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February 10, 2004
women's clothes sizing
ok, xa and i hit upon a baffling subject today-- the distinction between juniors, misses, and women's sizes in clothing.
here's my understanding:
- the distinction between misses and women's is one of size, not of proportion. in misses, the clothes are cut for wide hips just as women's are, but a size 18 misses is smaller than a size 18 womens. (I do know that 18 and 20 exists in both realms, having shopped in both realms in the last couple of years.)
- the distinction between juniors and misses is not only one of size (and i don't know if the sizes overlap as they do in misses/womens), but also one of cut-- juniors are cut for girls who have not yet developed curves and have flat hips, etc.
- plus sizes are a different animal entirely, and are usually just 1x, 2x, etc. they seem to be cut more to drape than to fit. horrible.
but now that i write this out, it doesn't entirely make sense. xa says misses is cut for flatter hips than women's is. and that does make more logical sense.
however, i suspect that logic actually has little to do with all of this, and the fact that most women seem to find this subject confusing is not an accident.
so do any of you readers have more of a clue than we do? i did some halfhearted googles for an explanation of this and didn't get anywhere.
Posted by lisa at February 10, 2004 02:57 PM | TrackBack
Comments
My Vogue Sewing Book has a very clear explanation of the difference. Remind me to show it to you guys. It's from 1970, so things might have changed a bit, but probably not totally.
Posted by: Sarah on February 10, 2004 04:52 PM
Sometimes I think women's/plus are just cut all-over-bigger, which is why they fit so terribly. I think misses' (or missy) is cut for hips and bust, and juniors are cut for those without hips or bust, usually younger girls.
I once had a woman tell me that she always thought the "w" as in "16w" stood for "wide". When I told her it stood for "women's" she felt foolish, indeed.
Posted by: pinky on February 10, 2004 05:59 PM
maybe it's because i have a giant ass and a giant bosom, but "women's/plus" sizes fit me quite well. if they're cut right. (i've finally learned that i need blouses that have darts at both the bust and up the front. pants have no rules though... you just gotta try everything on, regardless of what department it's in.)
i once saw a teenager trying on a nice women's-sized flared jean jacket (one that i eventually bought for myself), and it looked terrible on her. i think because she didn't have the bust for it.
but she also had those low-cut jeans on (who in the hell decided those were a good idea??!?) so perhaps that was souring her whole look.
Posted by: christa on February 11, 2004 12:02 AM
ok, so a) your comment won't post right away because i have to approve it first and b) you might get a server error but your comment probably posted anyway and c) previewing doesn't work so i've removed the preview button.