Last Updated on February 20, 2024
People always have trouble finding clothing that fits. But why? I conducted a survey about women’s sizes and common clothing fit issues to get some data and see what we can learn about clothing size and fit.
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who filled out the survey! You input has been incredibly helpful.
It’s taken a while to wade through all the numbers and to be honest, the scope and variables of this kind of data collection were a lot more complex than I initially anticipated. However I found it really interesting and also was quite surprised by what I learned.
Housekeeping and info about the Size Survey
The survey received just under 1000 complete responses, so a decent sample size.
Since the survey was mostly filled out by my audience (although it was also shared on social media and through some other ethical bloggers). It’s important to acknowledge that there is likely some bias with the results because people are more likely to follow fashion content creators of a similar gender identity, age, size/body shape, race, language spoken, location, etc. Of course we follow people for different reasons but this isn’t a completely random sample of people.
Also I think it’s very important to point out that the data was all self-reported. Taking measurements in particular can be difficult and even though I provided some instructions there was no control over how people were measuring themselves and therefore likely some variation and inconsistency with that.
Some basic demographics
The vast majority of respondents were 18-44 with the bulk of that falling in the 25-34 age range.
The respondents are also mostly from North America and Europe:
While I really appreciate that some men and non-binary folks filled out the survey I just focused on women’s sizes for this project.
What did the Size & Fit Survey Show?
Let’s start off with a more simple one…
Height – Petite vs Tall Sizes
One thing I was interested in was height and what percent of people usually wear petite or tall sizes. This chart shows the height distribution of respondents (in cm – sorry everyone who prefers inches) and what portion wear petite or tall sizes. Typically petite sizes are for those under 160 cm although some also go up to 162 while tall sizes generally start at around 171 cm. However these sizes are mainly for limb length, so for example if you are a average height but have long legs and a short torso or the opposite you might still wear tall or petite sizes and I think that’s why we see some overlap.
Something I found interesting is there are slightly more taller people than petite people however more people wear petite sizes than tall sizes. Maybe this has to do with availability or how clothes are designed, but I found it interesting because I assumed it would be the opposite – since it’s possible to hem regular clothes for petites but you can’t add fabric for taller people.
Measurements & Sizes
With my background in fashion design and pattern-making I’ve always used a “standard size guide” for drafting patterns which is based on old and outdated measurement data. I was really curious how closely these measurements matched real people and also how closely the respondents fit into clothing brand’s size charts.
Everyone was asked what letter size(s) they usually wear and these fit relatively close to the way stores typically order sizes, with medium being the highest and tapering down from there (a standard curve), although compared to the survey data stores would likely order more larges and fewer smalls.
Although as I’ll explain shortly this graph isn’t totally accurate and this is also where things really got interesting.
Looking at the measurements (participants measured their bust, waist and hip) there was so much variety in sizes and shapes that it was very difficult to find commonalities and overlap to draw conclusions from. I basically had pages of measurements that really just illustrated how diverse and unique women’s bodies are.
One thing I wanted to do was see how easily people fit into brand’s sizes, so I decided to average the size ranges of 10 popular brands (I used a mix of regular and sustainable/ethical brands) to get my average size ranges. This on its own was interesting to see the variations from brand to brand – they were relatively close for the S-L range but then getting into plus sizes the variations were so drastic it was basically impossible to find a good average.
I then looked at how everyone’s measurements fit into this average size range and assigned a letter size to the bust, waist and hip measurements.
Something that I found incredibly interesting is only 23% of people are the same letter size across their 3 measurements (ie. M bust, M waist, M hips) and this is a generous percent as I also included people who are at the edge of the size range above or below (for example someone who is M bust, M waist and L hips but close to the bottom of the L size range I still included in this %). So this means at least 77% of people don’t fit a single letter size! Most people should be wearing different sizes for tops and bottoms, although even with that, often people’s waist and hips, or waist and bust are different sizes, which can cause fit issues, nevermind buying a fitted dress that needs to fit all measurements. I’ll talk later about some things you can do though!
This is also a good time to highlight the fact that these are a VERY simplified set of measurements, we’re not taking into account things like torso length, bust point, shoulder width, upper hip/lower hip, neck size, thigh size etc. Even with the most simple measurements we could possibly have, there already is a ton of diversity with women’s bodies. Letter sizes are also more simplified than number sizes, so if there is this much of a difference in letter sizes than it must be even greater with number sizes. I of course expected there to be a lot of different shapes and sizes but was surprised at how different everyone actually is even with such basic measurements.
