About a year ago, I saw my podiatrist and asked him to measure my feet so that i could purchase a better fitting tennis shoe. However, he told me that even if he did, the measurement didn’t matter because shoe sellers no longer follow a standard size for all shoes. He measured me at womens 8.5-9 shoe size in his office. After many poor fits at that shoe size, I ended up getting a size 10 women’s shoe size. I honestly thought my podiatrist was joking. However, he was telling me the truth – shoe sellers have now become as unreliable when it comes to their sizing as the clothing stores.
A friend of mine brags she has been a size 6 since high school. She’s now middle age and was horrified to learn that a size 6 was now too small. She still fit her old size 6 clothes, she wondered what the deal was. She has learned about the non-standardized clothing racket that I have known since I was in high school. In high school i had dieted down and managed to fit a size 9 skirt my mom had bought me. However, I needed a leather skirt to wear for drama class. I borrowed one from a friend of mine who was also a size 9. The skirt was so tight I couldn’t zip it up. I was humiliated. Then a year later I purchased a size 16 formal gown. Ten years later, I could not fit into it, even though I was a size 16. It was then I realized that there were no standardized clothing size.
Even plus size stores screw with their sizes. Every season, even when my weight was stable, I had to try outfit before I bought it. I had clothes from size 18 to 26 in my closet and they all fit my body at the time. It didn’t make a lick of sense. I began to hate shopping for clothes. However, at the moment it is a necessary evil. I only have one wish, besides world peace and world kindness – for fashion designers and shoe sellers to return to a standardized size. I should not have clothes ranging from medium to XL in my closet that fits the same body and shoes ranging from 8.5-10 that fit the same foot.
Until next time!
R.R. Peace, Author and Poet 