Is vanity sizing cashing in on our fears?

Jun 19 2008 by Emma Pinch, Liverpool Daily Post

Emma Pinch considers the options for those of us who aren’t a Size Zero

THE little number sewn into the back of your jeans has never carried more weight. We’re so hyper-aware of dress sizes these days that even the unfairer sex are conversant with who wears what in Girls Aloud, and most of us can confidently debate the difference between a US size zero and the home-grown version.

Single-digit figures on the label now carry as much kudos as the designer written on it. And those of us who don’t subsist on a diet of steamed fish and edamame beans, and have much more to offer than our size, aren’t immune to the pressure either.

A certain multi-octave US diva is said to get her assistants to cut out the 10 and 12 labels from her clothes and stitch Size sixes on instead.

Vicki Hughes, a 26-year-old marketing assistant for Liverpool’s Metquarter, knows how she feels.

“At the moment I’m a comfortable Size 14 and I will not go to a 16. I just won’t go there at all.

“I’ve always been a 12 but since I had my daughter it’s been harder to get back to it.

“There was a time when 14 was a bit snug, and I just wouldn’t buy anything in that size.

“It’s the number. I suppose I’d have to change the way I mentally pictured myself.”

Alex Stewart, 40, an accountant from Hoylake, admits to buying clothes in a size smaller than the one she actually takes.

“I’m happy with a Size 10, and think of myself as 10-12,” she explains. “If I’m brutally honest with myself, I’ve been a good Size 12 for a few years now, and now that’s feeling uncomfortably tight.

“But there’s no way I’ll buy anything in the next size up. I buy Size 10s and I’ve got about £200 of trousers and a white jacket in a Size 10 sitting in my wardrobe that I’ve bought and never been able to get into. I’d rather buy shoes, bags and earrings instead until I do something with my gym membership.”

Shops have long cashed in on the desirability of clothes with smaller size labels, meaning there’s a huge disparity from store to store. No wonder 60% of us have no idea of what size we really are, according to a three-year study by SizeUK, a collaboration between the Government, 17 major British retailers and leading academics and technology companies. “Vanity sizing” is a retailer or designer’s way of making you feel better about yourself by putting a smaller size on the label than you actually are. So, no, it’s not you who has shrunk, it’s the label that is lying. Vanity sizing is a device used by shops to sell more clothes, and to create loyalty so you keep coming back to them.

Personal shopper Kim Goodwin, at Debenhams, believes stores who want to curry favour with older people will often be more generous with their sizes.

“Marks and Spencer tends to be generous with its clothes. I’m a 10 and I have to buy an eight there.

“You can get two Size 10s at the same shop and find there’s an inch between them. But, even within the same brand and style, you can get disparities, down I think even to the different people who sewed them. I used to buy all my clothes at TopShop and, with- out losing any weight, found that I went down a size from 12 to 10. I found during research that shops seem to trial a size out and that may have been what happened.”

It will come as no surprise that brands who want their wearer to be young and fashionable keep their sizes small and, as a belt and braces deterrent, you’ll rarely find many 14s stocked.

“Higher-end high street brands such as Diesel and Miss Sixty promote smaller sizes because their clothes are aimed at young people. Miss Sixty has long trouser lengths with small sizes. In general, fashion wants to be associated with the smaller figure,” adds Kim.

The key is to remember no-one else needs to see the label. A size that properly fits is infinitely more attractive than straining buttons.

Lisa Rowlands, trainee manager at Hobbs, Liverpool, is well used to helping women overcome their issues about the number on the label.

“My advice is don’t look at labels at all,” she says. “If you need to go into the changing room with a few sizes, don’t look at the first one you try on, just judge it on whether it feels comfortable.

“It’s true that what you are one day in one shop you might not be in another. Don’t get too hung up on size. Ask someone who you know and respect, and who will be brutally honest with you.

“That’s a better measure of how you look than a number on a label.”

emma.pinch@dailypost.co.uk

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