Making us feel slim to rake in fat profits
FOR most women, high street fashion store cubicles are Enemy Number One.
You enter, full of hope that you’ll look like a supermodel, only to find out that once you’ve struggled into the desired garment you’re actually a lardy heffalump crammed into skinny jeans meant for long-limbed teenagers.
So you back out of the cubicle, lurch off home, depressed and disillusioned, blaming bad lighting and swearing that the flaming store must have wrongly labelled those unflattering, badly-cut jeans.
Humph! Kettle on. Scoff a pack of yummy milk chocolate digestives. The diet can wait – again – until Monday. Well, the good news is you don’t need to starve any more. Why? Because next time you go clothes shopping, you’ll have shrunk. Eat as many biscuits as you like.
Hell, eat a whole
Black Forest Gateau because, I swear, if you were once a size 18, you’re now a 12.
But before you get Changing room nightmare too excited, unfortunately the size reduction is all down to a cruel lie. High street fashion stores have been playing tricks on us by labelling clothes a couple of sizes down from the size they actually are. So, for instance, if you can’t believe you’ve ballooned up to a size 20, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find out that, according to the label, you haven’t – you’re a size 14.
Hurray! Pop a balloon. Buy a bikini. Book a beach trip.
But keep the receipts. Because in the stark light of your own bedroom mirror you’ll notice that the only thing that’s changed about your size is the figure on the label. You’ve been tricked into thinking you’re thinner than you are, hoping you’re the size it says, despite knowing deep down that nothing has changed.
This is OUTRAGEOUS. It’s called vanity sizing. But what it actually is, is a profit-boosting ploy – a totally irresponsible plot to fool shoppers into thinking they’re slimmer than they actually are, so they’ll love the outfit, flash the cash and boost the store’s financial gain.
Eight fashion brands, including Marks & Spencer, Zara, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge were included in the study.
Considering that 60% of people are already judged to be unhealthily overweight, the practice is cruel. It is dangerous. It will lead to shoppers eating more. It will fuel obesity.
What next? A spot of vanity up-sizing maybe? The 38DD bra that’s actually a 32C? Profit is king. I wouldn’t put it past them.