“ THE JOY OF DRESSING IS AN ART ” - GALLIANO

Sizing In The Fashion Industry




Hey guys, I thought i'd write about something that is a bit different to my normal blog posts today and something that i've learnt a bit more about recently - sizing in the fashion industry.

Some of you may know that I am currently on Teen Vogue and The New School Parsons online fashion course and it has been so much fun as I have learnt so much about fashion and business!
In one of my courses recently, I learnt a bit about sizing and how it varies across not only different countries, but also across different fashion houses.



For quite a while I used to think (quite ignorantly) that all sizes were the same across all brands (e.g a size 12 in New Look would be the same as a size 12 in Chanel). As I started growing older however, and I started buying my own clothes and becoming more familiar with sizing I realised that this is not the case. I recently learned that sizing can actually be drastically different across various fashion houses, for example, a size '10' in one fashion house may also be considered a 'large' in another fashion house. A good example of this variation in size can be seen in shops such as Hollister and TopShop. Sizes in Hollister are a lot more smaller made than sizes in TopShop are, and this can be for a variety of reasons such as wanting to appeal to a certain clientele.

I recently actually took to the high street to try this out and found that in shops such as River Island and TopShop I could easily fit into smaller sizes, however when I went to shops such as Forever 21 and French Connection and found that I sometimes had to reach for a bigger size. I fit into a variety of sizes from each of these shops, ranging from a size eight to a size twelve! Going into this trip, I did expect variation among the different shops and clothes so it did not really surprise me hugely when in some shops I reached for a small and in others I reached for a large.

It is clear to see that size variation can be very annoying for consumers but can also be damaging, to both the consumers and the brand. If consumers find that they have to buy a bigger size in a particular brand, it may put them off from buying it as society tells us again and again that 'smaller is better'. This in turn can affect the consumers mental behaviour as they may feel that if they do not fit into a particular size, then they are perhaps overweight and this can prove fatal for some people who take this too far.

Personally, I feel that a little size variation is is good for a brand to be able to distinguish itself from others and this in turn, adds a lot more variety into the fashion world. As with everything in the world,  if everything was the same it would be boring and I feel that if every garment had the exact same measurements, people would not be able to feel unique in their clothes.

Have any of you guys ever thought about size in the fashion industry? I'd love to know your thoughts! xox

















4 comments:

  1. I totally agree with everything you mentioned, like in most shops I'm generally a size UK 6 but in some other shops like Topshop I can sometimes be an 8 instead depending on the cut of the material and the shape of it. It can bother people if they seem bigger or smaller in different shops but as long as you know you're in shape then the sizing won't matter really xx

    http://chantal-elizabeth.blogspot.co.uk/

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  2. I agree with you! I can be medium in some brands then suddenly become extra small in another. It is surprising! And the difference between UK and US sizes are always confusing. UK 2 is smaller than US 2. I am always confused!

    Jenn
    The Pink Lemonade Girl
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  3. So true. Great job :)
    http://everydayema.blogspot.ba/

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  4. I totally agree with you! Amazing post. ♥

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