I love shopping. I love clothes. I love looking at outfit inspiration on Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram. Whenever a new trend comes out or a new aesthetic becomes popular I want to restock my wardrobe with as much of it as possible. There are really only two reasons why I can’t do that. One, obviously, being that I am an unemployed college student with no money. The second, the one that I will be discussing, is that Nothing. Fits. Me.

POV: You walk into your favorite clothing store looking for a new pair of jeans. The ones you are wearing are a size 14, in a boyfriend cut. If you shop in the mens department you’re probably thinking what the hell does a size 14 mean? I cannot answer that for you. I don’t even think the people who make and size the clothes could answer that. Because when you get to the jeans section, you are overwhelmed with choices: there are different washes, lengths, styles, and fits. Some are skinny, curvy skinny, boyfriend, mom jean, loose mom jean, straight, flared…. And I can guarantee you that if the store even carries a size 14, which is so rare, none of those pairs will fit you the same way.

Shouldn’t the size of pants be based on waist size and hip size? So why, when I have a size 14 that I bought from one store, do I have to buy a 16 at another store? One time even the 16 was too tight in the waist. But the problem is, the higher the size, the longer the pant legs are. So even if the store sold a 16 and it fit me, the legs would be too long!

One quick google search on this topic brought me to a Time article from 2016 that says “brands have shifted their metrics to make shoppers feel skinnier—so much so that a women’s size 12 in 1958 is now a size 6.” Um, what?

I will never forget when my sister expressed to me that she was “getting fat” because she no longer fits in size 00 jeans and has to go up to a 0. I know we all know that the fashion industry is damaging our body image and self-esteem, but according to the article, when “shoppers prefer to buy clothing labeled with small sizes because it boosts our confidence,” it becomes even more jarring how deep the problem goes. This tactic, which I never heard of until I googled it, is referred to as “vanity sizing.” So that explains why different stores advertise clothes that fit different as the same size. Kind of.

I think it is unrealistic for the fashion industry to market clothes as “this size will fit all.” It just doesn’t make sense that we can size our clothes in a universal way because not all bodies look the same. We all have different proportions what make it impossible to have one pair of jeans fit a lot of people perfectly. I know this. I know that jeans are never sized correctly. So why do I still feel bad about myself when the jeans won’t go over my thighs?

Clothes are meant to fit us. We are not meant to fit in clothes.

Edit: I found this TikTok on this topic that I LOVED and I encourage you to watch it and maybe check out their other content!