What's Wrong with Women's Clothes

[ysabetwordsmith]

Lots of things.

Among the worst is sizing.  By this point it is basically meaningless.  I can take a whole armload of clothes into a fitting room and 0 of them fit.  It's one of several reasons I can't shop for clothes online except for extremely simple things like T-shirts.

But there's a simple fix for that issue, and people aren't thinking of it. 

1) Require designers to print the measurements of each garment.  So numbers will fit on tags, I propose:

TOPS / FULL-BODY GARMENTS
Bust at (width / distance below neckline)
Waist at (width / distance below neckline)
Hips at (width / distance below neckline)
Length (total distance between neckline and hemline) 

BOTTOMS
Waist at (width / distance below neckline)
Hips at (width / distance below neckline)
Length (total distance between neckline and hemline) 

2) Require that sizes be accurate, permitting a fault tolerance no more than 3/8 of the size difference.  If it's a half-size bigger than the label says, it's fraud.

Designers could still print their own brand sizes (Small, Medium, Large or Aardvark, Windmill, Doorbell -- whatever) because it's convenient to have an approximate idea of range.  But with physical measurements on the garments, people would have a better idea what would fit their body without needing to drag a tape measure to the store.

An alternative is expanding the use of bodyscanners, but that has rampant privacy issues in a civilization with no real privacy protections left.  If the numbers are on the clothes and required by law to be accurate, then people can carry their measurements in the privacy of their own minds and just compare those to the tags.


EDIT 2/29/20: Various folks have suggested other measurements that determine wearability.  There are many of these.  They will not ALL fit on a tag, unless it is a full sheet of paper which is unfeasible.  A scancode is useful only to people who carry a smartphone, which is not everyone. Hence, I suggest a summary of 3-4 measurements on the tag and the rest online or a separate display instore.  For reference:

See detailed lists of measurements and how to take them for WOMEN, MEN, and CHILDREN.  If you fit none of those categories or your body is quirky, consider browsing all of them to determine which measurements seem relevant to your needs.

Comments

Re: And then there's this

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Which doesn't help much for me. One of the two categories into which way too much of the nonstandard stuff in the "men's" department seems to fall is "I am so manly that my manliness overwhelms the features of this garment that you presume are feminine." Fine if one wishes to proclaim their manliness, but useless for those of us who do not.<<

Sadly so.

I confess that one of the few shades of pink I don't entirely despise is what I can rosepetal and might as well be called mobster, and another is the hot pink favored by gay men. Advertising masculinity, as you put it, from an odd angle.

On the bright side, there are more companies now that offer gender-neutral clothes, including some for adults. So that's convenient. I almost never see them in stores -- most are online -- but sometimes I get lucky.

>>Which aligns nicely with the trope that men like to count on women who can pick out their clothes for them.<<

Plenty of men do. If that works in their relationship, fine.

Re: And then there's this

[ng_moonmoth]

>> [...] the hot pink favored by gay men. Advertising masculinity, as you put it, from an odd angle. <<

Puts me in mind of the cheeky answer one of my gay friends has for the perennial "which one of you is the woman" question with the subtext of who's penetrating whom: "Neither of us. Gay men love men."

>> Plenty of men do. If that works in their relationship, fine. <<

Indeed. I was more noting that the existence of the trope supports the likelihood of the campaign's success, though.

Re: And then there's this

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Puts me in mind of the cheeky answer one of my gay friends has for the perennial "which one of you is the woman" question with the subtext of who's penetrating whom: "Neither of us. Gay men love men." <<

ZOT!

>>Indeed. I was more noting that the existence of the trope supports the likelihood of the campaign's success, though.<<

It probably does.

However, there's a business opportunity for someone to present men with this shopping experience:

"Here are my measurements, preferred colors, and work/casual requirements. I need a clothing capsule for fall/winter."

*ten minutes and a cup of coffee later*

"Here is your clothing capsule. That will be $250."

"Awesome!"

I imagine millions of men would appreciate that option. It's not that different from some current options -- there are few places selling capsules to women -- but I haven't seen anyone doing it for men. And I have observed that many men just don't want to bother with shopping. Aside from occasionally buying a statement T-shirt they see and love, most of them would rather have someone else present them with a functional set of clothes that don't suck, so they can spend their time doing something other than shopping.