Could someone PLEASE explain (preferably if you work in the clothing industry)

[Mrs. Edge]

WHY it is that "Women's" clothes are now a euphemism for "plus" and regular-sized women are now "Misses"??? What am I now a tween or a teenager? Am I less of a woman now that I am below size 14? I suppose this is meant to be flattering but I find it totally ridiculous. When did this change happen? It must be pretty recent, but it's EVERYWHERE now. What is wrong with simply having a plus section, or just having all the sizes together under the women's section?!?!?

Is it just me, or does this annoy anyone else?

 

[Bonochick]

It's been that way for quite awhile. I used to work in a women's clothing store...I also worked for a store in their misses branch when I was in high school...so I have about 3.5 years total experience with that company.

Think about it though...if you're a size 14+, would you rather be thought of as wearing a plus size or a women's size? Women's sounds a lot nicer than "plus".

For stores that do sell misses and womens sizes...yeah, you COULD just have them all together. However, styles that you find in misses usually aren't also available in womens, which is another reason to keep them separate. Also, if you wear a size 6 and are trying to find an outfit, having less sizes to root through makes it easier. You don't need to weed through the sizes 14+ in addition to the other misses sizes.

Also, a women's 14 is different from a misses 14...different cuts.

I don't find it annoying. I think it makes sense.

 

[anitram]

OK, this must be an American thing because I haven't seen that up here in Toronto at all. I do see them sometimes separating the petites, but usually that just means size 6 or smaller, or more fitted clothes, shorter pants, etc.

 

[Mrs. Edge]

Exactly anitram, it is an American thing. I had never heard of it until I got here, and it doesn't seem to bother the Americans, which surprises me. I can't believe that feminists of any size are happy to be called "misses".

Thanks BC for the information though, it was interesting. I didn't realise a plus 14 was different from a "misses" 14. What is different exactly?

I want to make it clear that I don't have any problem with people not wanting to be called "plus", and to be named "women's" does make sense, but then why do the rest of us have to be named something so silly? Can you see all these professional lawyers and accountants in their late 40s shopping as "misses"? It just seems ridiculous to me.

Can you imagine if the men's section had "Men" instead of Big and Tall and "Young laddies" for the regular sized men? There's NO WAY that would ever fly.

Not only that, but now that "plus" has been re-named, everyone knows that "women" is a euphemism for plus, so I don't see what difference it makes because it's still essentially the plus section!

I think it would make soooooooooooooooooo much more sense just to go by measurements the way the men do. That way a 28" pair of pants is just that, and there's no wondering if this 14 is the same as that 14, or this size ten "runs small" etc....it's all so tiresome....

Just food for discussion, that's all.

 

[indra]

At least the section isn't called the Ma'am department.

 

[arw]

WHY it is that "Women's" clothes are now a euphemism for "plus" and regular-sized women are now "Misses"??? What am I now a tween or a teenager? Am I less of a woman now that I am below size 14? I suppose this is meant to be flattering but I find it totally ridiculous. When did this change happen? It must be pretty recent, but it's EVERYWHERE now. What is wrong with simply having a plus section, or just having all the sizes together under the women's section?!?!?

Is it just me, or does this annoy anyone else?

I worked at a department store in high school...so maybe 14 years ago ( ) plus several other retail places since. Every store I've ever worked in has had the same structure; the plus size dept is the "women's," the regular size dept is "misses." I've NEVER heard of the plus size dept being called "plus." It's always been the women's department. It hasn't been renamed from plus to women's....at least not in the last 14 years!

I'm short and need to buy everything in petite. I would be really annoyed if the petite pants were all mixed in with the misses stuff.


For men, they also do have names to differentiate the style or size of clothing. "Young men's" is generally the place where jeans, tee's, sweatshirts are sold, even though my 60 year old father would buy something from that department. It's just retail lingo that maybe I got used to a long time ago. I don't think my dad is offended from buying a sweatshirt in "young men's" instead of just "men's." The "men's" dept is generally the more professional style of clothing.

I work in an industry where I deal with accountants and lawyers on a daily basis. Most of them were jeans and sweatshirts to work everyday! I'm sure they're ok with buying them from "misses"

 

[Mrs. Edge]

Well, there you have it! I guess I just assumed the generic department store in Canada had the same labeling as the US and that this was a recent change, but I guess not! It must be just so ingrained into the culture that it doesn't seem odd to anyone.

At least I know what section to shop in now. Thanks for the replies!

 

[bammo2]

wow that all sounds really demented.

Here we just have clothes. Some shops have a section for a larger fit, but they don't really call it the plus section, and they sure as hell don't call it the 'women's' section. They just hang all the clothes on a rack, from size 6 or 8 up to usually a size 18. And then there are shops that specifically cater for larger ladies.

Am I right in thinking that what is a size 6 in the US is the same as our size 10?

 

[BluRmGrl]

"Women's", "Plus Sizes", "Ladies With More to Love"..... I don't really care what the size 14 & up section is called, but dammit is it asking too much to standardize our sizing charts? It's really exciting for me to walk into a store & be able to fit into a 12. (Thought process: Wow - I'm really losing weight. I'm so disciplined & all my sacrifice is paying off! Yaaaaay me!)

