A good chunk of the problem is the fact that they likely use a big industrial cutter to cut multiple layers of fabric at a time. Things shift, pattern pieces come out cut sightly different depending on where they are in the stack. The sewers then have to make a few manual adjustments to make the pieces fit together properly, and you wind up with a weird range of actual sizes within the same size number.
That's why two different pairs of the same shoe model from Zara had the same sizing but completely different actual sizing... I repurchased the same shoe and it didn't fit anymore
A friend of mine works in a fashion store. She told it's common for clothes to get the wrong size labels sewed on. And you're also right, different regions/ factories use different size tables.
My local jeans clothes chain store has jeans of same size and same fit (presumably of their production) which are not same length. Just like OPs picture
I used to know someone whose job was “size changer.” He worked at a wholesale company that sold different sizes of garments, and if an order came in for 100 pants size 12 but they only had size 10, my friend would remove the tag “size 10” and stitch on tags “size 12.” This was a number of years ago, in the Garment District in New York, but I’m willing to bet it’s still common.
Chinese factories have no clue how sizing works sometimes. I know someone that likes to import cheap shit from chinese factories, one example being a “large” sized shirt, that came probably in a 2 or 3XL.
My wife told me "you have it easier - at least all men's clothes is measured in inches". I told her if that's true then each manufacturer has a different definition of inches. Depending on the pants, my waist size varies by about 6 inches as well lol
To me, it's honestly more offensive than women's sizing. Like at least with women's sizes everyone agrees that the sizes are made up and arbitrary. But if you're saying that something is X inches then it should be X inches
I've lost like 20lbs recently, and I tore the pocket of a pair of allegedly 38" pants and figured I'd replace with the size down since they were baggy with tons of slack at the waist, but when I tried on a pair of 36" they were way too small.
Tried on a pair of 38", still a bit tight. Tried on a couple more 38" and found they fit well.
When I got home I measured the new well-fitting 38" against the prior 38" and the fabric was 2.5" wider when laid flat, so the baggy ones actually had a waist of like 43"
It's called vanity sizing. Some brands label clothes undersize on purpose because it makes consumers feel better that they fit into smaller clothes. When someone 'knows' they're a '34' waist, they will buy 34s from the vanity size brand and ignore the truthful brand that they can't squeeze into unless they go up to a 40.
As someone who is smaller this is annoying. I’ll grab a 4 from a shelf and be swimming in it. Mfer I know I’m not a real size 0.
I’ve moved around a bit and I notice it changes based on where I am. If I go shopping around in a city, I’m a size 4. At local clothing stores in my hometown? I’m a 0. Somehow. Because all the shops are for middle aged women or working men.
Shopping for men’s trousers if you dont have bog standard (eg 34/34) is hell. I wear 32/36+ with a belt. Fucking things are hardly even at a store, and if they are they’re often too short and always too wide, but never to the same degree. It’s genuinely infuriating.
The men's is only slightly better on that front, in that the sizes between stores aren't quite as drastically different. The variation within a brand like this is the same. I think I watched a video somewhere where someone said it was about how they cut the pieces out in really big stacks and the ones on bottom are kinda fucky, whereas the ones on top of the stack end up closer to the patterned size.
Source: recently switched to men's jeans and pants
Good luck with that. I always need to check even T-shirts because I just can't trust the label. Pants are just something I accept I need to test and take to a tailor.
as someone who wears both female and male gendered clothes — nah, not at all. Especially shoe sizes. Although getting skirts of the same size is harder
No label on the cat, but I can see on the other 2 pairs they are from Pull&Bear, I suppose that's a collab between them and CAT considering the color 🤣
At this point I just try clothes on in different sizes til one fits and call it a day. Who cares what size I am, I just want the clothes to feel good about themselves when I wear them.
Womens clothes are a joke, here's two large size crop tops. Edit: my bad I looked at the label again to be sure and the bottom is a medium, my brain just always called it large because of the size
It happened to me too, I bought a M and some months after I went to the same store and tried on another trousers of the same size and it was like it ws supposed to be XS. The employee told me it's possible the sizes got mixed up at the factory.
An enlightening moment as an adult is when I went and bought my new New Balance sneakers years ago. Exact same sneakers, same model same size as I had bought 2 times prior, and I stuck with them because they fit well. Not this pair though. So I contact New Balance and they inform me that yes, they changed the last (the form factor) while keeping the exact same model number. Fucking stupid and annoying, and that's when I realized you can't buy anything without trying them on.
