A Girly Post

The other day while I was walking through the mass pedestrian confusion that characterizes the approximate 500 meter journey from Karlsplatz to Marienplatz here in Munich I was saddened to discover that they had turned The Gap into yet another H&M.

What is it about H&M? Sure they have trendy clothes that come with a decent price tag, but does the shopping zone between Karlsplatz and Marienplatz really need five of them?! Well, maybe... one of the reasons I don't buy a lot from them is because I get so impatient waiting in line behind a bunch of teeny-boppers for a dressing room.

I am really not against another H&M store, but why did they have to close The Gap to make room for it? Not only have I always been a fan of The Gap, it was one of the few stores here in Germany where not only the sizes made sense, they were accurate! My other lamentation is that since I didn't know they were closing the store I missed out on all the great clearance items and prices.

But back to the issue of sizes. I have pretty much abandoned the attempt to translate American sizes into German sizes, because it just doesn't work. In the US, I usually wear a size 8 or 10. That is supposed to translate in Germany to 38 or 40. However, an American 8 or 10 is more accurately a 40 or 42.

Sure, you might think that I am lying to myself. When it comes to the issue of weight, body image, and sizes, women have been known not only to deceive others, but also themselves. Either I don't really wear a size 8 or 10 in America or I have gained weight and so the 40 or 42 might actually be a size 10 or 12 and I just don't want to admit it.

However, in both of these instances you would be wrong. Before I left America I was regularly wearing a size 10 and that was the largest size I had ever worn because I was at the heaviest point in my life. As a matter of fact, I have lost almost 25 pounds since I came to Germany two and a half years ago. When I first came here, I was buying 42s but now, as a general rule, I am buying 40s. In addition, I brought two pairs of my "skinny" jeans with me from the US (size 7/8) and for the first time in three years, I can wear them again. So obviously, when they try and give you American sizes that are equivalent to their German sizes here, they are wrong.

However, this doesn't surprise me. A long time ago I read an article somewhere that discussed how American sizes have shifted over the past 30 years or so. According to this article, American sizes have shifted downward about two sizes over this time period. Therefore, what was labeled as a size 12 in 1974 is labeled a size 8 in 2004. The reason for this is because even though we are heavier now than we were then, we like to think we are not. What better way to do this than by saying, "I wore a size 8 in 1974 when I got married. And two kids and 30 years later I still wear a size 8. Obviously, I can't be that fat!"

Of course, since the shopper is their livelihood, the fashion industry complies. After all, how tough can it be to design a size 12 but stick a size 8 tag in a pair of jeans? I suppose since European women tend to be thinner than their American counterparts, the fashion industry hasn't had to make those adjustments here. Therefore, European to American clothing conversion charts use 1974 figures instead of 2004 figures. I guess that would make sense... even though I am not too keen on the idea that even though I have lost weight I am still wearing the 1974 equivalent of double digit sizes!