Should You Start a Sizing Revolution?
I’ve mentioned in the past that I do love a good crazy idea. Sometimes a project will land in my lap that lets me flex my technical skills and we come up with a good solution. It’s a complete win!
However, dear reader, there are times when I am presented with ideas that I am forced to be complicit in reinventing the square wheel. Yes, you read that right.
Sizing can be a hot button topic. People wonder why apparel sizing cannot be standard for every clothing brand and fashion designers are looking to fine tune their sizing to fit all their customers needs and figures. It can be tough. I am certain you’ve purchased an item where the sizing was really crazy and you were wondering how it got this bad. Surely there is room for improvement? Just understand that there are a lot of grey areas in sizing, but certain parameters always hold true, from my experience.
Just know that I was super tempted here. Part of me really wanted this post about sizing to be a rant to the world about my frustrations when designers come to me looking to start a sizing revolution, but that doesn’t hold much value to those here to learn stuff. Additionally, I know there are those that may be considering some kind sizing revolution project so it’s important to clearly understand the parameters before you go too far.
Other peopled have already tried and failed
Before you start forming your LLC and taking investor funds for your sizing revolution let’s just start with this point: if something hasn’t been done it’s not because no one ever thought about doing it differently. Sizing is something that has really evolved based on trial and error and in todays data collection culture it can be really fine tuned.
Yes, sizing seems completely bizarre if you are new to the garment industry or just perplexed by sizing chart reasoning that you see online. But there is always a method to the madness.
Review Your Competitors and Especially Big Box Stores
If you want answers to your sizing questions during your fact finding phase, start by looking at super large retailers and brands. Someone has already done the work and took many stabs at it to get it right to fit the AVERAGE of their customer base (stick a pin in that, we’ll go back to this point later).
“Pshaw! Walmart sizing for my high end luxury brand. What do they know about quality and fit?”
Here’s what they know- how to make money. They need to move hundreds of thousands of garments that people buy cheaply and won’t complain about and won’t return. Do they care if it fits you perfectly and it’s your favorite item in your closet. No way. They are looking for “good enough”. If you can’t squeeze into the size that you would normally buy then that’s a problem they do care about. Walmart has millions (and of course, billions) to invest in sizing studies. Their sizing charts are not built on a whim. Sizing studies are no joke. Firms like Alvanon are hired to do full body scans of their actual customers to collect data. This data is then averaged out to what each range represents. What is presented on the website is only a smattering of the standards that their factories must follow for each and every size.
They have the data and the sales records. You have your friend Sarah who just says she’s a size small. Who do you look to? Perspective matters.
Sizing Will Never be Linear
To have all sizes align perfectly is practically unheard of. This is because even alignments yield problems depending on what point of measure you are trying to align. In a very general explanation, someone is always left out and it is usually your smallest and biggest sizes that become victims. For instance, saying that a shoulder width should evenly grow from your smallest size to your biggest size means that your biggest size will have huge shoulders. Sizing is thoughtful about how the body grows.
The Importance of Averages
You will never fit everyone. Don’t even try. You’ll make yourself crazy. All of the non-linear sizing that you see on others sizing charts, that is because they have found their average body for each size range.
Sizing arrangements help your bottom line
If you try to simplify sizing too much and really make it specific you will end up having to produce far too many sizes. If you want to be inclusive, this is a huge concern. For instance, you want a 1” difference between each size and want to go from 0-30. This means that you are producing 30 different size variations for each style. Sometimes your production isn’t even 30 pieces. Even if the quantities are a few hundred your manufacturer may kick you out if it’s a complex item. Trying to coordinate this is just a massive effort on the back end.
Much of the unevenness in sizing is based not only on average bodies but average number of pieces sold while still covering the customer base. You may be able to sell 10 2X garments, but only one that is a size 24, but are left with whatever inventory you placed your production order for.
Are you a Pattern Grader?
To really understand how the body grows and to make executive decisions about what each size should be, you need to have hands on experience grading pattern to understand how the body grows and how each piece relates to each other as the sizes increase/decrease. This isn’t something that you can take an online course for and be knowledgeable or even have a rudimentary understanding. It takes experience that comes through trial and error. Instead you need to trust that the professional that you hire can help meet your objectives.
If someone who does something all the time is telling you that what you want to do won’t work, it may be worthwhile to reconsider.
Creating Grade Rules to Control Your Product
If you aren’t a grader or don’t have much experience dealing with sizing, it’s going to be best to try to simplify your grade rules. Specific grade rules are problematic. When these sorts of scenarios cross my path, I have to spend a good amount of time sorting though to see what is workable and what is not then I have to revert back with an email and usually and explanation. This takes a lot of time and energy.
If you don’t grade patterns but have something specific in mind here’s what you do:
Only supply the circumference grades (chest, waist and hip) and how much longer you want each size to grow. Then tell your grader what you would like the fit goal to be. From here we can try things out and see what works. This is so much easier than getting two pages worth of points of measure to sort though the grading of.
Do you have the Technical knowledge to explain how your sizing is different?
As a pattern grader I am always interested in hearing about potential sizing revolutions and what we can do to make things better. However, you will need to explain your theory and bring some numbers to the table.
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Client: I want to create a line of women’s activewear for large bust sizes that gives them options.
Me: “Ok, cool. I’m game. But busts come in different sizes. Do you have something in mind for offering a range”
Client: No. Maybe. Not sure. I think I want to cover everywhere from 32A- 50GG in Alpha sizing. What would you recommend?
Me: (facepalm, long sigh) So you want generic sizing, Small, medium, large to cover these ranges. How? Bra grading is different than regular clothing. This means variations and groupings.
Client: Whatever you come up with is fine.
The reason I share this is I am happy to fill in gaps along the way if I have a good place to start from. Maybe original numbers that you started pulling together so I see some sort of thought process. I just don’t want to have to be the one to reinvent the sizing. It’s not really your idea then is it?
…Yeah, I know, I just brought us into totally different area about proprietary work and we can get definitely pick apart whether I am right or wrong about the last statement…. But the point is that I want you to consider how original your idea is if you are asking someone else to solve all the problems and then you take credit for how revolutionary it is….but I digress…..
There is no Right or Wrong Answer
Now you may think, based on this post that I draw a hard line of what sizing should be. Exactly the opposite is true. I don’t deal in absolutes. There is no right way and no wrong way. If I have learned anything in my career it’s that sizing and fit are fluid. Initiatives vary by brand. Everyone of my clients has different sizing, but I make sure it works to tick the boxes of their goals.
If you have a unique idea then I am open for discussion.