Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 24, 1991 TAG: 9103220490
SECTION: SPRING FASHION PAGE: E-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: VALLI HERMAN/ LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Long
It's that moment of truth - after you have walked five mall miles, stepped into 18 pairs of jeans and tied and untied your shoes as often - that you wonder, where, oh where do sizes come from?
The answers are as various as the fit of those jeans, dresses, shirts and jackets.
While menswear sizes are standardized by neck, sleeve, waist and inseam measurements, variations still exist, but not to the extreme of women's sizes.
Part of the size dilemma comes, of course, from the variety of body shapes. But the other parts come from designers' and manufacturers' preferences, the limitations of production and even the restraints of fabrics.
"The standards for sizing are unique to each manufacturer," said Joe O'Grady, president of the American Society for Testing and Materials in Philadelphia, a membership organization that reviews standards on many consumer products.
O'Grady said that the fit of a garment is considered in some ways a trade secret.
"Sizes become the trademark, the `secret.' It's done to protect their share of the market," he said.
Industry sizes do exist. For example, dressmaker's mannequins come in set sizes. Generally, patterns are built from the standard dimensions, and garments are cut and then corrected on models who match the designer's vision of how the garments look on customers.
But even fit models are not all the same.
"Each company has its own idea of what is the perfect size 8 or 10," said Linda Reyes, co-owner of Models! Models!, which supplies fit models for area manufacturers. "The sizes could vary probably up to 2 inches," she said.
And it shows.
"Everyone has a little bit different fit," said Marie Mager-Prager, vice president and general merchandise manager of August Max Woman, a chain of clothing stores for large-size women.
"You walk into a store, and there are certain manufacturers you know you can go over to and you always wear an 8. Then you go to another, and it's `Whoa! Did I gain 50 pounds?' "
Part of the problem may be that your body has changed - but you forgot to realize it. As the body ages, the distribution of weight may change.
Francine Browner, a Los Angeles-based women's wear designer, builds garments to fit that transitional size between a junior and a missy. She calls it contemporary/junior.
"We figure our customer has a little bit of thigh. When they put on a size-9 skirt, we cut it so it is not pressing against the edges. Probably a size 9 in a true junior is a half-inch to an inch smaller in the hips and the waist," she explained.
"We also take into account that as people start to get older, they are a little more womanly. They don't go without bras. So we cut the garments so that bra straps don't show," she said.
Human error can account for some of the minor changes between the same garment by the same manufacturer, said Rusty Feldman, a vice president of merchandise for Cherokee.
"You can have contractors and sewers who don't cut exactly," Feldman said.
Further, when patterns are cut, sometimes in scores of layers, the fabric can shift from the force of the cutting.
"And a lot of companies launder their products before shipping, so you have shrinkage factors," Feldman said.
Differences in fabric can cause a difference in cut. Browner cuts rayon more loosely because it tends to cling to the body. A stiffer gabardine can fit more closely.
Large companies such as Cherokee and Francine Browner employ dozens of employees to oversee quality control. An irregular seam can make a garment unwearable.
Some companies are taking the size reins in hand to make sense of the mess. It's not so easy, especially in mail order, which relies on a proper fit to reduce returns that can increase costs and customer dissatisfaction. With the January catalog, Lands' End launched a new sizing program geared to offer a consistency of fit, whether the suit is for bathing or business.
Now the sizes are roomier, fuller and built with more ease, said Joan Plansky, quality assurance manager. The move was necessary for several reasons.
"There are not industry standards," Plansky said. "A 10 means nothing in the ladies' clothing industry.
"Thirty to 40 years ago, the military derived a set of what they felt were women's body dimensions. And that is what people have been basing dimensions and sizes on since. We, and the rest of the mail-order industry, stayed the same, too," Plansky said.
Then there was that pesky issue again - aging.
"In the last few years, we have noticed our customers getting slightly larger," she said. The baby boomers were blooming, as it were - in the hips, tummy, thighs and other parts subject to middle-age spread. Now Lands' End garments are up to 2 1/2 inches larger in at least one dimension.
Shorter women haven't had a range of options until major manufacturers realized the market potential in special sizes, which include petites (for women under 5-foot-5), large petite (for women size 14 to 24 who are under 5-foot-5) and large (for size 14 to 24, over 5-foot-5).
It may be hard for a woman to realize what size she should try, said Michael Fishkind, president of Leslie Fay Special Sizes. A woman may be under 5-foot-5, the height for most petites, but her total height isn't the problem.
"The key measurement for a petite is from the nape of the neck in back to the waist," Fishkind explained. "And you can't say a petite person is small. We sell as many petites in size 4 to 6 as in 14 to 16."
While Leslie Fay and Lands' End customers may be breathing easier in their specially sized clothes, getting into a smaller size isn't always a factor of fit. It may be one of economics.
"I find that very expensive labels, the better designers, tend to make their things bigger," said Browner. "I think it is because they feel their customer wants to wear a smaller size."
Vanity sizes may be part of the issue. But a manufacturer can't add too much confusion to the mix before he perplexes shoppers entirely.
That is why Browner, who makes clothing under 10 different labels, uses the same fit model, a person with what are considered to be ideal proportions, to add consistency to her lines. She and other manufacturers stick with the same pattern maker to ensure consistency across the company, as well.
There is good news in the size shuffle. Manufacturers realize that while models may look great in their clothes, few share their whippet-slim build.
"When you are fitting on a model," said Browner, "she has to be like most people, not the goddess. You are fitting on one person, but you expect the clothes to fit on millions."
by CNB