What Clothing Size Are You Really?

Awhile back, The New York Times published a story highlighting the differences in clothing sizes for various brands. They say: if you’re a size 8 at Marc Jacobs, you’ll be a size 4 at Dolce & Gabbana. We say: who the heck can afford to shop at Marc Jacobs?

Ridiculous high fashion examples aside, they do have a point. We’ve all been shopping and noticed that the 8 at one store is tighter than the 6 at another. Did that Mrs. Fields cookie make its way to our hips already? Likely not. The real reason: different clothing brands have different sizing systems. But just how varied is it?

Click here to see four women find their “real” size.

To find out, we took four women to the mall to try on real clothes, at real stores we all shop at (sooo, swap the D&G with H&M). At each store they tried on clothes until they found the size that fit them best. And as you can probably guess, it was a different size at almost every store. Read on to see just how varied sizes are at different stores — heck, even within the stores themselves.

The whole point of this little exercise: To remind ourselves what we already know. That the number in our jeans is just that; a number. Not a measure of our self worth or a reason to try that cayenne pepper cleanse. Maybe now we can stop focusing on our “size” and just buy clothes that fit.

Editor’s note: Our super-cool volunteers were brave enough to not only get photographed wearing a million different outfits, but also to broadcast their size on the Internet. They’re not models, just regular gals like you and me. So let’s all be cool too and refrain from any negative comments about them. But as for the clothing companies confusing the heck out of us with inconsistent sizing? Go nuts.

Click here to see four women find their “real” size.