I didn’t notice this until I browsed J.Crew’s latest pieces where sizes 000 and XXXS are now available in its regular sizing (petites still end at XXSP and 00P). Even as a relatively tiny person, I think it’s getting a bit too crazy. Do women really have such low self-esteem that they need to feel that they’re as small as possible to make purchases? For me, it’s more of an “as long as something fits.” Size 000 is, according to the size chart, for people with a 23″ waist (and unlike most body image activist groups, I have no problems with people with 23″ waists. I know that there are people smaller-framed than me and they’re perfectly healthy). I don’t have the old charts with me, but from what I recall, 23″ used to mean a 00. And why isn’t there 000P? Shorter women are more likely to be super tiny-framed than average-heighted ladies.
What’s the deal with sizes 000 and XXXS??
Some measurement info for “regular” sizes (ideal for approximately 5’4″ to 5’8″)
So how many zeros do we have to get to? Why can’t they just stop at size 0 and just add additional sizes on the other end? Because it would otherwise look like they’re catering to the plus size market? I love J.Crew, but this is just nuts. Being a 00 is bad enough (because all those body image activist sites think you’re sick), but what if I start hovering down to 000 (because this could very well happen considering how clothes tend to get ever so slightly bigger each season)? People already roll their eyes when I tell them my size. Because, you know, you’re not supposed to be smaller than a 2 (and a lot of people don’t really get the whole vanity sizing thing). I know that J.Crew has recently opened stores in Hong Kong, where people tend to be slimmer (I get a lot of “OMG, you’re sooooooo tiny” here in Canada, but there, I’m just “normal thin”), but if 000 is the equivalent to a 00 from, say, 2010, then why can’t they just revert back to 2010 sizing? Or are they just trying to please formerly size 14 individuals who have become larger?
Notice that 00P has similar bust and waist measurements to a regular 000. I think petite sizes (5’4″ and shorter) should start at 000P as there are people with 22″ waists
Tall sizes (over 5’8″, usually) start at 00. In my opinion, it should start at size 0 – tall people are more likely to be wider-proportioned
As you can tell, I’m not really pleased about this. Vanity sizing has got to stop because stores are just putting ideas in our heads. Just because you were a size 8 two years ago and can now wear size 6 doesn’t mean you are any skinnier now. The numbers are there. You can take measurements. You can be weighed. You can even put on your old size 8s and realize that it still fits you perfectly, even though you are now purchasing size 6. Please, just stick with 0-14, with 0 being a 23″ waist and make it true to size (that way, I’ll be a 2 rather than 0). That was what things were like when I was an undergrad, some 15 years ago. Now 0 is a 25″ waist. Something is wrong, don’t you think?
Image credits: All size charts via jcrew.com
