General Chat

At 1.6m or around 5ft 2 3/4 and a uk size 20 it is next to impossible sometimes to get clothes to fit. They assume that when you are larger you must also be tall where as I'm short and with narrow shoulders.

All of my tops are too long in the arms and with an inside leg measurement of just 27" trousers are always too long.

Just found this - it could explain a lot - although they cite one shop - it could be more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4563022/The-REAL-reason-size-never-fits-H-M.html

I've just read this in the MailOnLine (OK, I know!!!) ..............

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Revealed, the real reason why your size never fits in H&M ........

Every UK dress size has a corresponding European size. But H&M labels go against conversion charts and match the UK size to a smaller corresponding EUR size, meaning your 12 is really a 10.

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When I first moved over here, I had to get used to new sizings in clothes and shoes ......... the size 7 shoe I wore in the UK suddenly became an 8. The size 10 became a 12 with no change in shape or weight ........... and then a 14 when I did put on weight a few months later.

Like so many of us, I find a top or skirt that fits and then buy 2 or 3 of them before they disappear from the shops!

For years, I bought trousers online from Lands' End .......... they fit perfectly and I could have them shortened to the correct length. I have long legs so pre-hemmed ones are always too short.

Then, they "tweaked" the style ............ and the pants no longer fit just right.

I now much prefer wearing long skirts and hardly wear trousers, except in winter when it is teeming down with rain or snowing ........... and the 3 pairs I have are all over 10 years old but fit!


The other thing I'm finding these days .............. a style of shoe or clothing that I like, that fits and is comfortable is often only available for one season! No longer can I assume that I will be able to buy that "standard" or "classic" top next year :-(

Fifty years ago my "wedding dress" was a Wallis copy of a Chanel suit - well made in cream wool with braid on the edges and a pink sleeveless blouse with pink cuffs on the suit jacket - size 10. Last week I bought two pairs of cropped trousers, one cheap the other fairly expensive, both size 10. My weight has gone from 7st 10lbs to about 9st 4lbs.

As for M & S, where we live it is next to a branch of Scope and guess who always has the best dressed and most tempting windows.

If you are only 5 foot 1 1/2 like me the first problem is reaching up to unhook the tops off the rails in shops! Anything with long sleeves has to be shortened and crop trousers are full length on me and anything longer has to be shortened. My larger size now means that mnfrs assume I have 'power' width shoulders so the shoulder seams hang over the edge of my shoulders. By the time 'adjustments' have finished being made, you may as well have made it from scratch.

And don't get me going on how badly made these clothes are. Or how they look as though they need a good ironing even when displayed on models.

Ann I am 16 tops but they vary so much .have bought tops for summer Tshirts they are fine but a blouse no way can I find comfortable size without buttons opening .,.when I was younger was in 12-14 tops .& 14 bottom half if only x .but love my food so will keep looking for a decent blouse <3

Tailors and dress makers ok if you can afford it. :-|

I became my own 'tailor' through necessity - to make clothes that fitted my tiny frame :-D

I once made my ex a pair of jeans - not the easiest of things to make - but I was quite a trendsetter.
'Twisted legs' on jeans became fashionable about 20 years after I'd made
his!! :-D :-D

...most things turned out okay though!

"or lack of space."

Bottom area too tight splitting maybe???
:-D

What is even worse is that sizes can vary from brand to brand and/or shop to shop. I should take a size 14 in tops but often have to buy anything between a size 14 and 20 :(
I now ignore the labels and buy "with my eyes". It's only a number.
;-)

My pet hate is tops - just because I am bigger round the middle and bust than I was, doesn't mean I want a top to be 3 inches longer than the smaller sizes. I have several that I will be shortening soon because they aren't what I want.

So infuriating!

Lizx

In my 'youff' nothing fitted me. :-(
At 20, I was 6 and a half stone, everything was too big. Children's clothes not quite right.
Had children, went up to 7and a half stone - I was a 'size' - size 8, but couldn't afford the clothes.
After the age of 40, (8 stone, size 10) I went up by a stone, and a dress size a decade :-| :-| :-|
This stuff called 'fat' that now protects my inner organs keeps bl**dy moving!!
One month a top/trousers will fit me - then they won't :-S
6 months later, the fat has changed position (my weight stays the same) and the top/trousers fit again :-\

:-D :-D

Needs a three in front of it for me.

Needs a three in front of it for me.

Sharron :-D :-D :-D
So size 0 is beyond you then?

As a ' shall we say very,very well made lady' , I didn't even know clothes went down to size 16.

Oh, the recurring nightmare! I find that different styles, same size, from the same brand (and not a 'cheapie' one either) can vary quite a lot. I often have to upsize in tops because the cut on the shoulders is very skimpy. I always have to try on jeans and trousers and sometimes there is very little difference between 2 sizes.

It makes us feel better about ourselves because we think we haven't put on much weight (even if the mirror shows we have) and if we are happy we buy more.

When I got married 54 years ago I was a slim size 12. I do generally now have to have a 14 in skirts/trousers but I still have a size 12 top. Yet I am a stone heavier and about 6" wider round the middle than I was then. Dress sizes have expanded at about the same rate as I have

Trouser lengths are annoying. I am 5'8" and always used to buy long or extra long. Now I have to try everything on and sometimes find the long is too long. They must be made for giants.

EDIT Andysmum, I am usually happy with the sleeve length now as in the past it was always too short for me!