A Guide to Vintage Sizing
Ah sizing. Something that is so helpful yet so unhelpful at the same time. After having so many conversations with you all about the perils of sizing, particularly when it comes to vintage clothing, I have written a little piece about where sizes actually come from, and my tips on finding a sustainable way to find your perfect vintage size! It is believed that standard sizing as we know it came from wars (particularly the Crimean War), and the need for an easy way to provide uniforms for soldiers. Once 'ready-to-wear' clothing, rather than 'tailor-made', became the norm in the early 1900s, standards bodies saw it fit to create a national sizing chart for men, women and children. This project began in America after the Second World War, where they surveyed 15,000 women in order to work out the average measurements for clothing. The 'Body Measurements for the Sizing of Women's Patterns and Apparel' was published in 1958 and was available for all to use. Unsu...