by Leonore Dicker
Picture this: you’re in a shop and find that perfect pair of pants you’ve always wanted. You look around and notice that it’s the last one. Your heart stops: it must be a sign. You check the size and sadly notice it’s too small; your world crumbles. Sounds familiar?
This anecdote –which happens a little too often to our liking– made us wonder how clothing size actually came to exist and evolve.
Funnily enough, clothing size was only invented in the early 1800s, before which garbs were fitted, either by tailors or at home. At that point tailors started to notice just how little the range of human body dimension actually was and decided to simplify their job by creating different sizes, marking the beginning of ready-to-wear, which only became widespread in the early 1900s.
Although convenient, clothing at the time did not fit customers properly, as standardized measurements weren’t put into place, meaning that manufacturers each had their own sizing system. A size 6 in one shop did not match another’s, which often required consumers to either return the garbs or get alterations done, and seeing as the difference between two sizes is approximately of 10-15 pounds (5-7 kg), it was quite a stitch.
Since there needed to be change, in 1937, the US Department of Agriculture began conducting a survey to create a standard system on women’s measurements. Another study took place in 1941, which got scrutinized by the National Bureau of Standards to finally only be put into effect in 1957. Unluckily enough for… well everyone, the study no longer applied as the female body had changed from the corset structure to the broader and taller build of the sixties. It sadly took another 10 years for the study to be updated, and in 1971 adjustments were made – yet not necessarily respected.
In the eighties, designers started their own little system, still very much in place today, known as “vanity sizing”– creating larger garbs labeled with smaller sizes to flatter the consumer. A size 8 dress in 1967 for instance, is nowadays considered a size 0.
As a result of “vanity sizing”, a new scandalous size had to be invented in 2006: size 00. Since sizes kept getting larger because the average woman was too, there needed to be a size for those who maintained their proper weight, which resulted in size 00.
Can we expect a 000 anytime soon? Only time will tell.
Picture this: you’re in a shop and find that perfect pair of pants you’ve always wanted. You look around and notice that it’s the last one. Your heart stops: it must be a sign. You check the size and sadly notice it’s too small; your world crumbles. Sounds familiar?
This anecdote –which happens a little too often to our liking– made us wonder how clothing size actually came to exist and evolve.
Funnily enough, clothing size was only invented in the early 1800s, before which garbs were fitted, either by tailors or at home. At that point tailors started to notice just how little the range of human body dimension actually was and decided to simplify their job by creating different sizes, marking the beginning of ready-to-wear, which only became widespread in the early 1900s.
Although convenient, clothing at the time did not fit customers properly, as standardized measurements weren’t put into place, meaning that manufacturers each had their own sizing system. A size 6 in one shop did not match another’s, which often required consumers to either return the garbs or get alterations done, and seeing as the difference between two sizes is approximately of 10-15 pounds (5-7 kg), it was quite a stitch.
Since there needed to be change, in 1937, the US Department of Agriculture began conducting a survey to create a standard system on women’s measurements. Another study took place in 1941, which got scrutinized by the National Bureau of Standards to finally only be put into effect in 1957. Unluckily enough for… well everyone, the study no longer applied as the female body had changed from the corset structure to the broader and taller build of the sixties. It sadly took another 10 years for the study to be updated, and in 1971 adjustments were made – yet not necessarily respected.
In the eighties, designers started their own little system, still very much in place today, known as “vanity sizing”– creating larger garbs labeled with smaller sizes to flatter the consumer. A size 8 dress in 1967 for instance, is nowadays considered a size 0.
As a result of “vanity sizing”, a new scandalous size had to be invented in 2006: size 00. Since sizes kept getting larger because the average woman was too, there needed to be a size for those who maintained their proper weight, which resulted in size 00.
Can we expect a 000 anytime soon? Only time will tell.
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