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From cutting the

labels out of your

latest buy to full-on

tears and tantrums

in the changing room,

Natasha Devon asks

why we’re so hung

up on the size labels

inside our clothes

?

WHY

CAN’T

WE SEE

BEYOND

A DRESS

SIZE

When I was 12, my mum gently told me I’d always have to buy

larger clothes than my more petite peers, due to the fact I’m

almost 1.8m tall and descended from a long line of Amazonian

giantesses. Perhaps that’s why I’ve never felt any shame in

announcing I’m a size 16. But many of us have preconceptions

about what women of a certain size are like. So, for example,

size-16 women like me are often thought of as confident and

smiley, with a love of ’50s tailoring, big hair and cupcakes. By

sheer coincidence, that pretty much sums me up. And when

I asked women on an online forum to do a similar exercise, I

discovered most of us ascribe certain personality traits to our

dress sizes. According to the forum, size-8 women are uptight,

size-10s are professional, size-14s make great girlfriends, and

size-18s make fun drinking buddies. Logically, these theories

are nonsense – but preconceptions were strong enough for

the hundred or so women asked to reach a general consensus.