Need help with sizing charts

[broadwaymiracle]

Hello everyone,

Well, I'm almost at my wits end when trying to figure out women's apparel sizes. Is there any standard/uniform chart out there on clothing sizes. Sure makes it hard when you're trying to buy something online and it ends up not fitting! If anyone knows of a good site to check this, it would be very much appreciated! Also, with sizes , how much room is there supposed to be between the garment and the body?

Thanks and hope to hear from someone soon!

 

[Curious]

No such luck...

Sizes vary by designer so there is no 'standard'. Best to use the sizing chart provided by the online site. If they don't provide a chart, I'd recommend going elsewhere, otherwise, you'll just have to try your luck

PS - if there's no chart, but it's a designer/brand sold elsewhere, you can try their sizing charts if you're really stuck on the first online seller.

 

[SamanthaBNYC]

I'm a technical designer (which means that I determine the fit of garments, I specialize in sweaters) in the NYC apparel industry, so I hope I can provide some insight as to why sizing is not standardized for the entire industry. When I fit a garment, I use that companies "fit model" (that's a model who does fittings primarily), and since no two people are exactly alike, the fit models measurements vary amongst each other. For the mass-market Missy category, the standard fit model (in the U.S.) is a size "8". And sometimes one size "8" fit model can have a completely different body build than another size "8" fit model. I've seen variances as much as 4" in the waist of size "8" fit models.
To further complicate things, a size "8" dress form will change every year to have different measurements. If you saw a size "8" dress form from this year, versus a size "8" dress form from 20 years ago, you'd be amazed by how much bigger this year's dress form is. Dress forms are expensive, so companies don't get new ones every year and throw out the old ones. At the company I'm at now, we have dress forms from 1952. Talk about a major shape difference.
There was an interesting story in Shop Etc. magazine last year, in which they had a size "8" fit model go into several different stores and try on pants to see which size fit her best. Depending on the store, she was a different size (at some places she was an "8", but not all of them).

 

[tott]

^ Yep, yep...

The industry as a whole is often trying to standardize on "standard" sizes as well, but they always seem to be out of sync with each other...