Vintage Clothing Sizes & Measurements
Anyone who has ever unsuccessfully tried to wiggle into an item of clothing that they were sure would fit because it was "their size" knows sizes are unreliable. Sizing standards are often not standard across brands or styles. The vintage shopper is even more disadvantaged if they rely on a sizing tag as you can not equate vintage clothing sizes to those of today. A vintage size 10 is much smaller than a modern size 10. The solution to the sizing quandary is to choose clothing based on measurements not the size label.In the virtual fitting room of Wickedly Divine Vintage, I want you to feel relaxed and secure with the clothing items you select, so I measure, measure, measure. You will usually find several measurements listed within the description of each piece of clothing. These measurements are of the garment itself, not body measurements. Remember that for almost all clothing, you will want an ease between the measurement of the garment and your body measurements. You usually look for a garment measuring at least 1.5 inches greater than your body measurement or else the item will be literally skin tight. Items designed to have a loose, flowing fit would need an even greater ease to provide the intended effect.
The best way to ensure a good fit is to compare the measurements of a garment you are interested in buying to those of a similar piece of clothing you already own and that fits you well.
The diagrams below explain how I take measurements for clothing items. All garments are placed on a flat surface to be measured.
A hip measurement of "Full" indicates that the garment is constructed with considerable fullness through the hips and is accommodating to most hip measurements.
Elastic waistbands and waistlines have both "unstretched" and "stretched" measurements.
