What Is Up with Sizing?

I don't know what size I am.

This is not because I've changed size. I've been the same weight and shape, basically, since my teens.

Now, I started out in a size 10-12, but I wore my clothing much looser back then (per the fashion), and it was a revelation to me that I was actually an 8. And I'll believe it (why not?). I'll believe that I've been an 8 this whole time. Sure.

That's basically what I've been wearing since I found that the size fits me.

But then you get the stretch material. In stretch material, I can pull off a 6. Because of the forgiving material, I don't bulge, and the way the fabric fits, it acts like a little makeshift corset, toning and curving, not squishing and jamming.

Yay! I've gone from a size 12 to a size 6, just by wearing differently styled clothing. Amazing.

And I'll take it. Why not?

What I won't accept, what I cannot accept is that I am a size 2. That I am an extra small. What the hell? That's not even complimentary, that's just confusing.

Last summer, my husband bought me a pair of white shorts and a little black dress from White / Black. He checked my closet for appropriate sizing and bought me size 10 shorts and a large dress.

They fell off. Literally fell off.

He was so disappointed.

So, I went back to the store to exchange them. I tried the 8. Then the 6. Then the 4. Then the 2. I'm a 2.

The dress? I tried the medium. Then the small. I got the small, and it's still too big. But I just could not imagine that I would be an extra small. I should have gotten the extra small.

Me.

I'm five-foot, nine-inches tall. I weigh 145 pounds. I have 42-inch hips.

I think this gives a fairly accurate representation of my size.

This has nothing to do with self-image or confidence. I'm happy with myself. That doesn't change the fact that I am not a size two, and I'm not an extra small.

Vanity sizing is out of control. I mean, I know you can just try stuff on, but wouldn't it be nice to kind of have a range and not have to eyeball it and then be completely wrong? It's harder for me because with twins, I'm either shopping with them or during nap time, so sometimes I don't try things on at all. I just accept that I'll probably have to bring them back.

I'm thinking about this because I went shopping last week and got a skirt and a pair of shorts. They had two sizes on them. In Australia, they were a 12. In the United States, they were an 8. And I was confused. I ended up getting them, after asking the associate if the 8 was a true 8. She said yes, that the clothes there fit her in her normal size.

Lies.

They're too big. By far. And that's strange to me. Because with my hip size, I simply should not be smaller than an 8, unless we're going to redo the whole system.

Simply put, if I'm an extra small at Black / White, what the hell are the 50 percent of the people who are smaller than me wearing? Do they have to go to children's sizes? Negatives? Nano sizes?

I guess I should just relax about the whole thing and enjoy my new status as fashion-model size.

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