After not fitting in identical size 10 leggings, this woman is blasting meaningless clothing sizes
Earlier this month, fitness blogger Katy, who goes by the Instagram handle @WodTheFork, walked into an Express to try on some clothes. She went into a dressing room with two pairs of size 10 leggings and found that neither fit. Despite the fact that they were the same size, one was far too big for her while the other couldn’t make it around her hips.
“Sizing is such bullshit,” Katy wrote in an Instagram post detailing the scenario that’s already got over 9,000 likes. “These are both a size 10 short from Express in their low rise leggings. Literally the same store, cut, size, etc. The one was a hair too big and the other didn’t even go over my thighs. Like whaaat?!”
According to Katy’s post, she shared her story because she understands how emotional trying on clothes and having to fluctuate sizes can be, especially given that she’s gone through a dramatic weight loss herself.
“If you ever find yourself in a fitting room ready to bust into tears when something doesn’t fit ... remember this pic!” she wrote. “There are times I’m a small, times I can’t even muscle into a large, times a 10 falls off my hips and times like this, [when] it doesn’t even get past my thighs.”
This kind of nonsensical sizing, particularly in women’s clothing sections, is nothing new. Plenty of people have taken the time to call out how subjective women’s clothing sizes often are. You could be a size 10 in one store, a 4 in another and a 0 somewhere else.
And then in terms of different clothing styles, well, you just have to try it on.
“Sizing is silly,” Katy wrote. “No one will know if you had to bump up or down because of the cut, style or likely completely wrong sizing on the store’s part. You mean so much more than fitting into the smallest size you can. Our value should never come from a number... on the scale or in our clothes.”
In an interview with Mic, Katy said that the post wasn’t intended to call out Express or clothing sizes as much as it was to talk about the pressures we all face when it comes be being a certain size.
“Clothing is made in different cuts, styles, fabrics, etc. because it needs to cater to women with all different body types,” Katy said. “The message should be more like: We’re all human. We’re going to face these silly frustrations, but we need to learn how to laugh it off and move on instead of internalizing it or letting it bring us down. I own plenty of clothes from express that were just a better match for my body type. The pants didn’t fit, I snapped a pic with the intent to spread an empowering message of self-love and confidence to my followers, and moved on with my life into another store in search of some pants that worked better with me.”
And that was that.
July 25, 2017, 9:56 a.m.: This post has been updated.