- Shopping is really hard.
I feel like my crotch is burning.
The fucking gap that's in like every pair of pants.
Nothing is aligned.
This is a size small.
It's a size medium.
I don't know what this is.
Nothing really makes sense,
and I don't know if I'm the crazy one
or if it's actually the sizing,
and I really wanna find out.
(whimsical music)
I always feel crazy when I go shopping.
I don't know if it's just me,
but I'm here to find out.
I'm a size 12,
so when I go shopping,
it is really hard to find a size that actually fits you.
It's usually like the thing in the way back of the rack,
that I'm like, oh yes!
Like, they have my size,
or on the opposite side of the spectrum,
I'm squeezing into things that are a size small,
all in one day.
I could be an extra small or a 14/16.
Size numbers mean a lot.
As a woman, you start equating numbers
to what is hot and what is accepted.
It's hard to not feel discouraged
by all these numbers being thrown at you
when you're trying on things.
I have not always been a size 12.
I have ranged from six to 16 in my lifetime.
I've been around the size block,
and it doesn't matter what size you are.
It never gets any easier.
I'm gonna go to four different stores,
and try on a size 12 in all these stores.
The stores I'm going to are Topshop,
Forever 21, H&M, and Old Navy,
and at each of those,
I'm going to try on different pants, shirts, jackets,
just get a full vibe of what a size 12 is like
in each one of these stores.
I'm interested to see how much of a variation it is,
or if I really am making this all up.
So I guess we'll take it from here,
and see if a size 12 is exactly what they say it is.
(upbeat music)
All right, I'm at Forever 21.
Just got some stuff to try on, see how it looks.
First of all, I realized there was actually no size 12s,
so I had to ask the sales associate, what a size 12 was.
So the sales associate told me that a size 12
is a size medium in dresses, so this is a size medium.
The dress that I tried was kind of like
a Bodycon cotton halter dress,
and that one fit, 'cause cotton's stretchy and forgiving.
I could have easily gone to a large,
and it would've fit way better.
For the jumpsuit,
I was fully naked.
There's the jumpsuit, and the rest of my body
is everywhere else.
I couldn't get it up past my thighs.
It's a size medium,
and that's what they suggested for a size 12.
Oh my God.
The sales associate told me
that I was a size 27/28 so I went for those.
Well, uh, this is as far as the shorts go.
(laughing)
Okay.
This is, I won't be wearing these in public ever,
unless I wanna get arrested.
I went three different types of pairs of jeans, too,
just to get a variation.
The 27/28 were so fucking small.
Let me just give that a big fat no.
Honestly, none of the jeans really actually,
truly fit me.
I tried on this sort of crop t-shirt.
I also asked the sales associate what a size 12 is
in shirt sizes, and it's a medium, apparently,
and this is a medium.
It's not stretchy at all, and it's fine.
This shirt is so tight.
Everything about every part of me was out,
in a way that I did not like.
I think the biggest lesson I learned
at this Forever 21 experience
was not only do I feel like I don't know what size I am,
neither do the sales associates.
It's not just me.
It's Forever 21 sizing in general.
Forever 21 is consistently very small.
Old Navy was very interesting,
because one of the first things I did
was I walked in and asked the sales associate
what size dress is a size 12, and he said a small.
A small.
If you were smaller than me, what size would you wear?
Forever 21 said that size 12 is a medium,
so already, there's some discrepancy between sizing
in places that is very clear from the start.
Since I had a size small dress,
one of them fit really well.
This actually fits.
This is like body hot in a good way.
I think I could get down with this.
I haven't been here in like 10 years.
The other dress was a more flowy look.
What do we think?
Size small.
I look like a peasant goth.
Kind of baggy on me,
and I'm supposed to be a size 12,
so it is unclear as to what happens
to the people that are a size zero or two.
Size 12 is a size small,
so I'll remember that.
The pants on the rack looked really big,
and I was really suspicious about it.
I was like, there's no way these will fit me,
and then I put them on,
they weren't so insane.
These are a size 12 regular.
But they definitely were two or three sizes too big.
It was just too baggy.
You always had that weird back gap over your butt,
which is super annoying.
I could probably go two inch sizes smaller in these.
And then weirdly, for the shirt,
I asked what a size 12 was,
and he said it was a medium.
Apart from the boobs being really tight, it fits.
I never usually wear button up shirts that much,
because I have that infamous boob gap.
This medium shirt fits pretty well, also,
and it's like pretty roomy in the boobs.
So even between dresses and shirts within one store,
it's not the same size.
I just don't know what size I am.
Yes, all their sizes ran big,
but they were all consistently big across the board.
(upbeat music)
It's interesting that, at H&M,
when I actually got to the dressing room,
and I tried on the stuff,
at least I felt like it somewhat was for a human body.
Everything I tried was a 12.
Never had to ask any sales associate
for any sizing questions,
everything was very clearly marked.
All right, we're off to a good start at H&M.
This is a size 12 skirt.
It actually fits.
I tried on one dress,
and it was like a BodyCon dress,
and it was tight, like in a way that I wouldn't,
probably ever purchase it.
Okay, but then, there was this one dress.
Somehow, between that dress and the pink dress,
it's like worlds apart.
