fit size 11 jeans from M&S in the days they did all sizes.
Agree that sizing is rubbish these days.
Another huge bugbear of mine is dress lengths. Spent 2 hours online looking at dresses.
“Knee length” - whose knees? My 5’4” friend or my 5’ 8” friend. No measurements given.
“Model is 5’ 11” and wears a size 8” the dress is “knee length” - Great! If the dress is just below her knees, will it trip me up?
On one site, Some of the dresses had Approx lengths - so why were some of the “Midi” dresses longer than the “maxi” dresses? Why were the “mini” dresses barely long enough to reach my hips?
I gave up - irritated, annoyed, angry!!
What a fiasco. Do people just order, unpack and realise it would swamp a giant, repack and return? Try again and find it reaches to their mid thigh when they wanted a below the knee dress.
What a waste of time, energy, transport, costs .

The absolute worst I have seen is Goose Island where I saw a top sized as 8-16! Being an actual size 16, I would never shop there.

It allows for shoddy workmanship, too, no doubt because usually clothes are made to a pattern thats dictated by it's size. It just means it will look loose and cool on the size 8 and the size 16 will look squashed and stressed out.

I buy quite a few M&S high waist jeggings. It was quite interesting (to me, anyway!) that on occasions where I have bought two pairs at a time they often fit differently, and can be different lengths. I have noticed that often one pair will be made in China and one in Pakistan or Bangladesh. It would be logical that all suppliers would use the same measurements for each size, but I don't think the quality control aspects are there to actually check that the sizes are correct. Despite being labelled as a 16 on one occasion the jeggings were at least a size smaller and had to be returned. I don't take any notice of what size I buy any more - I start trying on the size I expect to fit then just work up or down until I find one that does.

According to clothes manufacturers I'm a 13 year old girl - that's if I don't want sleeves down by my knees and jeans/trousers that have to be turned up several times!

I'm 5'2", a size 12 and take a wide size 3 shoe. Weirdly for wellies I have to take a size 5... And people wonder why I hate clothes shopping!!

M&S has usually been one of the best shops for clothes that fit me. H&M (where I shop only occasionally) I have to often go up 2 'dress' sizes and Primark short jeans/trousers would be regular length in other shops. These days I'm more likely to shop for clothes in the charity shops because I don't mind losing £3-5 on clothes that don't fit. I just donate them back to the charity.

As for shoes, well, unless I want something like pretty little butterflies on them (needless to say I don't) I'm very limited.

Having said all that, a nice thick 'standard' size winter jacket does have it's uses when it is cold - the sleeves are so long they more than cover my hands (so gloves not always necessary ) and my backside is kept nice and warm by the extra length...

One of my favourite brands does jumpers in 10/12 or 14/16. I am more a 12/14 so feel reluctant to buy online as I cant be sure 10/12 will fit ok. Why cant they stick to being able to buy 10,12,14 etc

Here it is difficult to get women's clothing in the smaller sizes, whether they are simply marked XS, S. M, L and XL or numbered.

The explanation given is that adult women are generally too large to fit into a size 36 or 38 any longer and even size 40 is in little demand, so these sizes are mainly used now for clothes intended for 15-16 year old girls.

Looking at the general population, I feel that the makers have a point. Where I live, few women over the age of 18 would have any hope of fitting their backsides into a pair of size 36 jeans!

Few women below the age of 70 need the smaller sizes, and of course no designer or maker of clothes takes into consideration that the 70-80 age group might not want to go around in teenage schoolgirls' hand-me-downs.

And bra sizes are a nightmare too! Tried on 5 recently, all marked the same size. Not one of them fitted but all for different reasons!

I don't think anyone from our clothing stores bothers to read Gransnet, how stupid when they would have all this free market research!

Have been buying size 14 for last few yrs but in the last couple of months size 14 's have proved too big in both M&S and Hobbs - I haven't changed size or shape at all in fact 2 lbs heavier! If men's sizes are accurate and constant why on earth can't women's sizes also be the same?!

I keep getting ads that look interesting only to find the only size available is an 8! Ancient history for me!

I'm a size 16-18 depending on the brand and style. I often see clothes in the M&S Per Una collection that I like but I have to buy size 22 or 24 for them to fit! I bought a few things last year from Roman which were a good fit and true to size.

Quite agree! I am a size 8/10 but so many brands lump together 6/8 and 10/12. The former is too small, the latter too large especially round the hips. I often end up buying a size 10 dress for the bust and taking it in round the hips as dresses, however they size them, are my particular nightmare. All except ‘Next’ whose size 8 dresses do actually fit!

Sizes are totally inconsistent these days. The only way is to try everything on before you buy.

Agree about the 10-12 etc sizing and small,med,large that's crept in. Also is trouser length. I am 5'6 and for as long as I can remember wore med length from M&S. Now it has to be petite/short and even those can be a bit long. Is M & S the go to store for giants nowadays?

paddyann54

I'm sure I used to buy jeans in a size 9 or 11 when I was in my twenties .My daughter tells me I'm havering but I'm quite sure .It was a specialist jeans shop in Glasgow

You are right, I remember odd number sizes too.

Er...I have noticed that in several shops I have been in recently that the labels on men's clothing now indicate sizes in inches, which makes it easier for me to pick items that will fit, even IF the item also states L/XL/XXL with different inch sizes. Could this not also be used for women's clothing or has 20/22 been around so long it is difficult to change?

Completely agree

It’s so unfair that men can buy jackets and trousers in an almost infinite number of sizes yet women are supposed to fit arbitrarily into pre decided 10, 12, 14 etc. I call it sexist!

cc

Shoes are what irritate me, I used to get a 5 1/2, 6 or 39 1/2 - a silly size really, maybe 39.5? But now sizes don't mean much, I always have to try them on. And wide fitting can mean like a boat or more or less a normal width.

I daren’t buy any shoes without trying them on either. So much time can be spent just looking for comfy fitting shoes.

For years I have bought M and S Per Una jeans size 14. I ordered a new pair on line this week and I can’t do them up. The waist is 4 ins smaller than mine. So frustrating and time consuming having to return them! Surely it would make sense if manufacturers measured in ins or cms instead of using meaningless 10, 12, 14 etc