See What Size You *Should* Be Trying On at Your Fave Stores
The biggest pain of shopping should be finding your size in stock. The rest: expecting a certain fit, trying it on and feeling GOOD, should all be givens once you’ve nailed down your number. But for most shoppers, no matter what your body type, it’s way more complicated than that. Measurements that determine sizes aren’t standard across retailers, so even if you’re not distorting your own specs, buying a new pair of jeans can easily turn into an all day fit fest where you emerge with the most flattering garment in a WTF number.
To make it a little easier to navigate the retail space, the personalized clothing site Fitbay that hacked the system by matching women with the garments from major retailers that will fit their measurements best, released a vanity sizing cheat sheet for shoppers to more easily detect which retailers size down so you fit in “smaller” sizes, which label their garments true-to-size and which brands run small. After analyzing data of what sizes Fitbay’s users were buying and what worked best for them, it came up with this handy infographic. Take a look:
Keep this bookmarked the next time you go shopping for knits at J.Crew or a boho frock at Free People: 50+% of female Fitbay users who shop there wear a size small or under, so Fitbay recommends you try on a size down. If you’re eyeing those colorful basics at American Apparel or chic trousers at Zara, go a size up; about 70% of shoppers wear a size medium or larger (and that most likely includes you). ASOS, Old Navy and H&M all run “average” for Fitbay users, so your size should be less of a surprise at those stores. Hey, it’s not quite a personal shopper, but demystifying any little quirk helps.
How do you stay sane navigating sizing at different clothing stores? What shopping hacks do you have to make the experience more streamlined? Tell us in the comments below.
(h/t + Image Racked)