Many women worry about the size on the label of the clothing they buy and have in their closets.
It’s like the size on the labels of our clothing is some kind a report card. The bigger the number, the lower our score. Some feel their size 8 clothes are somehow better than their size 10 clothes.
Many things have been written and said about the sizing of women’s clothing. In the 1940s, the smallest size clothing available for purchase in stores in the United States, was a size 10. Then in the 1950s, it was a size 8. Today, in 2022 the size is a 00. I read an article that proposed that a woman who wore a size 8 in the 1950s would wear a size 00 today. As I further researched what I found was incredibly important to note. The clothes haven’t changed, they are still the same size and proportion. The only thing that’s changed is the number in the label.
Labels and sizing vary across the world. For example an Australian size 12 is “plus size” ( they can’t be serious), but that a woman who wears a standard size 12 can, in the same shopping trip, find clothes from size 10 to size 14 that fit her in the same way. This takes me to to conclusions: First, there is no consistency across labels in sizing. What is an “8” in one label maybe at “10” or a “12” in another. Quality also dictates sizing, ie Quality - Manufacturer / Designer.
Second, sizing in women’s clothing is almost arbitrary and mostly meaningless, and certainly not deserving of all the attention, let alone the stress so many women assign to the size on the label of their clothes.
Do you think I’m saying that we should not pay any attention to the size on the labels of our clothes?
No, that’s not what I’m saying. There is one potential use for paying attention to the size on the label of our clothes, and that has to do with our health and how good we feel in our clothes. I know for me then when I have put on a few pounds and my size 12 clothes are a bit firm, and I’m really only feeling good in my size 14 clothes. It’s time to have a little look at my weight and make some changes to my lifestyle.
One of my policies concerning labels that may eliminate stress is to remove the sizing labels from your clothing. What this may allow you to do is to enjoy the item of clothing and how you look and feel when wearing it. Rather than having any focus or fixation on the number that was once on the label.
Apart from health and wellness (both physical and emotional/psychological) considerations, I’m struggling to see any benefit or upsize to paying much attention at all to the size on the label of our clothing.
We get to assign for ourselves what meaning, if any we assign to the size/number on the label of our clothing. Nobody else should have the power to make us feel bad about ourselves without our consent because of a random number on a tiny label on the inside of clothing.
Over time you may very well forget what number was on that tiny label. Hopefully you will start to focus on how wonderful you feel in the item of clothing and how great it makes you look. Take back your power that has been stolen by labels. Today you have been touched by Styles from The Stoop by Stephanie.
