Jean shopping. Just thinking about it
causes anxiety, fear, and distain.
"Where will I
go?" "What's my safest option?" "Do I have someone go with
me?"
And the seemingly most
important question? "What size am I?"
Our
society is hyper-focused on what sizes everyone wears. Comparing your body, and
what sized clothing it fits into, is standard. However, within different
stores, brands, and designers, size varies.
Ever
notice that for brands like Topshop, a British based clothing store, you tend
to be one size bigger? According to Ellen O'Rourke, it's because of the
location and the cut of the clothing.
Ellen
O'Rourke is a fashion consultant that has worked with Eskandar, a high-end
British design house, as well as Hermès, the famous French accessory brand.
"American designers, like Oscar de la Renta and Caroline Herrara, cut more
generously than their European counterparts," O'Rourke said.
Okay, so
Europeans size their clothing smaller and Americans have nothing to do with it,
right? Wrong. According to O'Rourke, "American clothing producers are into
Vanity Sizing."
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| C: Racked |
According
to Forbes Magazine, Vanity sizing is "the labeling of clothes with sizes
smaller than the actual cut of the items." For example, an American size 2
is really a European size 6.
Looking
across the globe, all clothing is cut slightly different- even throughout the
European countries who cut their clothing smaller than Americans.
“Italian
and other non-Italian designers that produce in Italy, cut their clothes very
slim through the hips. The French fashion houses like Chanel, cut narrow in the
waist and more generous through the hips,” O’Rourke said.
Vanity
Sizing shows an insight on the American culture. Americans take things to
another level. Our food industry is always producing the latest, unhealthiest food
(anyone remember the “cronut?”), our housing industry producing the most
outrageous living spaces (tiny houses are the latest crave), and now Vanity
Sizing.
According
to O’Rourke, Vanity Sizing started about 20 years ago. Soon after design houses
took to it, contemporary brands like J. Crew and Banana Republic started to cut
their clothing 1-2 sizes bigger.
This
obsession with sizes is slowly leading to our demise. Both men and women are
doing just about anything to get into a size smaller. It’s common for women to
have the “flu” dress. The flu dress has been made famous by popular culture. It
is a dress that women can fit into after loosing weight from a stomach flu.
On a
lesser extreme, it is not uncommon for people to buy clothing one size smaller
than their current size. This supposedly helps motivate them to lose weight.
Jessica Procini, an emotional eating coach, gets down to basics with Vanity Sizing. Her video "The Dirty Truth About Vanity Sizing," helps break down this complex idea.
Jessica Procini, an emotional eating coach, gets down to basics with Vanity Sizing. Her video "The Dirty Truth About Vanity Sizing," helps break down this complex idea.
Clothes
were made to fit our bodies; our bodies were not made to fit the clothes.
Just
think if we all lived by this mantra how happy we would be.