I hate women's sizes.

Case in point: I wear size 14 (Well, I thought I did, at least.) I'm also petite. I buy about 98% of my clothes at Goodwill.

In Florida, I bought three skirts. One with an elastic waistband (Black, tiered cotton, my now-favorite skirt and the reason I had to step up the search for black sandals), and two Liz Claiborne denim straight skirts, one in black and one in blue.

Obviously, the black tiered skirt fit. But the Liz Claiborne skirts were far too tight (and they had pleats, which I didn't notice in the store, ugh) even though they were in my size.

I have Liz Claiborne pants in size 12 that fit me just fine. I used to have a denim skirt in size 10 from Liz Claiborne that fit me just fine.

What's the deal?!

I know manufacturers change sizes periodically. A size 12 in 1950 is about a size 8 in today's world. But I'm beginning to think that they're doing this every other year now, which really sucks when you're buying at Goodwill and buying last year's (or ten years ago) clothes.

Yesterday, I stopped at Goodwill to see if I could find any more denim shorts. I found two pair. Both size 14, from different manufacturers. One pair is loose (which is fine), the other pair fits me perfectly.

They should fit identically. Is there no standard for women's sizing?

Do men have the same problem? Because I also found a nice pair of Carhartt carpenter pants at Goodwill. They had no tags, so I couldn't tell what size they were, but for $1.50, I decided to take them home and try them on. They fit perfectly, except for the length.

If men's shorts weren't so damned long, I'd just buy them and be done with it. But I don't like wearing shorts that come down to my knees, and there's no men's petite section. *g*

I'm pretty good at guessing whether a pair of whatever will fit me or not. Sometimes I'm wrong, but I think the tags should be uniform. A size 14 in one brand shouldn't be a size 12 in another. And this switching between the sizes every other year needs to stop.

I'm just about positive they do this to prey on our insecurities (it doesn't work on me, sorry.) The woman who tries on a size 14 in one brand and a size 12 in another will probably buy the size 12 because it makes her feel better or something. And then she might buy more from that brand.

My aunt gave us a bunch of clothes the other day and there was a pair of denim jeans made by Jordache in the bag. They were size 16. They didn't fit. What the hell?!?

I just want clothes that fit and are comfortable. And to not have to try everything on before I bring it home. Ugh.

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