How We Shop

Introduction

I wanted to discuss something I feel strongly about this week. How we shop. How does the way we buy clothes affect us? I think to understand this we have to look into a few things first. Not only the physical act of buying clothes but why we want to buy them in the first place. We are living in a consumer world of everything new, everything now. However, I want to challenge your way of thinking about how you buy clothes. Why are we buying the clothes we do? Hopefully leaving you considering things differently. Thinking about yourself and your confidence. Not just buying for the sake of it.

To be able to discuss the how and why we shop we have to examine the industry. Look at how we got to where we are now. How these brands and industry giants have developed the ways to make us spend our money. Realising that size doesn't matter and knowing to question how something can be so cheap.

Sizing

We’ve all gone shopping on the highstreet, gone to try something on and walked away feeling rubbish about ourselves and our bodies due to sizing. I know I have. The changing room can be a little intimidating with the bright lights and that always awkward gape in the curtains that don't quite cover the doorway. Maybe you've seen something on a mannequin or are out shopping for something specific, picked up your normal size and headed in. It doesn't fit! Do you ask for a different size? Do you give up immediately? Do you sit on the floor and have a little cry? All valid reactions. I’ve done two of these.

It is common knowledge that a size 12 in one store can be massively different to other stores. This is known as “Vanity Sizing”, this term means that clothing can be labelled a smaller size than it actually is. Brands use this technique to help “sell” clothing and this is completely unregulated. So a size 12 in Glassons, is completely different to H&M, which is different to ASOS. I looked at the 3 key areas of measurement for dressmaking Bust, Waist and Hip from their sizing charts on their websites..

ASOS, W - 75cm, H - 91cm, B - 94cm

H&M, W - 72cm, H - 96cm, B - 88cm 

Glassons, W 76cm, H - 106cm, B - 94cm

That is nearly 4 inches of difference in the hip measurement between ASOS and Glassons for the same size! You see where I'm going?

Sizing guides pulled from their websites

While doing a little research for this I was shocked at the history of “Women's sizing” for clothes. Historically, before we had the sizing we know now, women’s clothing was purely based on bust size with the assumption that all women had an hourglass figure. And of course, women could sew, so they could tailor their clothes to themselves if needed. Then in 1939 Ruth O’Brien who worked for the US Department of Agriculture along with the Bureau of Home Economics a study was conducted where 15,000 women had 58 unique measurements taken. This was to improve the fit of womens sizing but also to create a standardised sizing chart we may understand today. However, as people generally got bigger over time, stores found women didn't want to buy bigger sizes. So over the decades, sizes have decreased. What would have been a size 16 in the 40s is now considered a size 6. Then add on the vanity sizing that brands can create, who knows what “size” you are!

All of this can make shopping, whether on the highstreet or online such a painful experience. Which makes the act of buying clothes so much harder, you have to try something on maybe multiple times in different sizes to find something that “fits”, deal with online returns or just give up and deal with whatever you end up with. Leaving you lost of all self confidence and probably not completely loving what you’ve purchased. Are there 15,000 women out there that are keen to take 58 unique measurements? Maybe we can clean this whole sizing mess out.

Pricing

The fatigue of shopping and finding something that fits can be very real. So what do we do? We give up! We give up on buying a higher ticket priced piece of clothing because it probably won't fit right anyways. We choose to spend less money and forgo the fit. So, why try? Well companies know this, they know we’re fatigued. They produce more styles with more units for you to choose from at the low price to encourage you to buy more and more. 

With the rise of vlogs and social media influencers I remember watching “hauls”. People doing huge ASOS hauls, buying so many items of clothes and filming themselves with their huge bundles of “on trend” items with the aim to encourage their young viewer to head to those highstreet and online outlets to get that dress or top that their favourite internet star had just purchased. So demand went up. People want everything and they want it now. Retailers had to keep up with demand, keep prices low but quantity high. Not even a whisper of quality or being made to last more than a year, if that. Because if it lasts, you wont keep buying. 

Then new retailers started to appear on the market, places like Temu and Shein. Where you could get a new dress for that event you have coming up, wear it once and forget about it. Costing you less than a coffee and a snack out somewhere, how good!? With little to no thought on where it came from or where it ends up. The charity shops? The clothing banks? 

Our need to have something new and on trend has won over any concerns we have for our environment, people working in these fast fashion factories or the small businesses that are trying to make a change. Why have we lost the passion for quality, for something that can last. Something that we can love, wear over years and potentially pass down to our kids or the next generation?

Me in a shirt my mum wore in her 20s. This shirt, which I still have and still wear is older than me!

Your body confidence

Just putting something on your body is not going to instantly change how you feel about it. Unfortunately, you can't buy body confidence. I’ve checked. I am not going to preach to anyone on how they should feel about their bodies or how to be able to love it. All I can do is share what has worked for me. If you can take something from that, amazing.

From the age of around 2 years old I had a pretty good, rather severe coverage of eczema. All over my skin were scars and sores that were painfully itchy. My poor mum trying to make me comfortable and keep me from making it worse by scratching was I'm sure tiresome. It stayed pretty bad until I got into my preteens when it was mostly located just on my arms and legs. Being in the hot sun was just not an option and long sleeves with anything that covered my legs was a win for me. I hated people seeing it - looking at it. I was lucky enough to have friends that had known me from a young age, they always made me feel beautiful and never stood for anyone making any remarks at me. Along with a mum who I’m pretty sure would have done prison time if anyone said anything about my skin. 

It was always such a point of insecurity for me. Which meant it completely dictated how I would dress, not only as a child but well into my teenage years. This was something I had little to no control over, for my formative years I really struggled with confidence. However, I believe it also helped me to see others that may be struggling with their own self confidence issues. I think I’m pretty good at spotting the person at the party who is feeling a little self conscious, making a point to go over and relieve some of that tension for them. As I grew into my 20s I gained so much more confidence in myself, simply by understanding who I was and knowing that being a good and kind person was far more important than what was happening on my skin. 

There was a time, just before I moved to New Zealand, that I didn't really know what I was doing. The only thing I kept saying to myself was, “I am the only person I'm spending my whole life with, I better love her!” It was my focus, for a good few years. I put all my energy into putting myself first and how to make myself happy. What brings me joy? What do I love about myself? What am I grateful I have? Loving your body isn't an easy thing to do, but it is also your little home. It's the thing that takes you places, it shows your love for people and dances! Your little body does so much for you, are you really going to tear it down because of some cellulite or rolls around your tummy, maybe some eczema?!

No amount of buying clothes fixed the way I felt about my skin or body, believe me I tried. All it did was help me to conceal the thing I was so scared of people seeing. It in no way helped me actually deal with my insecurities. We have to be brave enough to not care what others may think. Understand that when others make comments about you behind your back, in online comments or to your face it says more about them as a person than it does about you! 

Emma Thompson once said when asked.

“What would you say to that 14 year old now?”

“Don't waste your time, don't waste your life's purpose worrying about your body. This is your vessel, this is your house, this is where you live. There's no point in judging it, absolutely no point.”

Conclusion

So, how do we move forward? How do we combat our want for something new while still making ourselves feel good in what we wear. Does it come down to styling something we already have? Is there a piece of forgotten fashion in your wardrobe that could be reloved. Questioning ourselves before we hit the “Pay Now” button. I am not saying to never purchase from highstreet stores or do some late night online shopping. All I want is for you to consider the idea of something else. What I am trying to do with Baggy Bum is to create a place where those forgotten pieces of fabric or clothing could be reimagined into something someone will love forever. A piece of clothing that has meaning, thought and love behind it. That is made just for you!