#1 Enemy of Sustainable Fashion: Inconsistent Sizing Across Brands
Why is inconsistent sizing so prevalent in women’s fashion, even now?
There are a few main factors leading to this confusing state in garment size labels, and they directly affect fashion and sustainability.
Reason #1: Branding Efforts
Every brand has a specific target audience, much like you do. Some cater to young, hip people, while others focus on more mature and style-conservative demographics. This approach to branding is central to the ongoing issue of inconsistent sizing in fashion and sustainability.
We’re talking about the concept of the core customer here. In reality, brands center their sizing strategy around what this core customer looks like. Sure, they use available size tables. However, these are merely a voluntary guideline, a basic starting point that is then molded by the aforementioned customer.
Consumers go through transformations. As they switch from one life stage to another, their fashion preferences often change. Up until now, they’ve been a specific core customer — now they’re another.
This process can even be more episodic or temporary. Spicing up their wardrobe, purchasing a new piece of clothing for a specific event — plenty of reasons exist for core customers to change.
Having a core customer is crucial for your branding strategy. However, this approach also serves as a foundation for frustrating inconsistent sizing when customers shop from different brands. These sizing inconsistencies make it harder to shop sustainably and contribute to the overall environmental impact of fashion.
Reason #2: The Rich Diversity of Women
Size inconsistency is nothing new. It’s been around for decades, even centuries, as discussed by plenty of designers and researchers. Yet, the US has become increasingly diverse over the past century, with a variety of ethnicities comprising the fashion market. Lifestyle changes have also allowed for further diversification of fashion choices.
Last but not least, we see more size inconsistency with female fashion compared to men’s or children’s garments.
Why?
Because all these processes of diversification come on top of the fact that women come in all shapes and sizes, in much more abundance than men. Female fashion also goes through more rapid changes and has much more seasonality.
As a result, there are categories upon categories! Petites or misses, maternity fashion, plus-size clothing – only to name a few. Considering every category can be broken down into a subcategory of its own, thereby creating its own sizing system…
Well, it’s no surprise that sizing charts have become so complicated. And as a result, many customers feel confused and frustrated, hindering their ability to shop sustainably within the fashion industry.
Even if customers know their measurements, it’s not enough when shopping online, as they often don’t know the fabric elasticity or the fit of the clothing they’re considering. The only way to find the right fit is through a 1:1 alignment between customers’ measurements, body shape, and clothing measurements, while also considering fabric elasticity and design. This can’t happen without the help of a size recommendation tool like SizeSense.ai, which gathers all this information to calculate the right size.
Bridging the Gap: Fashion, Sustainability, and Size Recommendations
Ultimately, these sizing inconsistencies present a barrier to both sustainability in fashion and consumer satisfaction. As we strive for a more sustainable future in the fashion industry, it’s vital that brands implement solutions that can eliminate the challenges posed by inconsistent sizing.
With SizeSense.ai, we can bridge this gap between fashion and sustainability by providing customers with accurate sizing recommendations that consider all variables, including body type, garment design, and fabric elasticity. This personalized fit experience leads to fewer returns, helping reduce waste in the fashion supply chain and encouraging a more sustainable approach to shopping.
Leave a Reply