Something else I found really interesting is 27% of people fit a totally different size than they say they wear, and this is a very conservative estimate because I only included people who were significantly different in size than they said. Some of this might have to do with brands having variations in sizing, for example if your favourite brand fits really small or large, or people wanting tighter or looser fits, but I was still surprised at how high the percent of people wearing the “wrong” size is. I also didn’t find commonalities of people saying they wore larger or smaller sizes, for example there’s women who wear an M but fit in a XS size range and women who wear an M but fit in a XL size range.
In hindsight I should have added another question for clarification – asking if people purposely size up or down for fits they like, because I don’t know if a lot of people are doing that on purpose or if a lot of people don’t know what sizes they should be wearing.
Common Fit issues
The one commonality I did manage to find is many women have wider hips than clothing brands account for. The waist-to-hip ratio needs to be larger for a lot of women’s sizes and this was echoed with the question about what common fit issues people had – the biggest issues were hips fitting too small and waist fitting too big. Thighs fitting too small was also very high and also relates to the waist-to-hip ratio issue.
Everything thing else was relatively close with people needing certain areas larger or smaller, so it would be difficult for brands to make changes. Although offering different inseam options could potentially be helpful.
Something else that really needs to be talked about, especially in the ethical fashion space, is inclusive sizing. Many conscious brands only have a S-L range, or if you’re lucky a XS-XXL range. Based on the data I also found there is an under-served market in ethical fashion of about 11% of people who need size XXL or larger and 7% of people who need size XXS or smaller.
Findings – What we can Learn
To be honest, going into this I hoped to come out with a list of recommendations and things brands can do to better serve the fit needs and sizes of their customers, and ideally a better size chart that more closely reflected people’s measurements. However what I learned is that clothing brands essentially have an impossible task, women’s bodies are just so different! And this was from only looking at the very simplest of measurements – while people might fit the bust/waist/hip they could have have broader shoulders, larger cups, longer arms, etc. Basically clothing perfectly fits almost no one.
I compared the “standard size” many brands use for their samples (this size is supposed to be the “average customer” and is used to grade up or down other sizes from) to the data and not a single person exactly fit the base size! 4 people (out of 950) were pretty close but it still blew my mind that no one actually fit the measurements which entire brand’s sizes are based off. Across all the sizes less than 1% of people exactly fit the base size measurements and yet this is the sizing the vast majority of brands use.
I tried to come up with a new size guide based on averages of the measurements I collected, and even that would still only fit a few people in each size properly – there is just too much variation to create proportions that fit most people.
After discovering this I was actually surprised to see over 25% say it was very easy or fairly easy to find clothing that fits. Although this is pretty close to the 23% of people who fit 1 size across their measurements and it still shows that about 75% of people have issues finding clothing that fits.
How easy people said it is to find clothing, 1 = Very Easy, 5 = Very Difficult
So what can brands do?
- Utilize stretch in fabrics to fit a wider range of people – quality spandex/elastane is important so things don’t lose shape over time!
- Focus on a niche market and designing for a specific body type instead of for everyone – use customer feedback and different fit models to develop fits.
- Offer custom sizing or alterations.
- Possibly try a larger waist-to-hip ratio as this seems to be a common fit issue people have.
However we also have to recognize that things like custom sizing cost a lot more and targeting a niche market really limits your audience so unfortunately this can be very difficult for small brands.
I would also recommend brands use a medium size as their base/sample size to grade from since that is the most common size.
Is it too much to expect clothing to fit off the rack?
I hate to say it, but yes.
We’re so different and yet we expect brands to make clothing for all of us. It’s also important to point out that this is a relatively new expectation, historically it was normal for everyone to get their clothing tailored, custom made, or do alterations themselves, but with the rise of fast fashion tailoring has been dying. With clothing that is so cheap and abundant we care less about how it fits and don’t want to spend extra money to get it tailored to our body. There also has been a huge rise in knit clothing and spandex because it allows clothing to fit a larger variety of people.
What can we as customers do?
- Know your measurements and always compare your measurements to a brand’s size chart, don’t just go off what size you usually wear. (Also make sure you know how to properly measure yourself)
- Fit your largest parts first! Since we learned most people wear different sizes based on their bust, waist and hip measurements it’s best to go with the larger size and have it taken in to fit the smaller areas.
- Although this depends on the garment you’re thinking of buying – pay attention to what areas are most fitted, for example if you’re buying a dress with a fitted bodice and flared skirt the hip measurement doesn’t matter as much but you want to fit the bust and waist measurements.
- Check if the garment is a knit (like jersey which naturally has some stretch) or a woven which has no stretch, or if there is any spandex or elastane. This will affect how the garment fits and will give you more flexibility with determining the size you need.
- Find a tailor or learn to do alternations yourself. My biggest lesson from this project is how important tailoring and alternations can be for a good fit.
