A recent article in the New York Times asks the question, “What’s my REAL size?” Any woman who shops online or in a mall has faced the perplexing dilemma of no two sizes being the same. I can be a perfect 8 in the Gap, a 10 in Banana Republic, a 6 in an Ann Taylor and so on. How is this possible? How can I fluctuate three sizes in one shopping excursion? Either it’s my biggest nightmare and the hot pretzel in the food court really does add ten pounds, or there is a discrepancy between companies and size charts.
Tanya Shaw is an entrepreneur working on a system to help alleviate these problems. She has created MYBestFit, a free service that “makes it easy to find clothes that fit your body.” Apparently they are popping up in kiosks in malls across the country. I don’t know how well the system works or if it might possibly cause even more anxiety for shoppers, but it does seem to be a step in the right direction of leveling the clothing size playing field. According to MyBestFit, there is no sizing standard for apparel manufacturers, they can, quite literally, play with our minds and our bodies.
Another woman pioneering this change is Cricket Lee. Lee is on a personal mission to regulate the sizing industry with her company FITLOGIC. Her system breaks down women’s bodies into three shapes: thick waist with thin hips, curvy but proportional; and thin waist with round bottom and large thighs (sounds like pear-shape to me).
But isn’t part of the fun in shopping trying on different sizes, different styles, different looks? If everything was mapped out for us perfectly, where’s the excitement? The drama? It’s like arranged marriages, sure it seems like a simple solution but does it just open the door for more problems?
Speak Your Mind