Dear makers of girls/women's clothing,
What the ****? Seriously, what the ****?
I'm starting back to school shopping for my 9 year old daughter and was reminded of the lesson I learned last year when my daughter went from 6/6x - little kid clothing to greater than size 7 preteen clothes.
Sure, the cost difference alone was enough to make my eyes pop out of my skull. Two more inches of material on the length and and inch more material in the waist increases the cost of a pair of pants by $20.
But that's not the point of this rant. No, I want to know what a "size" is. I defy anyone to give me a definition of what a size actually means.
The best that I can tell, a size is some kind of measurement of surface area. But even at that, it's not a very accurate one. For example, buying pants:
We go into Store 1 and try on clothes. She wears a size 8. Okay, she grew two sizes in a year.
We go into Store 2 and try on clothes. She wears a size 8. Yeah, consistency. My daughter definitely wears a size 8 pants, right?
We go into Store 3 and try on clothes. She wears a size 10. Did she gain 5lbs and grow 2 inches between Store 2 and Store 3?
We go into Store 4 and try on clothes. She tries on a size 10 and it comes half way up her torso. A size 8 still falls off her waist. The sales clerk says "why don't you try this size 7 slim." It fits.
So an 8 = 8 = 10 = 7 slim.
And apparently it only gets worse for girls/women from there. I've been reading a buzzfeed article about a woman getting fitted for bras at six different stores. For her:
38D = 38DD = 40D = 38D = 40DD = 42DD
Okay, assume the difference in cup size is a designer thing. But how does a 38 equal a 42? The circumference of a bra is not an unknowable, relativistic distance. Get a ruler and freaking measure it.
Sincerely,
Why is this acceptable?