Conclusion
With all the variations in size and shapes it actually feels like a miracle that someone can walk into a store and find a piece that fits perfectly (although I’m pretty sure that miracle’s name is Spandex).
It’s easy to blame the clothing industry for not making clothes that fit, but after combing through all these measurements it seems basically impossible to create clothes that will even fit the majority of people. Fitting about 1/4 of people mostly well doesn’t actually seem so bad when you look at all the variation in our bodies.
I do think though that if we understand our shapes, proportions, and fits we like, then we can get better at finding the kind of cuts that fit and also know how we can alter things ourselves or with a tailor to get that “fits like a glove” garment.
If clothes off the rack don’t fit, we should never blame our bodies. I sadly hear this all the time – instead of “these pants are too small”, people often say (or think), “my butt is too big”. We shouldn’t be criticising ourselves when clothes don’t fit, it’s an issue with the clothes not you! This project really showed me how incredibly unique everyone is, of the 950+ participants the vast majority of people have completely individual measurements and at the very most share measurements with 1 or maybe 2 other people. I think that’s pretty incredible. We love to compare ourselves to others but I actually think it’s really freeing and empowering that everyone’s body is uniquely theirs!
I’m leaving this project with 4 main takeaways:
- Why don’t see more of this incredible diversity of bodies in media and product photography?! This need to change, seeing clothing on one body type helps almost no one.
- There’s definitely some frustration from the designer/pattern-maker side of me at how incredibly difficult it is to design and make clothes that fit well. The only real solution is custom sizing but that unfortunately isn’t realistic for most brands and customers.
- This project really highlighted for me how terrible it is that we’re taught to view the things that make our body unique as “flaws” which should be hidden and to wear “flattering” clothes to try and create the illusion that our bodies are different.
- It’s amazing how unique we all are and horrible how critical I and so many other people can be of their bodies. Nothing is “wrong”, “weird” or “different” – everyone’s body is different! While it might make trying on clothes frustrating I think that uniqueness is something we should celebrate ?
I’d also love to hear what you learned or took away from this!
Amber
Brands can also include hip measurements in their size charts for things like pants. Consumers should shop for clothing that comfortably fits the widest part of their body and plan to get things tailored. It’s an added expense but if you are shopping for quality, long lasting pieces (and not fast fashion) it is worth the trouble. Plus – changing clothing to fit your body is a whole lot less of an energy suck than trying to change your body to fit into clothing.
sommer devenport
Love this article. I think its super well done and well researched. I want to reference it in one of my college essays on statistics on clothing sizes and how there is very little options for plus size and/or tall women and men! I need to know what month, year, and possible day this was published? thanks!! 🙂
Verena Erin
Hi! This was published on 2019/01/03
Menzikhaya
Hi, my name is Menzikhaya. I’m working on an app to solve this problem, the information you have provided is invaluable. Thank you so much
Sheila Schulz
I’m a new fashion design student, who has always been frustrated with how poorly clothes fit on me, regardless of when I was skinny or not skinny. Only in the past year, I found out that commercial patterns are made for B cup busts, and I’ve been sewing for years! So, now I have an idea how to alter patterns, but where is the info to alter ready-to-wear?
In all my online searching, I’ve also been looking at stats for “average sized” women. North American women are, on average, size 16/18. In Canada, the average height is 5’4″, therefore, statistically, half of us are “petite”. The average bra is 34D (assuming it actually fits properly!), average waist is 34″, average weight is 155lbs. Most upscale clothing stores, and pretty much every designer, carry only up to size 8, sometimes 10. These are too small for more than half of all women in North America! No wonder so many women wear Walmart or other cheap clothes — it’s the easiest place to find clothes that will at least sort of fit! I did find Miriam Baker, a Canadian designer who caters to D cup women, but her sizes end at 10 or 12, and I don’t recall seeing petite.
I knew there was lots of variation in our bodies, but your findings are crazy, especially considering they are mostly on the younger side! Also, your respondents being younger than average, it makes sense that they fit smaller sizes.
Malina
This was super informative. Thank you for taking the time to collect and analyze the data! I definitely struggle with finding clothes that fit my longer than standard limbs…I’m 5ft 6in and that pits me in an odd place because petite clothing fits torso wise, but tall clothing fits better length wise. I don’t know any brand that makes longer sleeves for taller womens shirts like they do with pants. I prefer shirts with longer sleeves as I like to cuff them or just have that extra length to keep my fingers warm :p I also wish more brands would have adjustable waist bands in their jeans (I swear this was a thing that existed when I was younger) to accommodate for the different hip and waist varieties out there.