Only to go two doors down & discover that now I'm only fitted properly in a 20!!! (Thought process: WTF?!?!!? )

It's not like that for men's clothing.... if Mr. Blu wears a large in shirts, it's large at Walmart, Macy's, Target, JC Penney's, whatever.
WHYYYYYYY????


over.

 

[pgv]

Theres nothing like that over here in england.
But if you are under an 8 then you are basically in the child category. My friend is a 6 and she has to buy most of her clothes from children department. Its crap.
And im sure this misses thing is just another way to make women over a 14 feel inadequate and to catergorize us all as fat people.

 

[Muggsy]

It's not like that for men's clothing.... if Mr. Blu wears a large in shirts, it's large at Walmart, Macy's, Target, JC Penney's, whatever.
WHYYYYYYY????


over.

let's suggest a "tom cruise" size for the smallest adult men's sizes

We don't have that funny labels here... the clothes are classified in (babies), kids, and adults at the department stores, with their respective sizes, so it is more simple I guess. When I buy imported clothes I'm usually a Petite or a XS, and sometimes I look for t shirts at the kids department

 

[bammo2]

Theres nothing like that over here in england.
But if you are under an 8 then you are basically in the child category. My friend is a 6 and she has to buy most of her clothes from children department. Its crap.
And im sure this misses thing is just another way to make women over a 14 feel inadequate and to catergorize us all as fat people.

exactly.

I'm short, but a UK size 12. they do petite clothes here for short people, but those sections tend to presume that if you are short, you are also a size 8 or 10

I often buy kids shoes, and wish I could buy kids clothes, cos they're cheap as hell cos you don't have to pay VAT on them

 

[TheQuiet1]

Here we just have clothes.

Something about that statement just makes me wanna laugh.

I often buy kids shoes.

Ah shoes. The bane of my life! I'm a size 5 with a very narrow foot so I often have to buy kids shoes too. And even then they don't fit me very well!

And whilst we're on the subject of clothes- I have no idea what size I actually am because what's a size whatever in one store suddenly becomes two sizes larger in another store and in a third store it's down a size and so on.

 

[Liesje]

Hey I was wondering the same thing! A few weeks ago, I was at JC Penny looking for a black dress to wear to the Bono thing. I'd never heard of "womens" and "misses" before so it took me longer to figure out what the hell I was looking for than it did to find the dresses.

It's always been "womens", "juniors" (the clothes for ages 12-18ish), and the "womens petites" (generally smaller tops and shorter pants). Now I guess there are four catagories?

 

[greeneyedgirl]

I've been selling clothes for more than 18 years now.
So, to answer a few questions
....Womens sizes generally have fuller cuts in the bust and the shoulders/arms. The bottoms are cut a little longer in the rise.
....Petites are not just for short, skinny ladies. They are cut smaller in the shoulder and shorter in the rise. They tend to be shorter in the torso and arm lenght also.
....Sizes are different because they are all made in different factories. You can get a brand name jacket, say "Tommy H" in red made in China and a black one made in Hong Kong and get two different sizes. There is just an allowed margin for difference in sizing. I'm not sure why. You would think that an inch is an inch, a meter is a meter anywhere.
....Junior sizes usually will have a straight seam. No hips or bust
....And Misses sizes is everything else.

Mrs. Edge, its been that way for a long, long time

I have noticed that some brands tend to call attention to the sizes, though. I remember getting so upset at a company that made dresses. For Petites....the brand was 'Petite Jazz', for Misses....it was labeled 'All That Jazz', and for Womens...and this is just sooooo wrong, to me anyway, ....it was named "More Jazz'.

 

[u2bonogirl]

I don't get it either I remember walking into target one time and heading for the women's section and then wondering why everything was too big for me
It just means that I have to shop in juniors, which my body is not shaped for anymore (ahem....hips!) because thats the section that carries my size. Consequently nothing fits me right. Thank God for Gap!

 

[tuwie]

Exactly anitram, it is an American thing. I had never heard of it until I got here, and it doesn't seem to bother the Americans, which surprises me.

i think it's an American thing becuase i read in Newsweek that America has the highest percentage of overweight people, so thus i think that's probably why other countries don't have it. they dont have to battle with extremely busy lifestyles, food on the go, fast food, snacking, not enough time to exercise, etc etc.

 

[redkat]

What bothers me is that they've done this with shoes now

All the cute shoes are in now "juniors" so once you're over 18 I guess you're supposed to wear practical shoes

 

[tuwie]

^ awww really?!?! i didnt notice that. =(
well, then again, i don't go shopping alot.ha.
i already spend too much money on CDs as is.

 

[redkat]

^yes and it bothers me more than it should

example from current khols ad:

^womens

^juniors
much cuter

 

[u2bonogirl]

Hey, if my 50 year old mom can wear low-rider jeans *gag* then anybody can shop in the juniors shoe section

 

[meegannie]

they dont have to battle with extremely busy lifestyles, food on the go, fast food, snacking, not enough time to exercise, etc etc.

They don't?

 

[Angela Harlem]

They don't?

Heeeell, no. I cant speak for the rest of the world, but here we all swan around lazing about eating grapes. Even professionals are hand-fed them by their toga-clad secretaries while they consume a leisurely bottle of red. We also dont have watch market here. No need.

 

[Mrs. Edge]