-Bridgette Raes

I ordered a couple of shoes online, and I lost it at their arrival. With soles so petite, it would put a Disney Princess to shame, it defied the whole purpose of wearing shoes. What with half my foot hanging out, you could blame my exceptionally large feet. But here’s the thing, the size of the shoe was forty, were they expecting that female feet just grow long and not broad? Just like the T- shirts that are ‘technically’ your size, but never fit you?

There’s a reason many women prefer to shop in the men’s section. ‘Vanity Sizing’ which assigns sizes smaller than the assigned one, just to increase sales. What’s worse is the self-esteem attached to the size tag, so much so that it’s turning into the worst form of passive body shaming. All of this, because smaller the size, higher the sale – and that, sadly, is a fact. This Facebook post by a woman calls out on the sizing bullshit with proof.

Here is a chart that once again proves how sizing standards are complete and utter bullshit.

A size 8, from 1958, does not have a modern day equivalent. The trend, a much debated one in the West, is steadily growing in India too. And if you think being thin is the way out, boy are you in for a surprise! Despite being on the leaner side most of my life, I still struggle to find clothes my size. The same brand tends to give variations in the size you wear, making picking up clothes a mammoth task. Another friend told me how she came out depressed from stores because ‘you are never thin enough’. And as Missy Rogers’ post pointed out,

As the photo shows, they both have the same waist line and width. The only difference is the year I bought them, length, and slightly different style. How is it that what was considered at size 4 is now the same dimensions of a size 10?

It’s as annoying as it’s traumatic. Standard sizing at times dictates unrealistic sizes (XXS? Really?). Various measurements define size zero in each country, and various stores define female sizing through various numbers (“Would you like a size four or a six?”) and you can very well forget ‘trendy’ clothes as a plus size woman. Anything above a size 12 (yeah, that varies too) is difficult to find. The animosity towards women who do not fit the ‘sample size’ is as blatant as it can get. 

Supposedly, street fashion is where trends meet comfort, but the trends today are forcing people to believe they just ‘don’t have that body’. 

From shoes too narrow to clothes whose size you will never find for yourself, do we now believe that clothes are streamlined only for women of a particular stature? ‘Street’ is not the runway, women who opt for ‘street wear’ are not the ones who will have the ‘sample size’. Which means we are not too fat or thin, they never made those clothes for us in the first place. In fact, street fashion does not have its roots in the studio, so could we please have real sizes in our clothes?

Masthead source: Etsy

Feature image source: Facebook