Alma
So informative and interesting! I had been keeping my eye out for when you posted these results. I was very surprised by your findings! I expected variety in women’s bodies but to hear that we’re al so different that only a couple people shared the same size was really eye opening! The background info regarding how clothing companies actually make their clothing was very insightful. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
Verena Erin
Thanks Alma!
Elaine Beale
What an interesting topic! I’m sorry I didn’t see your survey or I would have participated. Being a very short female (152 cm/ 5 feet) and having worked in health and safety until I retired a couple of years ago, anthropometric data is one of my favourite subjects. Basically nothing fits me, from the clothes I wear to the chairs I sit in and the car I drive. The best I can do is go for the closest fit. All our garments, furniture and equipment is designed to fit a range of sizes but if you’re in the smallest 10 per cent (like me) or the largest 10 per cent, nothing fits without alteration. The Anthropometric data we have is now old and outdated and people are much larger than they used to be, so far more work needs to be done in this area. It would be a massive undertaking so its hardly surprising that the work haas not been done, but it does make life difficult for some of us. Most of my clothes need to be altered. Everything is too long and even petite or shorter length garments don’t fit well. Tops, pants, skirts and dresses all need to be taken up. Even if the length fits, the body size doesn’t. Dresses are the most problematic for me as the waistline sits too low and usually can’t be altered satisfactorily. Then there’s the cost of alterations…… but the thing that really doesn’t make sense at all is the sizes fashion companies use. I was a size 8 in Australia 30 years ago. Surprisingly im often still a size 8 even though I am over a stone heavier and much larger than I was in my early 20s. I’ve had many conversations with other very short and very tall people and we all have the same problems- nothing fits and it costs us a fortune in alterations. As frustrating as this is for me, I understand the problem. We are all different shapes and sizes and our size and shape varies as we age and at different times of our life. When I was young I was very skinny; as a young adult I struggled to keep my weight in check; when I was pregnant I was an enormous round ball; having gone through menopause I am now fatter than I have ever been. But I’m still a size 8! Am I happy about it? No, not at all. I know I’m much larger than I was 30 years ago. I don’t mind ageing (the alternative doesn’t look great) but I would like to see more consistency in sizing. It would help everyone including manufacturers if the sizing was consistent over time and in all stores. Thanks for the interesting topic!
Verena Erin
I agree, “vanity sizing” has created a lot of problems and all because brands wanted to trick customers into thinking they are smaller so they buy more from them 🤦♀️
Chloe
This is such a good article, I totally agree that petite ranges have way less choice when it comes to sustainable fashion! I wonder how long it will take retailers to get bigger ranges. I found this really interesting article about the impacts of fast fashion in particular if you wanted to take a read at some the consequences – https://www.businessleader.co.uk/hm-and-zara-the-sustainable-fashion-brands-killing-the-environment/56166/
Merav
Hey Verena!
Great post, I agree with the comments before me 🙂 would love to see fixes for fitting clothes.. I would also love to see this going to practicality, say showing a couple of sizes and the fit of the same garment as opposed to how it should look, because it seems to me I don’t really have clothes that for me right!
Have a great WE
Elena
Well done, really interesting article. I also hoped there would be an easy solution for this dilemma. Nevertheless it is healthy to acknowledge the diversity of our body’s shape and size and bring some nuances from the normative size model. Keep going!
Andrea
It would be great to have some tips on doing alterations yourself. Would you consider doing a “how to” blog or video on this?
Verena Erin
It’s definitely something I’ve been thinking about. Just not exactly sure the best way to do it though since I buy very few clothes.
Pia
Maybe you could try to do a video about alterations (documenting the process) the next time you go through that process? Or you could film how you teach a friend how to alter a piece of their clothes?
Malia
Great job and thanks for putting so much work into this research. I believe the results are really interesting, both for clothing providers and customers. And a must-read for anyone planning to start a clothing business. To address one of the leftover question marks, I began sizing up a few years ago, because I just felt better and more comfortable in baggier clothes. In my 20s I used to dress in fitted garments (usially S size, or 34-36). Now I’m in my mid 30s and although I still can wear S, I prefer Ls, they leave more room for layering.
Nicole
Wow this is interesting! I am very tall and I think there can be several reasons people don’t say they wear tall sizes. One is that that’s not so widely available. Two is that brands that have a tall range (as opposed to just inseam options) fit very differently from regular to tall sizes. I remember the sizes in the tall range just being absurd- sleeves way to long, clothes too big and straight cut, and the fit just being weird. Another thing that comes to mind is that many brands offer inseams that fit someone taller than the average (though not much taller) due to the fact that adding length is impossible while tailors can quickly hem pants.