A Fool's Spring Closet Try-On!

TW: weight gain and loss, plus clothing sizing, fatphobia, body dysmorphia.

I took the nice weather and having some energy yesterday to try on some of the things in my closet that I haven't put on in awhile, to see if it even still fits. And the most surprising pieces do and don't fit!

A little storytime about my size and clothing sizes over the years - at 18 years old, in 2000, I was a perfect Lane Bryant size 18. I could go into Lane Bryant and put anything in a size 18 on my body and it would fit like a glove. Everyone from Lane Bryant associates to my friends told me that I should apply for the brand modeling calls (I never did).

Now, I was also a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, an organization for middle ages recreation. This included sewing your own medieval clothing for events, so I knew my measurements - my hips were, on average, 48" around. My waist was 38", this is the first time in my life that I haven't had a perfect hourglass figure at 48"-38"-48".

I just now took my measurements. 47"-35"-41.5".

I currently have two pieces of denim bottoms in my wardrobe right now - a pair of Lane Bryant bootcut jeans size 18L that I bought in 2019, and a pair of Lane Bryant jorts, size 18 that I thrifted last year, but they look pretty new. Both fit my 35" waist perfectly. The jeans are a comfortably loose fit.

I just checked Lane Bryant's website. They claim a size 18 fits a 46" -40" -48". I couldn't button these jeans at that size. This particular pair was my "goal jeans." By my measurements, I should be in a size 12/14, but considering how these size 18's fit, there's no way I can fit in anything smaller than a 16, and it would be uncomfortably tight. Torrid looks to be the same way, I have a pair of knit leggings in what I thought was a Torrid size 2 but that look to be a size 3, that fit me really well. They're supposed to be a size 22/24 for a 44"-48" waist and 54"-58" hips. I have never been that size, even at my heaviest, though I was definitely wearing size 22/24 at my heaviest a few years ago. And I should currently be in a 00/0 in Torrid's sizing, by their official size chart.

Are these garments stretchy? Yes. Are they "accommodate two to three sizes larger than I currently am" stretchy? Absolutely not. More like "can currently comfortably wear to an all you can eat buffet" stretchy.

Which means that a Lane Bryant size 18 is 3" smaller in the waist than it was 26 years ago. And is 5" smaller in the waist than advertised. Torrid's size discrepancy is even wider.

This is why people freak out when plus size labels drop their higher sizes. Those higher sizes are a lot smaller than they used to be. And the opposite of vanity sizing is happening here... shame sizing? Which means that if you shop exclusively at these plus size retailers, you're going to think you're a solid two sizes bigger than you really are.

Now, the fatphobia crowd would answer with "jUsT LoSe ThE wEiGhT" which is, of course, the least helpful advice ever. Say they do lose the weight, what are they going to wear while they're doing so? Clothing is a human right, not a privilege for the people who fit the society's body image. And if the society is going to insist on convenience eating with filler ingredients to subsidize genetically modified industrial farming, the society is going to have to offer true expanded clothing sizes. And accessible health care, but I digress.

This also adds to some serious body dysmorphia, which women do not need any more of in their lives. I have thankfully done the work mentally as well as physically, and I know that clothing sizing is a whole pile of bullshit in this country, but imagine being a person like me who has lost 70lbs, a major accomplishment, but you still fit into what the label says is a size 18, which should fit someone 5" bigger than you, and you cannot fit your actual size and have to back up two sizes bigger than you actually are. You're being fully gaslit by your own clothing. If I have to lose another 5" to fit a Lane Bryant size 14, I will look sickly. I will be sickly at that weight. And these are PLUS SIZES. These are the sizes you're supposed to be losing your way out of, so of course they want to hold onto their clientele any way possible. I'm certainly never ever going to chase a number on a tag, my supposedly size 18 jeans and jorts are perfectly comfortable, thank you. But not every woman knows this, we're raised from birth to chase those numbers, no matter what kind of harm it does to our bodies and mental health.

Now, you're probably going to say "where's the proof?" so here's the proof. Go ahead and check the metadata, these were freshly taken (11am on 2/19/26) on my iPhone SE 2020, of me, wearing the garments, along with pictures of the tags of said garments.

In "I told you I was a lingerie model," here's the jorts:

The size 22/24 Torrid leggings (if you think that may be another size, let me know) :

And the Lane Bryant jeans:

So, if you go into the store, and you're trying on new clothes, and you find yourself in a size far bigger than you've ever been in before, but your weight hasn't fluctuated that much... it might not be you, and that number is just a number.