50 years ago, today's size 00 was an 8. This viral post shows why vanity sizing must end.
"Stop believing the social normatives about who and what you should be."
Deena Shoemaker was going through her closet when she realized something odd: She had several pairs of pants in drastically different sizes.
It wasn't that she had gained or lost a lot of weight recently. Despite the varying sizes on the labels, each pair of pants fit her exactly the same. Shoemaker is simply a victim of something that plagues millions of people around the world: arbitrary clothing sizes. Some brands are "true to size" while others "run small" or "run large." Still others use "vanity sizing" like double- or triple-zero to make sizes seem smaller than they are.
Finding six pairs of pants that fit her the same in a range of sizes from 5 to 12 opened her eyes to just how ridiculous our clothing size system truly is. And as a mentor coach at Youth Horizons, a nonprofit organization that supports at-risk kids, Shoemaker knew that teen and tween girls felt her frustration magnified tenfold.
She decided to share photos of herself wearing the pants to show just how absurdly unstandardized clothing sizes are.
No I'm not selling my pants; I've just got a bone to pick. I've worked with teen & pre-teen girls as a leader and...
Posted by Deena Shoemaker on Saturday, December 10, 2016
She wrote the post as a letter of support to the girls she's worked with over the years, many of whom struggled with body image issues:
"I've have girls sob in my arms and ask me, 'if I were skinnier, would he have stayed?' I've counseled girls who were skipping meals. I've caught some throwing up everything they've just eaten."
She goes on to explain why she's not happy with the sizing discrepancy that exists across clothing brands:
"When you resize a girl's pants from a 9 to a 16 and label it 'plus size', how am I supposed to fight that? ... How do you expect me to convince her that she doesn't need to skip dinner for the next month because her pant size didn't *actually* go up by seven digits?"
Finally, she implored any girls reading the post to recognize that clothing size does not determine their worth as a person:
"My dear beautiful girls, my size 2 girls or my size 18 girls, your size doesn't determine your beauty; your life does."
There's truth to what Shoemaker found in her own closet: Clothing sizes have been jumping all over the place for the better part of a century.
Photo via iStock.
According to a report from Time, over 50 years ago, model Twiggy wore a size 8. Today, writer/comedian Mindy Kaling wears that same size. These two women have two very different body types. What used to be a size 8 is now considered a size 00.
So where did these crazy size fluctuations originate? Simply put, clothing manufacturers thought women would find their actual measurements on clothing unnerving, so they began a practice known as "vanity sizing" to make women's sizes appear smaller. The horrible irony is the same system that was designed to make women feel better about their size is now making them feel frustrated and confused every time they go shopping.
Thankfully, there are people in the fashion world fighting to make clothes shopping a more inclusive, less stressful experience for people with a range of body types.
Melissa McCarthy promoting her brand Seven7. Photo by Paul Conrad/Getty Images.
Companies like ModCloth are doing away with separate plus-size sections in favor of including extended sizes with their main clothing lines because separating larger sizes is a form of fat-shaming. Newer designers like Mallorie Dunn are featuring women of all sizes to model their clothes and show the world they're actually made for anyone to wear. More and more, we're seeing curvy and fat models, actresses, and designers featured in the fashion world.
But we still have a long way to go. No one should feel they have to change their body to fit into clothes — clothes should be designed to fit the beautiful spectrum of body types that exist in the world. Not only that, but clothing should be marked appropriately and practically. Creating new sizes to make customers feel better only makes it seem as though some body types should be hidden or ashamed to be seen.
As long as vanity sizing exists, young girls who are just growing into themselves and learning to be comfortable with their bodies will face frustration when they go shopping. That's why it's vital for them to have people like Shoemaker on their side telling them it's all just bullshit anyway.
As Shoemaker wrote on Facebook: "Stop believing the social normatives about who and what you should be. You are lovely and you are loved. Just exactly the way you are."
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Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."