Friday, September 15, 2006

what size do you wear?

We had an odd discussion at work yesterday. What size do you wear? A very petite co-worker was in a 7, but others swore it couldn't be more than a 4. I can wear anything from a 6 to a 10 depending on the cut. I'm vertically challenged, so sometimes I buy petites, so I can get the right length. I bought petites, even when I was a size 14... which didn't seem very 'petite' at all. I often hear women of a certain age and income bracket bragging that they have always been a perfect size 6 -- when anyone with eyes can see they can't be smaller than a 12. I have noticed a strong correlation between price and size. The more expensive the clothes, the smaller the size. If I could afford it, I could be a size 0.

Sine it seems that sizing is arbitrary, that there is no standard, why are we hung up on the issue? Some of my co-workers wouldn't even say out loud what size they wear. Why would you brag about being a 2, or ashamed of being a 22? I think we need to embrace our inner Popeye -- I yam what I yam. But skip the spinach until this e-coli scare is over....

1 comment:

Kitten Herder said...

I have heard a number of women state their belief that the clothing industry has been conspiring to make American women feel better about the ever expanding width of our collective butts by cutting clothes larger. In other words, what was a size 12 twenty years ago is now a size 8. Think about it. Twenty years ago, someone wore a size eight, and then she put on twenty five pounds, and she's still an 8!

I agree that the more expensive the clothing, the smaller the number on the size tag. As I've lost weight this year, it was easiest to 'get into the next size down' in dress pants before jeans.

And, I've seen those women who wear a size 0. They look like they belong in third world countries right after a horrible famine. Yuck.