Is this normal or do I have a problem?

zaq ↓

Mon, Aug 19 2024, 3:57 pm

Manufacturers produce merch for the "average" or "typical" consumer--whatever THEY consider the "average" or "typical" to be. Each manufacturer or retailer has its own ideas about what is typical, and IME the sizes are getting stingier and the clothes skimpier. Similarly, retailers buy for the size and body type they feel is most common, the one that will sell out quickly. They are reluctant to manufacture or stock for customers outside of the very middle of the bell curve because they may not necessarily get many customers to buy in those sizes. Some retailers outright refuse to buy outlier sizes.

So, to answer your question, yes, your experience is, unfortunately, absolutely normal. Very few people are built exactly in accordance with manufacturers' plans. AAMOF, the earliest system of dress sizing in the US was based on the average measurements of a huge number of women, not on any particular real woman. Have you EVER seen a non-maternity garment made for a woman with a protruding belly, whose waist is larger than her hips which are significantly larger than her bust? Of course not, because the hypothetical "ideal" woman has a waist some 8-10 inches smaller than her bust and hips, which are ideally equal or within 2 inches of each other, preferably with the bust larger than the hips if they're not equal. And NO dressmaker dummy has a belly or midriff bulge.

Shoes and accessories like gloves work the same way. That's why some people have so many scarves, belts and bags--it's depressing to go on a shopping trip and come home with nothing, so, rather than waste a trip, they'll buy an item that is not size-dependent.

I always wondered about kiddie trousers that look like storage sleeves for spaghetti. Who on earth can fit into something like that? Then I had a grandchild born long and lanky, and, indeed, his legs fit into spaghetti sleeves. His mom never has to spend precious time rolling up or hemming his pants legs--but sometimes she has to return pants that fit in the waist but are too short in the leg. (The kid is over 90th percentile for height and well below that for weight. He looks perfectly normal, like an "average" kid.)

↑ zaq

Mon, Aug 19 2024, 4:11 pm

What say we all quit wearing Western wear and start wearing saris? The midriff-baring choli (blouse) can be replaced with a leotard or bodysuit (can we bring those back, please?) for modesty. A sari is not size-dependent, and the petticoat that goes under the sari has a drawstring waist that is supremely forgiving. Those who lack faith in the sari's ability to stay in place can anchor it with safety pins.