So I read this blog the other day, "It's Not a Half - It's a 'Fun Size' Marathon". The author was inspired to rename the length of races by his Halloween candy, calling a 5k a "Bite-size" marathon, the half marathon a "fun-size" marathon and an ultra (100-miles) a "king-size" marathon. It's a cute article, and you could read it if you have the time and the interest, but that's not what this post is about (although, you can bet that when I do start training for a half marathon, I will refer to it as a "fun-size marathon.")
No, this post is about clothing sizes and their nomenclature. See, I was thinking today how happy I am to be in size large clothing and how crazy it would be if I ever made it to a medium. That was beyond my wildest dreams when I started this journey, but now it seems highly possible.
This got me thinking, though. I don't classify myself as 'large' any longer, but clothing stores still do. Wouldn't it be nicer if we could get rid of whatever connotations are associated with sizes like large, extra large and extra-extra large, just by changing their names? When I was wearing those larger sizes, I didn't like to be reminded every time I put on clothes that I was not just overweight, but extra-extra large. We could name the sizes after flowers or days of the week or famous U.S. generals for all I care.
What do you think, am I making a big deal out of nothing? If we renamed clothing sizes to something that had nothing to do with size, is that total chaos? Would those new names also adopt a stigma? And does it work the same way for those individuals who have to wear smaller sizes? Do you like being labeled small or extra-small?
P.S. Friends, I bought Okra this week as my first veggie experiment but I am loath to cook it. Hopefully I will muster up some interest in it tonight and tell you about it tomorrow.
AH, I wish that we could adopt a more universal style of sizing, but I don't think it'd be possible. You'd have to get EVERY single clothing retailer on board and since most of them get their clothes made overseas, this might be almost impossible.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I always rationalize that sizing is different for every piece of clothing you wear. For example, at Old Navy, I can wear anywhere from a Medium to and XL depending on what the clothing is. The same with jeans. Just because the size is numbers instead of letters, doesn't make it standard.
This is why it's much more important to me that what I wear makes me feel good...more than sounds good because of what size it is.
Oh, don't even get me started on the different sizing when you go from store to store. That's a whole 'nother rant.
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