Braving the sauna that is New York in July, interns Natalie and Sabrina ventured into Soho, exploring something just as undeniable as the city’s heat:
The fashion world’s sizing differences.
We hit every store on the spectrum, from mass-market retailers (Old Navy, H&M) to high fashion boutiques (Prada, Barneys Co-op).
As followers of the Teen Vogue code mixing high and low, we’re used to H&M’s size zero skirts in our closets rubbing fabrics with the Miu Miu size sixes. Still, we find the concept of crazy sizing as confusing as the concept of open-toed high-heeled booties.
While common girl knowledge dictates that our favorite pairs of jeans will inevitably run the gamut of sizes, we have to admit we often expect simple items like dresses and shorts to be a little more constant.
Affordable retail chains certainly have a much broader customer base to consider when fitting their clothes, but that doesn’t mean Sabrina didn’t laugh when 5â€?10 Natalie couldn’t get an Ungaro size 6 over the edge of her collarbone—
Later, she zipped herself into an XS at Club Monaco…
But what about the rest of her wardrobe?
—NATALIE MATTHEWS AND SABRINA BACON
Shorts
We first ventured into Intermix for some jean shorts. The pair Sabrina tried on was almost perfect, but at a size 4 they were a bit snug. Odd, considering our next two stores, Club Monaco and Old Navy, both labeled her a size 0.
Also in the circus of the Old Navy dressing rooms, Natalie tried on a pair of shorts that fit comfortably at a size 2. Later at Barney’s Co-op, Natalie unsuccessfully tried to squeeze into some size 2 Theory shorts, only to discover she needed not a 4, or a 6, but an 8. Aah!
Dresses
At Club Monaco, Natalie and Sabrina’s spirits brightened a bit when they fit into identical XS black dresses. That feeling waned slightly when we wandered into Ina, the extraordinary consignment boutique. Sabrina wriggled into a Prada dress, enthralled by its appearance…until she saw the size 6 tag. Usually, Sabrina is a 2.
In the next dressing room, Natalie also picked a size 6 dress, this time an Ungaro, expecting it to be a bit roomy. Not so much, which made it even more amusing when the saleswoman tried to tell her that the dress that wouldn’t zip was a good buy!
The infamous Kate Moss for TopShop dresses that they both tried in Opening Ceremony further deflated Natalie’s ego when she fit nicely into the size 8 (in the midst of an attempt to show Sabrina how that size would definitely be too big). But what was she supposed to think after coming from Old Navy, whose XS dresses gave her room to breathe?
Sabrina, on the other hand, fit comfortably into a 4 in the Kate Moss dress, which was just what she expected— maybe it was proof that sometimes, sizing is consistent between high fashion and mass market.
But as Natalie so often found, when high fashion houses label you a true size six, Old Navy considers you a zero.
So what are the Snejana’s of the world supposed to wear when they want to shop mass market?
[editor’s note: stay tuned for next week, when Natalie and Sabrina go shopping for lingerie…]
—SABRINA BACON AND NATALIE MATTHEWS
posted by anon
Jul 12, 2007 10:29AM
is it possible to label what's what in the pics?