Size Chart Woes, Part III– Revenge of the Stitch

We rejoin our Top Secret Debriefing (Hahaha, DE-BRIEFING, Get it?), already in progress…

Michelle: So, looking back at my Ann Taylor Loft adventure, what would you say is the primary problem (or problems)? Shouldn’t an ATL shopper expect a Size 4/6/8 (in particular) to match up well with the measurements listed on the size chart?

Deep Seam: Well, without actually speccing (laying it flat and actually taking all of the relevant measurements) the garment myself, I couldn’t say for sure, but it seems clear there’s a massive disparity between their size charts and the actual specs of the garments (which I find common, actually, in my own shopping efforts).

A thorough spec sheet should specify measurements both when the garment is loose and when it’s stretched, and a thorough plant manager at the sweatshop/factory should enforce those specs to the letter. Problems here could have started with the drafting, and continued all the way through patternmaking, grading, cutting, speccing, and sewing. Like I said, all those fractions of an inch add up really fast!

Seems most likely, though, that the company has a standardized size chart, which the designer, patternmaker, and/or grader did not adhere to when producing the garment. I think this is very common. And very frustrating.

It’s also clear just looking at the size charts that like me, you are not the ideal ATL customer, who has a considerably longer and thicker waist proportionate to her hips and bust. I personally avoid most dresses, even stretchy ones, because almost none of them fit me in all three places at once. I do have a few ATL petite skirts and crop pants, and they fit me reasonably well, though with the usual too-big-at-waist, too-snug-at-hips problem I always run into. This is why I am going to just start making all my own clothes.

Michelle: So, it’s mostly an issue of quality control? It sounds like a pretty widespread problem. Is there any way to control for the size chart disparity outside of trying things on in person?

Deep Seam: It is a widespread problem, but I would say it’s more a case of too many hands in the soup than quality control per se.

Here are all the people who could directly affect the fit of your garment from start to finish:

• Designer – designs the garment by draping and/or drafting
• Assistant Designer – flats, specs, costing
• Patternmaker – produces original manila pattern of the design
• Grader – grades pattern, produces the other sizes in the range – remember, s/he often has to make up new grade rules for each garment, or apply existing grade rules to new parts of a garment
• I forget this guy’s name, but he is in charge of the fabrics. If he stores or lays them out incorrectly (is he called the layer?) the garment can be cut offgrain
• Cutter – places fabrics in up to 100 layers onto a cutting machine and pre-cuts the pattern pieces
• Sewers – most garments are sewn collaboratively by a plant in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, China, etc. – one person sews the sleeves, another the zipper, another the hem. This is time-effective and since one person does the same task over and over, reduces error.

At the end of the process, the garment goes through quality control. But that person is looking for crooked seams or a busted zipper, not taking a tape measure to every seam to see if it conflicts with the company’s size chart. So obviously, no matter how careful everyone in this long line of production is, it would be virtually impossible to maintain the same sizing for every new garment that comes out in the label.

This is part of why people pay more for couture and premium garments – they’re often manufactured by far fewer people, with far more controls over quality and consistency. Better garments also incorporate tailoring and couture techniques designed to improve garment fit and hang.

Michelle: In all sincerity– given the odds stacked against us all– how is it that I ever find ATL garments that fit? Is the fact that I have above-average success at ATL attributable to pure dumb luck? Combined with the fact that they have a petite line and favor a degree of Spandex in their clothing? Or what?

Deep Seam: It’s a combination of factors:

• Ann Taylor/ATL is a “Missy” line, so their fit model is more likely to be an adult woman with something resembling a “feminine” figure (as opposed to Junior or Better or Contemporary or Young Designer, all of which would be using extremely slender, waiflike fit models and sizing standards)
• They do use a lot of spandex in their garments (see above re: Missy)
• As a large label, they almost definitely do their grading and patternmaking in-house, which means that they re-use the same grade rules whenever possible. Fortunately for you, the original grade rules favor your figure.

Michelle: Thanks so much for this!  It’s sort of…  insidiously evil that even someone who has read “women’s” mags almost-religiously for nearly 25 years had little-to-no idea how the process worked.

Deep Seam: You know, I have a lot of theories about why the process is the way it is, and none of them are very favorable. The whole system is set up specifically to MAKE AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE, not to produce well-made, properly-fitting clothes. And this of course leads to conspicuous overconsumption and the idea that clothes are disposable, putting more garments in landfills and killing the planet that much faster.

I really wish people would take pride in their clothing, buy or make quality garments and keep them for years. Actually if more people would make their own clothes, stuff wouldn’t get thrown away as quickly. If you put a couple of days or weeks into making something, it’s not getting tossed in the bin next season.

Michelle: Unfortunately, that takes time and/or money, and many folks don’t have much of either.  But for those of us who have a little– food for thought!