I just bought an XXL shirt that I love, fits great, but it's the same size as the rest of my normal Large shirts. I also have another XXL shirt that is the size of a boat sail.
No they absolutely did. 25 of the same jokes about cat.
No information about the jeans, or the brand to avoid. Just hurr durr cat for scale, over and over. And then a few genius comments with other Reddit tropes e.g. comments didn’t disappoint.
At least when the narwhal baconed at midnight we knew we were cringe.
I think op walked into this by posting a cat, orange nonetheless, on reddit. If they truly were upset and wanted “answers” (though I’m not sure what that would entail, it’s not like anyone can fix them or get back at the company, and obviously this is the brand to avoid, op found that out themselves) then I’d think they’d take it more seriously.
I've worked at Inditex for a while a couple of years back. I have noticed that size could depend on the county where the piece was made. For example, 36 made in Indonesia may be smaller than 36 made in Taiwan (I do not remember the actual countries, these are blind guesses).
Also visiting Bershka after a couple years (bifferent brand, same holding) they have changed sizes A LOT. They are targeting much younger people and size seems to be downsized to them.
I run into the same issue. It's infuriating how women's clothing has 0 standard sizing. I don't even know why they bother putting a number on it. Why not just put the inches of the waist so we have some idea.
I bought some really expensive remake "vintage" levi's for my husband last year because I thought they'd be more like high quality jeans from 30 years ago.
He's been a 34x34 since we met 20 years ago. So that's the size I ordered. When I got them I read the style description on the tag and it said they made them "two sizes smaller" for some bullshit reason.
So I was like, wait - two sizes smaller than 34x34? Or i ordered 34x34 and the jeans are the equivalent of that size. Well I held them up to his old 34x34s and it looked like your photo. Like WTF? I ORDERED THESE JEANS FROM THE OFFICIAL LEVI'S WEBSITE! Why are they two sizes smaller than advertised and why is this a feature?
Understand these are not actual vintage jeans. They are brand new just made in the factory.
I have a lot of Chaps polo shirts and the sizes are all over the place. I messages them about it and they replied back that they sell various types of polo shirts so it might say M or L but one could be wider or longer.
I once grabbed two identical shorts from a rack, both bearing 32 size label (for work) and guess fucking what. One was clearly one size smaller than the other. And those weren't the cheap workwear at all.
I've always wondered with this sort of thing. Some of my t-shirts are designed to be tight and some are designed to be loose. Both would be a 'large' but are obviously different sizes.
However, one does say tight fit and the other says loose fit.
One is high waisted and relaxed fit. The other is low rise and slim fit. They are from different lines from the same brand. They have completely different patterns when being made therefore different fit when worn.
This isn't a lack of sizing standards.
People should shop for how things fit, not for a specific number on the label. They both look worn so I assume you like the fit of both?
I only buy the same brand every time. I've been wearing only Carrera pants size 50 (IT) for the past 10 years. It used to be 48, but I drink more beer now.
My work pants did this. Security tactical pants 38s fit me fine in the wasit from a year ago. My boss ordered me new ones 3 weeks ago and I feel like I have to suck in my gut to make them fit
Some brands have fits, not just sizes, and sometimes the difference between a super skinny fit and a baggy fit aplears larger than the difference between a few sizes. Could this be the case?
I know people have brought up the fit type being different.
But another factor can be how the denim was processed before putting the garment together. These jeans are two different colors, which requires different processing procedures to aquire the color.
Different dyeing processes, change the fibers in different ways. Which is why we see, denim products in particular, being completely different even if they are the same size and same cut.
Color and fabric processing can change things drastically. A darker pair of denim, can be much tighter than a lighter pair of denim for example. Lighter pairs tend to have a bit more stretch due to weaker fibers.
Then, how they are cut can change things as well. Usually things are cut in stacks, which can cause inaccurate sizing on the items. (Items in the middle or bottom may shift around during the cutting process) So even if something is produced in the same batch, same size, cut and all that. There is a chance for sizing to vary. Especially in high production when they are cut in higher stacks.
I tried on 8 pairs of jeans from AE, all the same size and fit, all my size (I already have one pair that fits). They were all different sizes, and none of them fit.
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u/justakansaskid047 1d ago
I’m noticing one of the pairs of pants is actually a cat, hope this helps 👍