Buying clothes, sizing, general rant why does it have to be so difficult

sx_turbo

sx_turbo

sx_turbo

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essex
Recently tried buying clothes and having a bit of a nightmare.

Life is just far too busy to find time to go to the shops, and faffing around with getting clothes delivered finding they don't fit to then having to find time to return them it's a nightmare.

When we do eventually find time to go to shops my boy turns into a grade a twit and makes the whole thing stressful and unbearable I get annoyed and go home.

Rant over,

Ive recently had a promotion and requires me to start dressing for the job, not quite suits but smart casual with a shirt.

Trying to buy chinos is turning into a nightmare, I don't feel like I'm a big guy, I'm 5ft 11, average build I suppose, I've generally hovered around the 32 waist size for a while but have recently gained a little weight (blame it on age and desk job), generally a 34 waist now seems comfortable but can squeeze into my 32 stuff when required if the material has a bit of give in it.

Ordered clothes from next, had an hour's window while boy was at beavers to go collect and try on. Ordered sizes 34 and 36, 36 were like a clown trouser with the hoop, the 34 weren't much better than the 36 went to the shop floor grabbed a 32 of the exact same trouser, couldn't even do it up.

Tried a few different types and gave up,

Got home measured waist 1 tape measure says 36, another says 35.

What the actual....

Found more clothes online but scared to hit the button through fear they turn up don't fit them have the faff of returning.

Meanwhile boss is expecting next week for me to be looking more managerial as we agreed I would tie it into my big master plan to get the workshop more efficient and produce better quality work.

F u clothes companies,
 
Maybe try M&S if you have one near you.

They do bigger sized clothes, but generally look fairly smart/generic enough for a smart casual office. You don't sound overweight, so you should be fine.

Oh and iron your clothes, makes a huge difference.
 
Clothes can be a nightmare tbh.

I'm a 34" waist and generally don't have too much trouble in that regard, but even regular fit pants/jeans are often extremely tight around my calves. Same with buying shirts, an XL will be a good fit from one place and then another will be too tight.
 
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caff said:
Maybe try M&S if you have one near you.

They do bigger sized clothes, but generally look fairly smart/generic enough for a smart casual office. You don't sound overweight, so you should be fine.

Oh and iron your clothes, makes a huge difference.
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They are also generally consistent in their sizes.

My big hate is shoes.
It always seems that nowhere actually carries size 12 in stock, even Clarks only does a handful of styles in 12 and 13 and rarely has them in even their larger stores, I'm currently trying to find some smart casual shoes that don't look like they've been worn in a paint factory during an industrial accident.
 
I vary from 14-20 in clothes. Shoes 7.5-9.5. At least I know Skechers size 8 fits me so can order them online without issue.

Wish more shoes are in a size 9 in ladies’ clothing. I have a terrible time finding shoes that fit me and are comfortable! Have flat feet so the contours in many shoes make them uncomfortable. Lost count in the number of times I have tried the 8s and just too tight (and wearing them won’t help that) and do they have 9s? No they don’t even sell size 9!
 
Sorry didn't realise there were replies to this I didn't get notifications.

I never got round to getting to the shops, time just seems so scarce, makes me feel partially responsible for the demise of the high street.

Anyway I ended up ordering from m and m direct, got brand called fluid (never heard of them so presume its their own brand) tried 36 as that's what the tape measure said, no was Farr to big, sent back for a 34, I've got a bit of "growing" room, nothing a belt won't sort out.

Also got some french connection jeans, had same issue as above 34"s seems fine though so all good.

Maybe it's just next that is a problem,

I done some research and it seems that manufacturers pander to people's vanity, generally the size you measure as with a tape you go for a size smaller, some outlets are 2 sizes different to what you measure.

There is apparently apps out there that work out your body shape and size using a photo and ai and then links to clothes to from various retail shops and designers etc that will fit you, somsay it be a 32 in next, but your a 36 in m&s.

However they seem to be subscriptions based (isn't everything these days) and there isn't many shops that have signed up. I read an article that clothing businesses are losing millions per year with people ordering and returning due to clothes sizing alone, so you would think they would get behind an app like this
 
cheesefest said:
I vary from 14-20 in clothes. Shoes 7.5-9.5. At least I know Skechers size 8 fits me so can order them online without issue.

Wish more shoes are in a size 9 in ladies’ clothing. I have a terrible time finding shoes that fit me and are comfortable! Have flat feet so the contours in many shoes make them uncomfortable. Lost count in the number of times I have tried the 8s and just too tight (and wearing them won’t help that) and do they have 9s? No they don’t even sell size 9!
Click to expand...

