It’s happened with every woman going clothes shopping. You spot a nice dress, check the size (nice, it’s in your size!) and decide to go try it on. And, boom it’s not. Either it’s getting stuck in some curves you never knew existed, or its hanging ungainly off parts of you. And suddenly you have a sympathetic person telling you to “maybe try something from the men’s section” or god forbid, “the kids’ section”
Happens to most of us, if not all. I used to be routinely told to go buy things from the men’s section, even though I’m not extremely heavily built, though on the tall-ish side. The question is: why? Do clothes companies not make clothes in women’s sizes? I’m a woman and in order to find clothes my size, I shouldn’t have to go to the men’s section because I’m too ‘large’. Ditto for those who have to go to the kids section, because they’re too ‘small’.
Women’s clothing sizes have proved a problem over the ages and it’s something that continues to this day. And part of the reason is the patriarchal idea that women have to ‘conform’ to a body size to even consider fitting into the clothes that companies make. As if women who are anything less (or more!) than the ‘ideal’ size shouldn’t fit into women’s clothes! Women’s clothes also have a tendency to be less utilitarian (no pockets? Fake pockets? Not warm enough sweaters?) And it’s time we ask why.
If you’ve ever faced this problem or have been body shamed for not having the ‘right’ body size at a clothing store, we want to hear about it. Share your story with us using #MoreThanOneSize in the title!