6 ms·

This is one of those "no stupid questions" type questions: why are there so many more sizes for women? Men's sizes don't fit perfectly either, but it seems lik

by bin0 7y ago

This is one of those "no stupid questions" type questions: why are there so many more sizes for women? Men's sizes don't fit perfectly either, but it seems like women have more sizing options for the same struggle. Are women harder to fit? Do men just not bother with a correct fit? It also seems that at least a good number of guys can wear off-the-rack for a decent fit, but almost no women. Just a guy who doesn't understand trying to understand more. And while I'm it, many women I know don't wear dresses more than once or twice. Why? This seems wasteful.

ebg13 7y ago
> why are there so many more sizes for women? There aren't. Go down to a basic clothing store like The Gap and look at the different pants options available in the men's section. Skinny, Slim, Straight, Relaxed, Athletic, and Jogger aren't just different styles. Each style also fits differently at the same nominal measurements, because the nominal measurements for pants are waist + inseam but there are many more measurements that actually matter, like the ratio of your waist to thigh to calf. Pants that fit your waist might not fit your legs. Pants that fit your legs might be too tight in the waist. If a 30 Relaxed fits you, a 30 Slim probably doesn't. They aren't just styles. They are different kinds of sizes with names. > And while I'm it, many women I know don't wear dresses more than once or twice. Why? This seems wasteful. Come on. Don't be a sexist caricature. > It also seems that at least a good number of guys can wear off-the-rack for a decent fit In my experience this is false. It depends, of course, on what you're willing to accept as "decent fit". I personally, for instance, would not accept a dress shirt that billows like a sail around the waist as a "decent fit". And yet good luck finding a rack men's dress shirt that doesn't do that if you are fit but not rail thin across the chest.
- bin0 7y ago
  I don't go to stores like gap, and don't really buy trendy clothes. I've never seen tons of styles like all those you mentioned, especially not in one place. My jeans are usually $20-25 a pair; I buy on-sale. I've also never really heard of the "raito of waist to thigh to calf" being used as a measurement. Maybe these sorts of things are popular among the younger "metrosexual" boys? > Now you're being a sexist caricature. How? Caricature of what? I'm relaying the exact things I've heard and seen from others. I'm really just asking a question, more "why is there this expectation of women?", and you cry "sexism"? That term is very overused.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - ebg13 7y ago
    > I don't go to stores like gap, and don't really buy trendy clothes. That's fine. But you made a totalizing claim that isn't true about men's sizes vs women's sizes. If you want to understand why your claim isn't true, perhaps you can stop into one just to look around. > I've never seen tons of styles The world is a big place with lots of variety.
  - byproxy 7y ago
    To be honest, you sound out of touch. Especially with the dropping of the "metrosexual" line. You asked why there aren't more sizes for men, received a response telling you there are, and then somewhat indignantly responded with "well, I don't shop at those places." Well, if you want to find a better fit, maybe you ought to. Old Navy (parent to Gap) sells a variety of jean sizes for a fairly low price: https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=5199&nvt=Hamburger%20Nav&nvt=Men&nvt=Shop%20by%20Category&nvt=Jeans https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=5199&nvt=Hamb...
    - bin0 7y ago
      I am probably out of touch, but I wish more people would respond with information, not rebuke. I thought metrosexual was the politically correct term these days, and that the terms traditionally used for such people are now considered offensive. What is a better word? I get a perfectly good fit, which is why I don't shop at such places. I asked because I didn't know such things were commonplace for men, precisely because I don't shop at such places. That part of the answer was informational, and something of which I was simply not aware. The "sexist caricature" part was what merited the indignance. Honestly, it seems as though I'm being rebuked simply because I'm not a fashionista. The first respondant referred to Gap as a "basic" clothing store; I always thought of it as high-end. I didn't grow up in a situation where we shopped at exoensive stores: not poor, just not that rich. I never fell out of those habits, I guess.
      - 7y ago
- byproxy 7y ago
  > I personally, for instance, would not accept a dress shirt that billows like a sail around the waist as a "decent fit". Though, could be a style, a la: https://i.pinimg.com/474x/44/99/04/449904cf74d56a096b1f5bb60e01d01d--james-patrick-jimmy-page.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/474x/44/99/04/449904cf74d56a096b1f5bb60... I think some fit concerns could be mitigated by having a more diverse range of sizes of models. Women's clothing brands seem to be more open to showing a diverse range of sizes whereas men's clothing is still filled with models at least 6'0" of slim to athletic build. Case in point, check the difference in body type diversity between the Everlane men's and women's clothing sections: https://www.everlane.com/collections/womens-all https://www.everlane.com/collections/womens-all https://www.everlane.com/collections/mens-all https://www.everlane.com/collections/mens-all
  - ebg13 7y ago
    > I think some fit concerns could be mitigated by having a more diverse range of sizes of models Maybe. I think fit concerns would be mitigated if places stopped lying about the fit of their clothing by secretly clipping all of their mannequins and models in the back. https://jezebel.com/pinning-clothing-so-it-fits-the-mannequin-better-is-the-511901319 https://jezebel.com/pinning-clothing-so-it-fits-the-mannequi...
    - bin0 7y ago
      That seems like it would cause size deflation, the opposite of what has been happening? If I'm overweight, I might look, cknsider that I am bigger than that, and get a larger size? Also, what on God's Green Earth is a "Pineapple Commonwealth"? It's clearly a fake indirect reference to something, but I'm not sure what.
      - ebg13 7y ago
        > Also, what on God's Green Earth is a "Pineapple Commonwealth"? It's clearly a fake indirect reference to something, but I'm not sure what. Banana Republic
- nitrogen 7y ago
  > > And while I'm it, many women I know don't wear dresses more than once or twice. Why? This seems wasteful. > Come on. Don't be a sexist caricature. This is a very uncharitable reading of the question, and a personal insult is a very unhelpful response. When someone doesn't know something, saying "Stop being an idiot" doesn't help anything.