This is my point entirely, how can you be between 4 clothing sizes, the disparity is ridiculous, surely a measurement should be a measurement.
 
Werewolf said:
They are also generally consistent in their sizes.

My big hate is shoes.
It always seems that nowhere actually carries size 12 in stock, even Clarks only does a handful of styles in 12 and 13 and rarely has them in even their larger stores, I'm currently trying to find some smart casual shoes that don't look like they've been worn in a paint factory during an industrial accident.
Click to expand...

Yeah shops seem to stop at size 11, which is odd as 12 and 13 are becoming increasingly popular.
 
It's a minefield.

Even shoe sizes that are supposed to be the same can differ noticeably between makes.

Don't get me started on trousers that seem to designed for people with no muscle on their calves or thighs.
 
Sizes don't seem to mean much these days. I find Brook Taverner stuff works for me, Charles Tyrwhitt on the other hand, just got a large shirt from them and it's more like a XXL or something.
Next and M & S I've given up on after buying a couple of pairs of trousers that were nowhere near the size they said on the label. :mad:
 
At one time there was an average English man and Burton the tailor had your exact size. Now with globalisation and skinny Italians and fat Germans with clothes coming from all over, it is much more a lottery.
 
I went to The Mall in Bristol 6 months or so ago, just looking to pick up some bare basics Ts, jumpers, underwear, etc, tried JL, M&S and the sports shops, came back with nothing.

Quality is average, low weight stuff, poor fit, etc. Having to return a load of stuff from ebay due to sizing, apparently i've now shrunk too.

When i find something decent now, i bulk buy. Saves the hassle later on when you got new stuff ready to go.

E: also it seems shops, even large floor space ones have much less stock that their website. TK Maxx seems real poor these days too.
 
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cheesefest said:
I vary from 14-20 in clothes. Shoes 7.5-9.5. At least I know Skechers size 8 fits me so can order them online without issue.

Wish more shoes are in a size 9 in ladies’ clothing. I have a terrible time finding shoes that fit me and are comfortable! Have flat feet so the contours in many shoes make them uncomfortable. Lost count in the number of times I have tried the 8s and just too tight (and wearing them won’t help that) and do they have 9s? No they don’t even sell size 9!
Click to expand...

I'm almost always a M in mens tops. And 34w 32l in chinos.

For ladies, I'm 12/14 on bottom and 14/16 on top.
Sometimes get s/m/l/xl etc in ladies too. But that's usually XL/L on top and L on bottom.
 
413x said:
I'm almost always a M in mens tops. And 34w 32l in chinos.

For ladies, I'm 12/14 on bottom and 14/16 on top.
Sometimes get s/m/l/xl etc in ladies too. But that's usually XL/L on top and L on bottom.
Click to expand...

Did you reply to the same thread I read because this reads like a SNL: Stefon fever dream and I am READY for it!
 
It really depends on the cut and style of what you are buying…

More and more bands are labelling/tagging their clothes with the way they want you to wear it or the type of cut.

baggy, oversize, loose, 80s, dad… are all supposed to be bigger to different degrees and will have more room.

Tight, skinny, muscular, italian are all smaller cuts with little or no room.

A lot of stores be it online or on the high street don’t transfer that information across when displaying/advertising clothes, it’s often best to look on the manufactures site then Google search the item to see if another store sells it cheaper, some stores will make good suggest for similar items once you get to that page.

Also depends on what the style of the item is… on Monday I took two Ralph Lauren tops out for work.. popped on the crew top and there was no room for imagination and as I had on baggy jeans already and didn’t want to look like MC hammer sat in the middle of the office, I decided to wear the other one which was a long sleeve t shirt.. that you couldn’t see my chest move when I breathe and wanted to look like NKOTB instead.

Both tops are large in size (170cm) as I checked the label, as I was thinking of donating the skin tight one. Lol

There’s certain shops that is just a waste of time for me to go in… All Saints used to be great before they opened up high street shops, now all the clothes.. I can’t get my arms down the sleeves without going up serval sizes and then the rest of the garment looks over sized..

Some shops like Superdry are more of my thing when it comes to fitting, nice and loose if only they didn’t splatter their label like it was the 90s GAP on most of their items..

I’m just at that age now, when I know what I like and what stores sells it.. so I stick to my lane. :)

Also skinny jeans on men should be ban… especially the ones that are baggy at the top and have skinny legs, it looks like they poo’d themselves and haven’t had the chance to empty out their jeans. they don’t look good on any bloke unless they are wearing it drag/cross dressing (respect!), thank god baggy jeans are making a come back.
 
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