Analyzing Standard Sizes

A recent New York Times article titled, Size Fits Nobody: Seeking a Steady 4 or a 10 addresses the noble pursuits to solve problems with standardized garment sizing.

Of course, here at indi, sizing is something that we study all the time. Over the years, we’ve become quickly aware that not every one has the same shape and shopping for clothes that you have to fit yourself into isn’t exactly the best or most ideal way to dress.

Just to give you an overview of this article:

The current state of standard sizing looks like this: various designers and retailers put different numbers on their clothes that are supposed to signify the same size (which is of course, under their own standards). Over the years, many brands have succumbed to “Vanity Sizing.”  This is a practice that puts a lower number on clothes that doesn’t actually represent the actual size. At first, it makes you feel better about yourself, that is until you walk into a store expecting to wear a size 2 and the only thing that fits is an size 8!

To solve this issue, a company called MyBestFit came up with idea to help confused consumers shop smarter—they set up kiosks in malls to offer a free 20-second full-body scan where you could get a print out of 50 different retailers that tells you how their sizing will fit your body. Basically, a low-power wand, one that emits radio waves, records about 200,000 body measurements, figuring out things like thigh circumference. The system then matches the customer’s measurements to clothes in its database and hands you a print out guide, which looks something like this:

The print out seems informative and extensive, but its also a little overwhelming. Just like the program director of fashion merchandising at Philadelphia University, Marie-Eve Faust says, “It would be nice just to take the pant, look at the label and say, “That should fit me.”

Thats one way to do it, another way is to take fashion industry’s top down approach and turn it around. Instead of having designer’s on top, calling all the standard sizing shots, we’ll have consumers do it. We accomplish this bottom down approach through our technology—we ask our consumers specific questions about their bodies just like this diagram below:

And from this, we’ll pair your questions with fit algorithms that we developed using information from the US National Size survey that studied nearly 10,000 bodies. Using these data, we are able to predict and create a pattern that’s strictly made for that specific individual.

posted by: Eunice Tanos on May 20, 2011 at 2:23 pm
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TAGS: customer stories, custom jeans

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