We all relate to this!

I don't discuss size with female customers at all. When I take measurements boyfriends*, chums, children, even the dogs are banished from the room and I don't recite numbers out loud. Their data and the finished garment are labelled as "Whatshernamemonthandyear.

*You would think, "leave your weirdo boyfriend at home or out in the truck" would go without saying but apparently not.

The problem is that women have an *expectation* of being able to fit into a size 0...1...2...3... whatever vanity sizing their favorite RTW comes in. If they see one using a pattern with a "size 14" on it, they swoon! Silly, but RTW has been skewing its sizing for years.

Beverly

Not just that, but the more expensive the garment, the smaller the size on the label - though not in the garment. What might be a size 10 or 12 at WalMart would be a 4 or even 2 in a high-priced boutique. I think it's probably a better draw than quality or design.

The patterns I use are typically sized from 4 to 16 in girl's sizes and

0 to 24 in women's in one packet. I take measurements and discuss and make notes on fit issues - stuff like, the back of my shirt always pops out of my pants, or, I have to unbutton my cuffs when I'm running speed classes. Nobody but me and maybe the dogs get to see what size gets traced off, and with what modifications. Measurements are re-taken for every garment.

We don't seem to be *quite* so mad about sizes here in the UK, but there are some differences. 30 years ago in the 70's I took a size 8-10, weighed around 120lbs and had a 20" waist. These days, after shedding a large dollop of excess weight, I'm back in a size ten and weigh 23lbs more! No matter how the fashion industry protests, there is no way today's size ten is the same as those of 30 years ago!

Recently there was a program on TV here about size zero: Louise Rednapp, one of The Clothes Show presenters, skinnied down to a USA size 0 frock (UK size 4), Normally, she's a nice curvy size 10 (she'd a tiddly person naturally). I was quite surprised that a size 0 fitted a 25" waist. I thought it would be much smaller! I must say that with my experience, I like to be the size I am, and don't want to shed too much more. I'm quite comfortable in the top half of the BMI for my height. Some of the models Louise met on the program were painfully thin and unhealthy.

I loved the way that at the end of the program Louise stuffed the (very expensive designer) 'horrid little' size zero frock in the bin and went out with her girlfriends for a meal! After her extreme diet to get into the frock, she was carefully monitored with a medically supervised diet and exercise program so she built up muscle rather than replacing what she'd lost for the frock with fat.

I just accept my reality and make adjustments where needed . Right now that means RTW size 14 in some things, and a 16/18 in patterns...oh well, I'll just make what I want in the size I need and not care about the RTW/pattern difference