Talking clothes sizing on Dubai eye
I went on the radio a couple of days ago to talk about why so many of the clothes we buy – especially online – get returned (and why it’s a massive problem for the environment, retailers’ business models and even our mental health).
Earlier in the week I had noticed that Zara and Shopbop have started using the (very) occasional non-regulation model-size girl to showcase items on their websites. Not plus size, per se, but women whose measurements are a darn sight closer to mine (and maybe yours too?) than the conventional UK size 6/8 models used. For reference, the Shopbop model, Myla, linked here is wearing a medium and has a 37" bust, 29” waist and 40” hips (the more conventional model measurements across the site are around 31” bust, 24” waist and 35” hips). Myla’s stats are not a million miles from my own, so seeing the dress on her gives me a far more realistic idea of what it might look like on me than I get from seeing it on a more standard modelly-proportioned girl. I can therefore make a more considered buying choice and hopefully reduce waste by not ordering something that won’t suit me and will end up costing the environment, the retailer and my self-esteem.
This grey area between classic model proportions and so-called plus or curvy sizing is bizarrely underrepresented. And yet, by increasingly seeing women of, say, a UK size 12, 14, 16 (as well as smaller and larger sizes), what we perceive as ‘normal’ will gradually start to change, which can only be a good thing.
I can’t help but wonder whether showing realistic depictions of how clothes might actually look on the end user might dent initial sales, but could also drastically reduce returns. And a sale that results in a return is potentially more damaging to a retailer’s bottom line than no sale at all, given the monetary costs incurred in restocking items. (It is estimated that the cost of returns will reach $550 billion in the US by 2020.)
Anecdotally, 30-40% of clothing and footwear purchases get sent back, and e-comm returns have grown 95% in the last five years, which has a massive negative impact on the environment (as planes zig-zag around the world carrying clothes that we don’t want), affects pricing (most retailers bake these costs into an item’s price in order to offer free delivery and returns inline with consumer psychology – just ask Drake) and p****s the bejesus out of us when our expected size doesn’t fit. (Acknowledging that it’s unhealthy to aspire to a certain size or define ourselves by our size is, of course, ideal… if not always realistic).
Via Instagram Stories I asked whether the clothes you shop for online look the same on you when they arrive. The answer? A hard no. Some of the reasons you gave for online shopping fails include:
· Models are skinny size 0, 20-years-old who don’t reflect most bodies
· I don’t look like the models on the websites
· Clothes are always modelled by skinny people
Yep, I’m detecting a theme… Of course this has been going on for decades in magazines (I should know, I worked for multiple fashion titles for well over a decade and a half), but the correlation between image and purchase is less direct from a magazine than an online retailer.
Good American lets shoppers browse its denim styles on models from US size 00-24
Props, then, to Khloe Kardashian’s Good American clothing line, which has photographed its signature jeans on women from (US) sizes 00-24. Find the girl closest to your size and see what each style is most likely to look like on you. There are no high heels, super-tall girls, flattering lighting, clever styling or photography tricks – just honest to goodness representation.
If retailers focus more on selling us a realistic portrayal of what clothes will look like on the end user, surely in the long run everyone will win? Customers will trust retailers more, the negative impact of returns will be reduced and designers and brands will have to step up their game and make sure their products work for all body shapes and not just the 1% that conform to traditional model proportions. Sounds like a win to me. Click on the link up top to listen to my extended witterings on this topic and thanks to Dubai Eye for having me.