Clothing New Shapes and Sizes

After your liposuction procedure, tummy tuck, breast augmentation or breast lift, you'll have to buy some new clothes.

Everything changes, and that includes the sizes and shapes of the public in North America. The basic figure of men and women has changed over the last several years, and for the most part the clothing industry hasn't been keeping pace. It is typical to find that clothes are still being made according to the dated standard of the hourglass shape. Unfortunately, this standard doesn't apply for the average person today.

Inverted Triangular Shape

These days, men tend to be what is called an inverted triangular shape, where the shoulders are wider than the hips. The opposite, where the hips are wider than the shoulders, is what the average woman leans towards. Both these shapes are direct opposites to the norm of several years ago, though most major clothing manufactures haven't adjusted their design processes to reflect this yet.

Vanity Sizing

Vanity sizing refers to the way in which some designers try to make their customer feel better by downplaying the size on the tag of the garment. For example, a size 3 tag might go on a size 7, or a size 11 tag on a size 15.

Vanity sizing is the reason someone can fit into a size 3 from one designer, but not into the size 3 of another.

Standard Measurements

We're all familiar with those X's and L's on almost everything we buy. Often they are the way we decide which division of the size we choose. But, again, most consumers are not aware that 'letter sizing' has no universal standard, so the size that might fit in S, or small, for one item could very well be an M, or medium, in another.

Don't let that letter or number printed on the label get you down. Ignore it and just go for something that will fit your body. And don't forget to try something on before you buy it!

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