07-07-2013, 08:01 PM
There actually has been something along the lines of size inflation. As society is generally getting heavier, the clothing companies are re-defining sizes so women don't feel as self-conscious about being so big. The problem is the measurements vary greatly from one brand to the next.
To some degree, this is also happening with men's clothing. What I find is that some brands are more generously cut than others so sometimes I wear an XL shirt that is tight and other times an XL fits like a 2X. Or maybe the problem is that 9-yr-old children in third-world countries making 3 cents an hour just don't sew with quite the same level of accuracy and consistency as better-paid adults in America, but at least the clothing is affordable.
To some degree, this is also happening with men's clothing. What I find is that some brands are more generously cut than others so sometimes I wear an XL shirt that is tight and other times an XL fits like a 2X. Or maybe the problem is that 9-yr-old children in third-world countries making 3 cents an hour just don't sew with quite the same level of accuracy and consistency as better-paid adults in America, but at least the clothing is affordable.