As I’ve travelled, I’ve noticed how arbitrary sizes can be. I am a large in Hong Kong. I’m a medium in Sweden. In Canada, I’m a small. However, a small today is roomier than it was even ten years ago, making way for extra small.
Negative sizes now exist, but this doesn’t mean that there are now smaller women than ever. It means that the smallest framed women have been bumped out of the average clothing size.
Retailers have banked on the phenomenon of “vanity sizing,” confronting the truth that women are much more likely to buy an item if they fit into a smaller size. Whether you’re fitting into a larger or a smaller dress size than you were ten years ago, here’s why the numbers don’t matter.
1. Sizing has changed.
A dress size that was marked as a 12 in the 1950s would have been a 10 in the 1970s and would now be labelled as a 4. Styles have changed, waistlines have expanded and apparently, our dress sizes are going down. At this rate, all of us will be a 0 if we live long enough.
2. There’s no such thing as standard sizing.
There is a standard you. Try to keep yourself within the framework of a shape that feels authentic, with your healthy diet and exercise. Then let yourself have a variety of sizes in your closet to blanket the exact same fabulous you.
3. Health itself is not a size.
You can be super small and denying yourself nutrition. You can be claiming that you are comfortable with your curves and secretly binging. Be kind to yourself; be honest with your habits and your body will settle to a natural place. What the tag on your clothing says will be a non-issue.
4. Your friends don’t like you because of the size of your butt.
They don’t like you in spite of the size of your butt. Your butt, and your butt size is a non-issue with the positive relationships in your life.
5. Beware of high-end brand tactics.
If the size is bigger than you thought it would have been, some more solace: the less high end a brand is, the larger the sizes will be. What this means is that you are paying money to be a smaller size. Pocket that change or put it towards a personal training session or exotic tea instead.
When you shop, look at the shape of the garment rather than the size. Before you try it on, eyeball it to see if it looks accurate. Often, it’s not you, it’s them if the result is larger than you would like. And if it is you, more incentive to get back on the healthy track – the track that is always waiting for your return.
