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Sizing chaos

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Re: Sizing chaos

#371

Post by throwaway2037 »

troupo wrote: post #349
coldtea wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like, why doesn't the market solve for this? If the median woman can't buy clothing that fits in many brands, surely that's a huge marketing opportunity for any of the thousands of other clothing brands? Because - in reality it's not much of a problem. Billions of women manage to buy and wear clothes just fine. Some might fit slightly better or worse, but unless you have very special body shape (and even extreme th…

> in reality it's not much of a problem. Billions of women manage to buy and wear clothes just fine No. Billions of women don't have any other choice . Take your wife (or even better, mom) shopping for clothes. You'll learn a lot about "manage just fine". Often its a multi-hour slog through all stores trying to find just one item that doesn't look like shit, and fits somewhat well.

I push back on this "it's only a woman problem". How is this any different for men? Re-read this post, but switch the gender. It seems unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

Re: Sizing chaos

#372

Post by throwaway2037 »

Maxion wrote: post #281
fao_ wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's me, but only the first quote seems cumbersome, and wasn't very cumbersome in the article when I read it in context.

Being able to easily, and quickly read scientific literature is not a universal trait. You're in the top 1% (probably top 0.1%?) if you're able to do that and actually understand the source material. The average person has a hard time reading and fully understanding a newspaper article or cooking instructions on a pre-prepared meal.

The first paragraph is fine -- I agree. The second paragraph is a silly hyperbole that comes up over and over again on HN and needs to die. Major newspapers are written for about 8th grade level reading comprehension. Cooking instructions on a prep'd meal are probably much lower -- maybe 5th grade. The "average person" (whatever that term means) living in highly developed nations can read at 8th grade level or above.

Re: Sizing chaos

#373

Post by akpa1 »

belZaah wrote: post #352

What ticks me off in this is the statement, that a certain body shape is “unattainable for most”. I’m pretty sure the author does not have the data to back this up. Difficult? Yes. Requiring commitment? Absolutely. Unattainable? No. I really don’t care what body shape anyone is comfortable with. But as someone, who has struggled hard all his life not to be obese, I find it irresponsible to outright declare something…

There is the fundamental thing of skeletal structure and build though - people naturally are entirely different shapes, regardless of fat or excess weight, wich is what the comment is mostly referring to in my eyes.

I'm built very tall and very spindly, so there are certain body shapes that I will never have (or want, but that's a different question) purely from the point of view that my body just isn't the right base shape to produce them.

Re: Sizing chaos

#374

Post by MandieD »

mbeavitt wrote: post #126
burgerzzz wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Having briefly experienced weight loss drugs - and the bliss of that constant “EAT!” voice in your head just going quiet - I’m pretty convinced most humans have a genuine genetic predisposition to overeating. And when you zoom out to the population level, the “we’re all autonomous individuals” argument gets a lot shakier. Like yeah, at the individual level you have agency, you make choices, fine. But at scale? We are…

Humans and dogs: how many dog owners have to store their dog’s food in a bin the dog can’t get into? How many can’t leave more than one meal’s worth of food out at a time?

Until the past century or so, “eat up the available food while available” was generally a plus for survival for most populations - a person who could keep some of that excess around on them was more likely to survive a famine than their leaner peers.

Even my grandmothers (born in early 1920s Texas) remembered not always getting as much to eat as they wanted as children, and it wasn’t because their mothers were afraid of them getting fat - there just wasn’t any extra food. One of them likely did have a caloric deficit a few times here and there around age 10-12, and it showed: she was rather small.

One of my grandfathers lied his way into the Army at 16 just to be one less mouth for his mother to have to feed.

We’re really not that far separated from “eat all the food” being a health benefit.

Re: Sizing chaos

#376

Post by jakub_g »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #363

It’s worse for women, than men, but all tweens/teens have this issue, and it drives parents nuts. Also, these kids are chronically insecure, and the need to be "fashionable" is intense. I remember hating JNCO pants, for my daughter. To be fair, at least they were baggy. I have similar issues with shoes, and I’m in my 60s. My wife refuses to buy me shoes. If I buy Clarks, I’m size 9. If I buy New Balance, I’m size 10.…

I was surprised recently when browsing on Amazon (I rarely buy clothing/shoes there, but I did a few times).