by bin0 7y ago

ebg13 7y ago

> why are there so many more sizes for women? There aren't. Go down to a basic clothing store like The Gap and look at the different pants options available in the men's section. Skinny, Slim, Straight, Relaxed, Athletic, and Jogger aren't just different styles. Each style also fits differently at the same nominal measurements, because the nominal measurements for pants are waist + inseam but there are many more measurements that actually matter, like the ratio of your waist to thigh to calf. Pants that fit your waist might not fit your legs. Pants that fit your legs might be too tight in the waist. If a 30 Relaxed fits you, a 30 Slim probably doesn't. They aren't just styles. They are different kinds of sizes with names. > And while I'm it, many women I know don't wear dresses more than once or twice. Why? This seems wasteful. Come on. Don't be a sexist caricature. > It also seems that at least a good number of guys can wear off-the-rack for a decent fit In my experience this is false. It depends, of course, on what you're willing to accept as "decent fit". I personally, for instance, would not accept a dress shirt that billows like a sail around the waist as a "decent fit". And yet good luck finding a rack men's dress shirt that doesn't do that if you are fit but not rail thin across the chest.

bin0 7y ago
I don't go to stores like gap, and don't really buy trendy clothes. I've never seen tons of styles like all those you mentioned, especially not in one place. My jeans are usually $20-25 a pair; I buy on-sale. I've also never really heard of the "raito of waist to thigh to calf" being used as a measurement. Maybe these sorts of things are popular among the younger "metrosexual" boys? > Now you're being a sexist caricature. How? Caricature of what? I'm relaying the exact things I've heard and seen from others. I'm really just asking a question, more "why is there this expectation of women?", and you cry "sexism"? That term is very overused.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- ebg13 7y ago
  > I don't go to stores like gap, and don't really buy trendy clothes. That's fine. But you made a totalizing claim that isn't true about men's sizes vs women's sizes. If you want to understand why your claim isn't true, perhaps you can stop into one just to look around. > I've never seen tons of styles The world is a big place with lots of variety.
- byproxy 7y ago
  To be honest, you sound out of touch. Especially with the dropping of the "metrosexual" line. You asked why there aren't more sizes for men, received a response telling you there are, and then somewhat indignantly responded with "well, I don't shop at those places." Well, if you want to find a better fit, maybe you ought to. Old Navy (parent to Gap) sells a variety of jean sizes for a fairly low price: https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=5199&nvt=Hamburger%20Nav&nvt=Men&nvt=Shop%20by%20Category&nvt=Jeans https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=5199&nvt=Hamb...
  - bin0 7y ago
    I am probably out of touch, but I wish more people would respond with information, not rebuke. I thought metrosexual was the politically correct term these days, and that the terms traditionally used for such people are now considered offensive. What is a better word? I get a perfectly good fit, which is why I don't shop at such places. I asked because I didn't know such things were commonplace for men, precisely because I don't shop at such places. That part of the answer was informational, and something of which I was simply not aware. The "sexist caricature" part was what merited the indignance. Honestly, it seems as though I'm being rebuked simply because I'm not a fashionista. The first respondant referred to Gap as a "basic" clothing store; I always thought of it as high-end. I didn't grow up in a situation where we shopped at exoensive stores: not poor, just not that rich. I never fell out of those habits, I guess.
    - 7y ago
byproxy 7y ago
> I personally, for instance, would not accept a dress shirt that billows like a sail around the waist as a "decent fit". Though, could be a style, a la: https://i.pinimg.com/474x/44/99/04/449904cf74d56a096b1f5bb60e01d01d--james-patrick-jimmy-page.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/474x/44/99/04/449904cf74d56a096b1f5bb60... I think some fit concerns could be mitigated by having a more diverse range of sizes of models. Women's clothing brands seem to be more open to showing a diverse range of sizes whereas men's clothing is still filled with models at least 6'0" of slim to athletic build. Case in point, check the difference in body type diversity between the Everlane men's and women's clothing sections: https://www.everlane.com/collections/womens-all https://www.everlane.com/collections/womens-all https://www.everlane.com/collections/mens-all https://www.everlane.com/collections/mens-all
- ebg13 7y ago
  > I think some fit concerns could be mitigated by having a more diverse range of sizes of models Maybe. I think fit concerns would be mitigated if places stopped lying about the fit of their clothing by secretly clipping all of their mannequins and models in the back. https://jezebel.com/pinning-clothing-so-it-fits-the-mannequin-better-is-the-511901319 https://jezebel.com/pinning-clothing-so-it-fits-the-mannequi...
  - bin0 7y ago
    That seems like it would cause size deflation, the opposite of what has been happening? If I'm overweight, I might look, cknsider that I am bigger than that, and get a larger size? Also, what on God's Green Earth is a "Pineapple Commonwealth"? It's clearly a fake indirect reference to something, but I'm not sure what.
    - ebg13 7y ago
      > Also, what on God's Green Earth is a "Pineapple Commonwealth"? It's clearly a fake indirect reference to something, but I'm not sure what. Banana Republic
nitrogen 7y ago
> > And while I'm it, many women I know don't wear dresses more than once or twice. Why? This seems wasteful. > Come on. Don't be a sexist caricature. This is a very uncharitable reading of the question, and a personal insult is a very unhelpful response. When someone doesn't know something, saying "Stop being an idiot" doesn't help anything.