When you are shopping for clothes, have you ever noticed that your sizing may differ at certain stores and brands? If you thought you were crazy or that it was your fault that your sizes were different, we are here to reassure you that it’s not you.
Sizing has become skewed, disproportionate and varied over the past couple of decades thanks to a practice called vanity sizing or size inflation. Vanity sizing decreases the stated sizes on the tags while making the clothing the same size or larger. If you buy a size six, the pants may now be equivalent in size to an 8.
This obviously causes frustration among consumers, as it not only causes consumers to buy different sizes from what they need, but it can also hinder confidence and self-esteem. Consumers place a lot of importance on the size of their clothing and often equate size to their self-worth.
Meaning when consumers have to shop for a larger size or a smaller size because sizes are different for every brand, this can create a negative experience for the shopper. But we are here to tell you that you shouldn’t let the number on the tag determine your confidence or worth when shopping for plus size clothing.
It can be hard to disassociate from this habit that so many of us participate in, which is why we have created a guide on how to ignore inconsistent clothing sizes. By implementing some of these tips, you should be able to focus on shopping for the clothes that feel best and look great on you — regardless of the number on the tag.
Tips on How to Ignore Inconsistent Clothing Sizes
The next time you head out to the mall or shop online, try out these techniques that will help you tune out the number on the tag and help you focus on what’s most important: finding the perfect fit.
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Lean Into Your Feelings
The first step to changing a negative mindset or one that you feel no longer serves you is by leaning into that mindset and those feelings that cause you to feel bad. We give you full permission to feel all your feelings, especially when it comes to your relationship with clothing sizes and shopping, in order to identify areas where you can improve and learn how to shift your thoughts.
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Shift Your Mindset
We are constantly inundated with messages about how we should look or feel, especially when it comes to beauty and fashion. There is a lot of pressure to look a certain way or maintain a certain size and, unfortunately, those messages have been hard-wired into our brains. These views also contribute to the pressures and negative feelings we experience when shopping for clothes. To shift out of this mindset, it’s important to recognize when these feelings, messages and pressures show up most for you.
Is it when you are trying on clothing and it doesn’t fit or when you have to size up when you are shopping? When you notice these negative feelings and messages, replace them with positive affirmations like “My size doesn’t determine my worth, my curves are beautiful, I am comfortable and confident in my body.”
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Practice Body Positivity
The body positivity movement can be a powerful initiative to study and surround yourself with if you are experiencing a negative body image or self-esteem — especially when it comes to shopping for clothing. The body positive movement urges people to embrace their bodies as they are. This practice helps people shift out of equating their self-worth with their size. The body positive movement is also encouraged by many influencers and activists on social media who show people how to embrace their bodies and clothing.
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Shop for Fit and Comfort
Once you have addressed some of the underlying negative feelings that you have around shopping and sizing, it’s time to adopt some positive approaches and a new mindset around how you shop for clothing. Rather than shopping for size and basing your selection on the number on the tag, you will want to prioritize comfort and fit.
What does this mean? Well, if you take a pair of jeans into the fitting room that are in your size and they don’t fit, you simply choose the next one or two sizes up to see how those feel and fit you. If they fit, that’s awesome! We bet they also feel comfortable, too. Instead of feeling bad about not fitting into your typical size, you should try to feel great about finding a pair of jeans that are comfortable.
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Find Social Media Influencers or Figures Who Are Your Size
As you shift into a new mindset around sizing and fit, it could be helpful and fun to follow influencers or figures on social media who share your same size. You will find that these figures also experience issues with sizing, which can help normalize the struggles you face, too.
It’s always nice to find someone who is experiencing the exact thing you are and, usually, these influencers and figures have unique solutions and outlooks on these circumstances. Through this practice, you may also find cute new styles, as these fashionistas share their wardrobe and talk about wearing plus size tops and the sizes they ordered.
While these are great practices to try out on your next shopping trip, don’t become discouraged if you find yourself falling back into the sizing trap where you pin your self-worth to the number on the tag. These can be difficult habits to change since we have all been inundated with unrealistic beauty and body standards our entire lives. Remember to have patience with yourself as you navigate this new mindset.
Another thing: Sizing isn’t standardized, and it is very different everywhere and from brand to brand. So, whether you are used to finding your perfect size or wearing the same size, it’s very common for most women to have up to three different sizes in their wardrobe. You aren’t alone in having to wear a variety of sizes to find the most perfect and true fit.