One of them fit me pretty well,
and the other one I couldn't even zip up half my body.
And then I had a jumpsuit,
and that one got over my thighs,
but then didn't zip up the back.
So this makes no sense to me.
It's always a fucking problem.
I'm starting to feel more discouraged
as time goes on, honestly.
Shopping always starts off really fun,
and then you start realizing that it's not you, it's them.
With H&M pants, it seems like they're really tight
and small around the thighs.
H&M had a pair of leather ones
that only could go up to my crotch,
but I'd says for the most part,
they kind of understand what a size 12 is.
Like these actually fit.
They're tight, but everything's in there.
The shirts fit really well.
It fit in all the right places,
and it did all the right things it was supposed to.
There's no consistency between the 12s that I tried.
Forever 21 and H&M are kind of a toss up.
The range was just really big.
Of all the places we went today,
Topshop is most aligned with high fashion,
so you'd think that would be the hardest thing to fit into.
I thought the most fashion people
would not understand my size
and not understand my body more than anyone else,
but it was actually totally the opposite.
All right.
This is the first size 12 that has actually fit me
in every way.
The dresses were really cool.
You know how you put on something,
and it just feels really fucking good?
There's so many of me,
and all of them fit.
And the other red dress was really cute, too,
and my mind is blown.
I literally was like gasping as I was putting the pants on.
I was like, (gasping)
they fit.
Do you guys know how rare this is, first time around?
It's really fucking cool that the sizes were consistent,
even within the store.
This is insane.
This literally never happens to me.
Yeah, this is fucking great.
This shirt, it fits really well around the boobs,
no sort of gapping here.
Almost everything I tried on fit perfectly,
in exactly the right way,
right shape, right size.
I'm about to drop some serious money.
I just wish that's how easy it was in every store.
In the middle of the day,
I was really down on myself, being like,
I'll never find anything,
and then Topshop, as the last place that we went to,
thinking this will end up being the best,
is the best feeling in the world.
The most consistent sizing across the board
was definitely at Topshop.
After the day was over,
I wanted some fucking answers,
so I reached out to Jessica Murphy,
who is a size fit expert and co-founder of True Fit,
which is a company that helps you find clothing
that actually fits.
- Hi!
- Hi, how are you?
- In your experience,
when you look across mall clothing brands,
is their sizing consistent?
- So the answer is absolutely not.
Once upon a time, we had consistency,
back in the 1960s,
when there was a standard,
but now, retail brands cater and create their sizes
depending on who their core audience is.
We actually did a study,
where we took 10,000 jeans,
across the same exact size,
and the same relative styles,
and what we found was that there was
about a five inch difference
between the jeans, so that's a lot.
Like, if you look at five inches
is a ton, right?
What we found is that on average,
women wear a range of three sizes,
when it comes to standard sizes,
and a range of two sizes when things are like,
alpha sizes, like small, medium, large, extra large.
- We went to four stores.
We went to Old Navy, Forever 21, Topshop, and H&M.
- Brands cater to who they think their customer is,
so when they assign a medium to the label,
that's not trying to adhere to some standard
of what medium is.
That literally is saying,
what is the middle of the size scale
that I am producing for who I think my customer is?
Topshop is based out of the UK,
and their size scale is very different
than what we have in the US.
H&M is another international brand.
You know, they're a Swedish brand,
so again, we're dealing with whole different size scales,
and then you take Old Navy,
who caters to a very very different audience,
so they're gonna be a little more generous sized,
because they have a different demographic.
Brands have kind of gotten a bad rap.
They make us feel bad,
they're not consistent,
but really, it's just that they're trying to,
again, cater to who they think their customer is.
- Is there any advice that you can give,
specifically to women,
before they head out to a store,
how can they be successful in their shopping,
and how can they feel good about it?
- What I recommend customers do
is really get familiar with the styles
that work well for their body shape.
It's less about what size you're buying,
and more about do I feel more comfortable,
and do I feel, and you know, kind of,
the good mark of does it work for you,
is when you put it on, you look in the mirror,
and you're just like, yeah, I look good,
and you just feel good.
It doesn't matter what the heck size is on the label,
but pay attention to the details of the items.
Is it higher in the rise, for example,
and that's what's making you feel comfortable?
If it's a dress, is it cinched in the waist?
Try to understand the details
and the patterns and what you wear,
and what are your go-to things
that you always seem to gravitate towards,
and then look at those characteristics,
and then, when you're shopping,
try to pick out those things that are similar.
The reality is that if you dress in great fitting clothing,
regardless of your size,
you're gonna feel so much better,
and you're gonna look amazing.
- So if I said, I'm Chrissy,
and I'm a size 12, does that mean anything?
- It doesn't mean anything to me,
because my next question to you would be,
in what brand are you a size 12?
(laughing)
- Exactly.
Fashion, I love you.
I shop all the damn time,
and all I'm asking for is just a little bit
of consistency across the sizes,
so I can buy more of your shit.
For anyone out there shopping,
who has difficulty relating to sizes on the racks,
buy what fits you.
Do not worry about the numbers,
because I have proof that they don't mean anything.
Let's make shopping fun again.
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(cheering)
(upbeat music)