Measurements

Doing a special order for a larger-than-me client, I decided to research actual size charts. To find one I could use to standardize my own sizing. The first site I looked at seemed to be a standard from the 50s: size 8–bust 34 ½ , waist-26 ½ , hips- 37, versus the more modern chart: size 8 to 10 — bust- 35-36, waist- 27-29 and hips- 38-39.
 
All this might seem very technical, but when you go to a store the variety of fit is extreme. From J Jill to J Crew, there is a big difference in sizes and it can make a person crazy. No wonder we have issues with our perception of our size. The powers that be are playing with us and realizing that buying power rests on the ideas that “I can still fit into a size 8”! Have we grown that much as a society?
 
Or do we like to fool ourselves into a false sense of being slim? Like I do every morning when I get on the scale after having done my morning duties, bare naked and am feeling slender! (Not)! So different from the doctors office…
 
Anyway, I guess by this time we have come to understand the difference between designers and which ones work for us. But the idea of the contrast was really reinforced from checking out the size charts…