Size Does Matter

How many of us have exuberantly approached shopping overseas only to end up completely confused about what size we are in a particular country? It seems there is no such thing as standard sizing, and with the myriad of international designers, and our own designers at home introducing their own concept of sizing, its no wonder we can end up confused.

Think of the likes of Kookai and Wayne Cooper. Your size options consist of 1, 2 or 3. Now I know many a lady who complains that 3 being the equivalent of about a 12 means that many “real” women can’t shop there. That’s one way to keep your clientele restricted to only those you think will look best in your clothes, and its also a good way to confuse your customers. The assumption is that the sizes are the equivalent to Small, Medium and Large, or 8, 10, 12, but in the context of “thin person only”, does 1 mean extra small, or just small? Does extra small also not belong in the store, or does it, and then the largest person catered for is actually a medium? And is size 10 really a medium? Many would argue a 12 is more accurate.

The confusion is certainly not limited to our home shores. Who amongst us has lived through an Asian shopping experience and not felt like a complete Amazonian? When a friend of mine visited recently and returned with pyjamas for me largely blazoned with XL. I know for a fact this matter of size was checked, and double-checked, and the sales girl was insistent that me being a whopping 54kg meant I needed the biggest size available. I can only imagine the size of the women taking their XS, or if they are in fact even visible or able to withstand a slight breeze.

American sizing is also a bit of an area of confusion for many non-US shoppers. First we need to know how much we weigh in pounds, and I have to say that almost doubling my weight does not make me feel like a thin goddess, and then we have to deal with yet another system of sizing ranging from 0 up. Similarly to those teensy Asian ladies, who is actually a 0? If according to The Devil Wears Prada 0 is the new 2 and the “fat” girl takes a 4, heaven help the rest of us. My size 8 posterior in Australia apparently needs a size 4 in the States. Hello officially fat me. And this is the country that has one of the highest obesity rates in the world? I wonder what size the average American really takes, and if any other Aussie girls furiously cut out all the tags of their American shopping before coming home. Then there’s European sizing which is different again, and also more inclined to make you feel bigger than you actually are. Small is around a 27, and medium is up there around a 34 and their high numbering system is also aligned with their shoe sizing. Which brings me to the point that sizing dramas are of course not just restricted to clothing, making our shopping lives even more of a struggle.

Footwear is a daily battle for many of us. Are the sizes European? English? American? Australian? Or maybe it’s a randomly sized brand of shoe like Havianas which have a sizing system even sales people seem to struggle with at times. I have to say English sizing is my favourite. Asking for a size 4 shoe definitely wins out over asking for a 37 or 38, but it seems you need to be au fait with every country’s shoe sizing in order to be able to shop effectively at random. I recently encountered a whole store of assistants who struggled to translate my Australian size 7 feet when I asked for a shoe that only had European sizing tags. Really, its no wonder the Japanese were into foot binding. Who on earth wants to be told they have a size 42 foot?

When you’re not confronted with the entire gamut of international sizing options every time you shop, it’s very easy to forget what means what in what country. No shopper likes to admit they are baffled by a store’s sizing, but it tends to happen to the best of us. Which raises the question, if cookbooks have the good grace to include a conversion chart at the back every time, how hard would it be for a standard fashion conversion swing tag to become the norm?