Hi everyone, it's Justine.
I have been wanting to talk about sizes in fashion for a while now,
since I've done that video about how to dress a plus size.
In that video I mentioned Amy Schumer, who was categorized as a plus size model by a famous fashion magazine.
She rejected being called a "plus size" and posted on Instagram that she was a size 6 to 8
and that saying that she was a plus size wasn't actually sending the right message to her younger audience.
Other people in the industry said: "Well, she's a size 12, so... she's not a size 8"... like, where is the discrepancy coming from?
Sizing is a frustrating topic for everyone. As soon as you enter a store,
or you want to order online, you never know which size you are.
So I'd like to bring clarity to the topic of sizing in this video. If you think that sizes are very confusing
and a mess, you are right, but here's is why and how you can solve it for yourself.
Before retailers existed, there were no sizes. You were getting custom-made clothes, at your exact size
at your exact fit. There were sizes for kids, because obviously they grow up,
so you need to adapt the length a lot faster as they grow, but for adults there were no sizes.
Then around the 40s in the U.S. a standard sizing system kind of was introduced,
but only for the bust measurements.
All women were supposed to have a perfect hourglass figure , so the waist and the hips
had to be, obviously, exactly proportionate to the bust.
We are smarter now, but that was a good start.
Then in 1958, the American National Bureau of Standards remeasured everything from scatch
they started over and for it they took ladies from the Airforce as benchmarks
So they took the fittest ladies in the entire country. Still not quite representative of the actual population,
but hey!, we're getting there.
Fun thing, though: they ended up with a range of sizes going from 8 to 38, so there was no size 0,
there was no size 6, etcetera, everything under 8 just did not exist.
And then they added a letter for the length. Makes a lot of sense to me actually,
and we don't do it now I wonder why: T for Tall, R for Regular, S for Short. So if you are petite,
at the end of the 50s you were getting a letter to make sure that the length of all your garments
was appropriate for you.
Then, brands came in and found out that if you're a size 8, but they tell you you're a size 6,
you're much more likely to buy. That was actually the beginning of "vanity sizing" in fashion.
Less and less brands respected the sizing, and sizes went smaller and smaller, up to the point where we've got
size 6, 4, 2, 0 and now even 000. Smaller and smaller. It's flattering.
So eventually the system didn't mean anything anymore, and in 1983 it was abolished.
In 1995, the private Organization called ASTM decided to re-introduce a size standard
with lower numbers, so that you were still having the number you have gotten used to
and not suddenly two sizes up, like you would have had in the 60s or 70s.
And then sizes started to slip downwards again. So a size 4 to 6 in 1995 would be a size 2 today.
That's how much sizes have changed over time. So you can't compare two people who lived in different decades,
it's just not the same sizing system at all.
Now, let's go back to Amy Schumer. She says she's a size 6 to 8. Other people would say she's a size 12.
Marilyn Monroe was a size 12, I'm a size 8, according to the standard use in the U.S. fashion industry.
I studied in the U.S., so I know that I have exactly the dimension of the size 8 dress form.
The thing is, they are all using different ranges, that's why they can never ever agree.
Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 to 14 in the 60s, but today she'd be a size 6
and while she was younger she was maybe a bit slimmer than Amy Schumer, but in her 30s
she had very similar proportions on bust and hips. What we never talk about is also that Marilyn Monroe
is two inches shorter than Amy. And it makes a huge difference in the silhouette,
but we don't care about this anymore, because we don't look at the length anymore.
For the record, here is a table with the official measurements of both ladies.
Marilyn lied on her height and weight -- vanity doesn't initially come from the brands:
brands do it because consumers love it. Today in the US sizing it's still quite an issue:
I'm a size 8 officially, but if I go to Abercrombie I'm a size 10 to 12, if I go to cheaper label and stores I
I'm a size 6, in the UK I'd be a size 10 officially, and I didn't lose or gain weight in any country, right?
While in the US consumers still have issues to this day, because there is no proper and respected sizing system
in Europe it's a lot clearer, because we took single countries, that each had a different standard,
and we had to bring them together and find one strong standard and stick to it, otherwise it would be really a mess.
So, in France I'm a size 38, in Europe I'm 36, you just take two points down, that's it: no matter in which country
within the European market i'm shopping, I'm a size 36 and it has to be labelled on the clothes.
Very transparent, actually.
Meanwhile some brands have given up on the number-based sizing system
because it was really just too much of a headache internationally,
and then are going with letters again: XS, S, M, L, XL.
Now, what to do?
For my own line I didn't want to go with numbers, because my customers are everywhere in the world,
and my website is in English, so I didn't want to go with numbers knowing that it doesn't mean the same thing
depending on where in the world you are. So I decided to go with letters.
I wanted to use European sizes, because it's the only internationally reliable benchmark available,
and since it has to be labelled on your clothes, everywhere in the European market,
if you go to closet and check your labels you'll know which European size you have.
So that's something you can work with, right? So, I dedided to go with letters, based on European sizes,
and when costumers ask me, "I am between a size 10 and 12, which size should I order on your website?",
I always answer, "Please tell me your exact measurements, and I will tell you which size you are",
because if you don't know European sizes, you don't know that there's this benchmark, and everything else is not a good reference.
My advice to you when you shop is always to look for the European size, if you can find it,
and if not, forget completely about your number-based size, and go take the measurement table
measure yourself, and find for that exact brand you're looking at the right size.
I hope you enjoyed this video, thumbs up if you did, thank you very much.
I hope you also noticed how much better the lighting, the background and everything around me is today.
I love that textured wall back there, and this girl is a nice accessory to have in a fashion video.
I'm sure she'd have an opinion on sizes, but she's not very talkative.
That's to end this video on a lighter note, because it's quite a polarizing and quite emotionally loaded that whole sizing question,
and it's very personal, but I hope you understand that when you have a bit more background information
and you look at it from a professional and historical perspective, then it's all not as bad,
and there is an explanantion for everything. Now, I'm looking forward to your opinions,
and to the discussions in the comments below, if you don't live in the EU or in the US, then I want to know
what's the sizing system in your country, is it smarter, how do you know your size,
how do you do when you shop online, or when you go to stores, where you have never shopped before.
New videos every Wednesday and Sunday, so I see you very soon. Take care. Bye bye.