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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

UK Clothing Sizes

I am paranoid that I will find no clothes when I am in London. I want to have English clothes, so that I don't perpetually look like a tourist. I am convinced, though, that I am a giant American bound to have to go naked. I have recently discovered this is not true. After culling the websites of British retailers like Debenham's, Boden, and others- I have discovered that I am securely in the "regular" category. It's a bit different than being assigned a number in the US system (though admittedly, the numbers vary from shop to shop, and I have a variety of numbers living in my closet).

Being an ardent feminist, I must consider whether being branded "regular" is good or not? The other categories are "slim" and "curvy." The delightful Brits then qualify the system further, by asking if you are "tall" or "petite" and ask what shape you are (pear, hourglass, etc). Sure, American retailers often ask this to "aid" (more like trap) you in deciding what styles to choose. The Brits though seem to live by this slim-regular-curvy system. Is slim-regular- curvy better than the US small-medium-large mantra? Should one be proud to be regular? Or is regular lesser than say slim? Certainly the "curvy" designation is friendlier than Large/Xlarge, right? And just to be extra confusing, the numbers are all four off from the usual American numbers. Hmmm....

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

definitely check out topshop & selfridges on oxford street :) two of my favourite places to shop whilst living there :) (nikki)

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