slight rant about clothes sizing

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a lovely New Year's Eve and are enjoying the first day of 2013. This post is slightly related to NYE as I was looking for a nice dress to wear. A week ago I saw this beautiful dress in Mango and I fell in love with it instantly. You know, the kind of dress you believe is your dream dress and you would actually be willing to buy, despite it being above your normal budget for clothes.

You can't see it very well on this picture, but the transparent material has gold sparkles that seem very festive and ideal for NYE. So despite it costing 50 euros, which is way more than I would usually spend on a dress, I was very tempted to buy it. And when the sales started, I was even more tempted as it may be reduced and I decided, even if it does cost 50 euros, I'd still buy it. 

So I go to Mango with my sister, find it in both L and XL, so everything was looking good at this point. I tried the XL on first and... it didn't fit. Now being a size 16 (sometimes 18), I was expecting an XL to fit. And by didn't fit, I  should elaborate by saying it squished my boobs down and I could have got it to fit, but it wouldn't have looked very nice.

So there I was, thinking maybe I had overindulged over Christmas and I'd gained a bit too much. But then I looked at the tag and apparently XL (their biggest size) is a UK size 14, or a size 42 in Luxembourg. Now I wasn't aware that 14 was considered XL, but apparently Mango is a Spanish brand, which means the sizes are quite a lot smaller. 

Now, what annoys me is that they only stock to a size 14. Okay, they're not the only brand that only stocks to a size 14 (isn't that right, Motel?) but the fact that a 14 is considered XL really bugs me (for reference, a 14 in Motel is an L). Does that mean a size 16 is XXL? Size 18 XXXL? Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? 

Most brands stock to at least a size 18, perhaps they have a specific range for larger sizes, but the main thing is that if you're a size 16, you can still find nice clothes in most shops. It's not really fair that certain shops don't stock to an 18. It's like they're saying 'No, you have to be smaller to shop here'. In a way, it's their loss because they lose a customer (or more) because of their narrow range of sizes. But it's still me who feels upset because I quite liked that dress. I'm also quite happy with my size. Ok, I could lose a bit of weight from my tummy and face, but I don't want to go on a mega diet to drop a few sizes. And why should I? Yet still, the fact remains that I now feel that I can be considered as too fat for certain clothes when I am not actually grossly overweight.

Generally, you are excluded from certain shops as you can't afford their clothes. Nowadays it seems you're judged on your size as well, what with the size zero craze over in Hollywood. It disappoints me that you're not only limited in where you shop by your budget, but also by your size. And as I said before, it's a silly notion as limiting your audience means you could also potentially be limiting your profit. Maybe that doesn't apply to designer brands, but I think it does to high street ones. 

hat

So now that I know that Mango doesn't stock clothes in my size, I'll avoid it and stick to shops that do. Of course, it is a shame as I wanted to branch out from where I shop, but I guess I'll have to try somewhere else.