I chose my usual size, but Amazon told me "nope we think you want one size smaller, based on your history and our data for this product".

Re: Sizing chaos

#377

Post by fxtentacle »

MezzoDelCammin wrote: post #342

For everyone struggling with clothes sizing and having a hacker mindset, I can't recommend enough buying a sewing machine (~100EUR on a used market, ~150 new gets you a reasonable starter one you won't outgrow any time soon) and giving clothes alterations a try. Finding a tailor that understands you / you agree with is an option too, if time is a hard limit (though I'm not sure it's altogrther that much quicker). In…

I also fixed clothing sizes for my family using a hacker mindset, but in a different way:

Did you know that most professional sewing charts are just DXF files?

And did you know that DXF is the most common file format for laser cutters?

;)

=> just let the machine cut out precisely the clothing shapes that you need

After a few tries, I also started to add small sideways cuts to the outlines as alignment markers. And then you just need to connect the pieces where you marked them while always leaving roughly 0.5 cm of gap to the laser cut line. I went with 0.5 because my sewing machine has a hardware alignment guide with that offset. And at that point, it takes a skilled tailor only mere minutes to finish a shirt, which means in exchange for their 1x hourly rate they will be willing to finish off 5x proto t-shirts for you.

Re: Sizing chaos

#379

Post by necovek »

roenxi wrote: post #249
coldtea wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like, why doesn't the market solve for this? If the median woman can't buy clothing that fits in many brands, surely that's a huge marketing opportunity for any of the thousands of other clothing brands? Because - in reality it's not much of a problem. Billions of women manage to buy and wear clothes just fine. Some might fit slightly better or worse, but unless you have very special body shape (and even extreme th…

> if some women absolutely can't find something in their size from a specific brand, that makes the brand even more exclusive, like it being "for fit people only" The elephants in the room from the raw data is it is very clear some brands do not want average middle aged women wearing their products. Anthropology seems to be the most clear about this in that they have a literal gap between their standard and plus-size…

If you are in taller than 95% for men, and reasonably fit, you might need a bigger waistline (think 36 or more), which is still the same length for pants (up to 34) with your socks showing even when standing (depending on your individual proportions), but much wider around hips and legs than you need. I imagine for shorter men, it's the inverse but equally bad.

Some brands will carry slim and extra long trousers, but if I find a model that fits (not all models from the same brand do), I immediatelly buy a few. Otherwise, I try to get tailored stuff, but that's slow and annoying.

For shirts, it's even worse: unless you can find an extra long version, you are going to be wearing a sail and your underpants/ass will pop out when you sit down. But these are easier to get sewed for you as you can just have a single tailor make many of them as needed.

So it's probably easier for median men, but sizes scale exactly the same without regard to actual proportions for simply bigger people.

Re: Sizing chaos

#380

Post by MezzoDelCammin »

fxtentacle wrote: post #377
MezzoDelCammin wrote: post #342

For everyone struggling with clothes sizing and having a hacker mindset, I can't recommend enough buying a sewing machine (~100EUR on a used market, ~150 new gets you a reasonable starter one you won't outgrow any time soon) and giving clothes alterations a try. Finding a tailor that understands you / you agree with is an option too, if time is a hard limit (though I'm not sure it's altogrther that much quicker). In…

I also fixed clothing sizes for my family using a hacker mindset, but in a different way: Did you know that most professional sewing charts are just DXF files? And did you know that DXF is the most common file format for laser cutters? ;) => just let the machine cut out precisely the clothing shapes that you need After a few tries, I also started to add small sideways cuts to the outlines as alignment markers. And th…

Oh, I'm not claiming sewing machine is the "only" option :-)

There's plenty of hacking that can be done on the subject of sewing and I admit that laser cutter is a cool one.

I'm still pretty partial to that sewing machine route (or needle and thread, if handiwork is prefferable). Simply because it lets you quickly iterate and build the taste, preferences and heuristic of how to get there. Personally, I still can't read a pattern propetly. But I'm more than happy to put a few pins into a shirt and prototype in front of a mirror.

Also, it gives me a good estimate of what I'm OK doing myself and what I will outsource to an actual tailor because it's either beyond my level, or I simply don't have time to do it.

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