Inflationary Woes
Every time I wander into a clothing store, I have to chuckle. Not because of the styles or the shoppers or even the prices (I shop at Marshall’s – no sticker shock). I marvel because no one is talking about inflation. And by inflation, I mean in the size of clothes. Or, maybe it makes more sense to call it “size deflation” because the older I get, the smaller my dress size becomes.
When I can walk out of a store with a size 6 skirt – that fits – I know for sure they’re making clothes bigger and bigger. Size 6? Are they kidding? In high school – when I weighed about 95 pounds – I could occasionally squeeze into a 6. But I was really a solid 8. Now, depending on the label, I might even wear a 4. So, yeah, some girls now may be slender, but when you hear about someone’s daughter being a Double 0, do the translation in your head: 00 = 2 or maybe even 4.
But I know why clothing manufacturers are deflating the sizes of women’s clothing: there are more of us old broads and we have more money to spend. And we’re growing, to put it delicately. They think by letting us fit into a 6, we’ll actually think that we are a 6. Or an 8. Or even a 10.
And they’re right!
Admit it: you love thinking you still wear the same size you did about 30 years ago, right? But, ladies, let’s be honest. Most of us just don’t. Yeah, I can squeeze into my high school-hip hugger-flower embroidered jeans. But that’s only because they’re hip huggers. If I had to deal with my waistline. . . but I don’t want to think about that. I’ll just go on pretending.
But there is some inflation going on, and it affects those double 0’s. But that’s my next blog post, so stay tuned.
Tags: Ageing, dress sizes, fashion for baby boomers, getting old, getting older, women over 40, women over 50, women's dress sizes
Honestly, it pisses me off – I’d rather know that an 8 is an 8 is an 8, or whatever…
I agree! And if you want real sticker shock, shop in Old Navy where their size versus your size is off by a factor of 3 or more.
Maybe it’s good if a preteen or teenage girl thinks she is a size 6 instead of a size 8 since so many think they are “fat” and become anorexic and bulimic. Although now that I think of it, it probably doesn’t matter. They look in the mirror and want to be skinnier no matter what because their perception is so skewed. And Old Navy?? None of those jeans fit me right. I hate shopping for jeans now. LOL Still love my Levis though!
Recently there was an article in our newspaper about the difference in sizes at various stores. One women could wear five different sizes depending on which store she was in. She went from a 6 to a 14! There doesn’t seem to be a uniform code when it comes to sizing. I wonder if having so much of the clothing made in Asia has anything to do with it? Lucille, I give you credit for being able to fit into your hip hugger jeans! Frankly…I do not understand about clothing sizes anymore because of the variations…I stopped looking at the numbers a long time ago and just go with what is comfortable!!