You know those commercials that make you cry? I was really touched by the new Kellogg Special K commercial. In it, women go shopping in a jean store and discover there are no sizes. The sales clerks offer to measure them with a tape measure that replaces numbers with words like “charismatic” Just about every woman I know can relate to how it feels to get depressed in a dressing room. It is something I see every week.
Last week I helped a young woman looking for a new pair of Silver Jeans. She told me her waist size, and we found several pair in the style she liked. With a little trying on, she discovered, to her dismay, that she needed a bigger size. When she came out of the dressing room, her countenance had completely changed. She had wilted right in front of my eyes. I tried to encourage by talking about how each style and fabric will fit a bit differently. I argued that she shouldn’t focus on the number and instead focus on the fit. Sadly, she just couldn’t get past the fact that she needed a bigger size. She left empty handed and depressed.
Silver Jeans
Oh how I hate that! Ladies, hear me when I say this. I dress women of all different body types every day. I deal with over 200 brands on a regular basis. I go to market and purchase these brands and talk to their designers four times a year. I can’t tell you how often I have a designer tell me, “We’ve changed the fit a bit. Your customers will notice these are a little bigger (or smaller) than before.” Over the years I have come to the inescapable conclusion that size means nothing. Truly, all a size means is that in this particular brand and in this particular style, you are this particular size, for now. That quite possible will change next season. Any woman who is honest will admit to having a range of sizes in her closet from smaller than she thinks she is to bigger than she wants to be.
It really is time that we stop letting a number define us. It is most definitely time that we STOP getting depressed when we go into a store and have to take a bigger size. If you’ve gained weight, okay. Get motivated and take off a few pounds. Stay on top of it before it becomes 20 or 3o pounds. But, if you were feeling good about yourself when you walked into the store, DO NOT let the sizes in the dressing room make you feel sad. It is a completely arbitrary number.
Just in case you missed the commercial, copy this address into your browser:
Talking Trends 
I have been that girl. Crying leaving empty handed. I just posted about this commercial, too! I love it! It made me cry as well! Love your post!
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