Tips to buying Dresses online

People contemplate whether or not the size and fit of each piece of clothing will be exact.

Because the standards of clothes sizing are confusing, many of you are resigned to walking the high street, from store to store figuring out what which dress will fit!

This mixture of the unknown makes it annoying that you establish one fit at a store, only to find that going to another store armed with the knowledge that you are a size 12, to find out that the clothes you are trying is size 14 that fits you?

Shopping for clothes online has one major setback, clarity in clothing sizes!

Women's sizes are not standard, most women are aware of this hence the sore feet and countless circuit laps around the shopping mall, building up a dossier of information as to what store, stocks their clothes in their size.

There are so many guides out there that advise about sizing!

There are no hard fast rules about this no matter what is said about it, it's all down to the manufacturers description and instruction of how their garments are supposed to fit?

Online shopping should be hassle free if the information provided is viable and useful for you to make your mind up, but instead most people doubt and are worried as whether to commit to something that they are unsure that will fit them!

Clothing manufacturers portray to customers that they have standard sizes, but there are many women out there that know this is untrue as the culture manufacturers place on the clothing racks are "one size fits all"

So what are the rules about sizing?
What have the clothing industries standardisation rules of sizing done!
Nothing?

Times have changed since the definition of women's fashion clothes, sizing of the 1950's; and no one within the British clothing industry has made any effort to change the fact that men and women have physically changed?

Instead The United Kingdom has an existing standard for women's clothing BS 3666:1982, however this is rarely followed by manufacturers as it defines sizes in terms of hip and bust measurements only within a limited range.

This has resulted in variations between manufacturers and a tendency towards vanity sizing.

Instead what has happened in the fashion industry is that Europe have become more aware of these changes and so has adopted to these the changes of measurement sizes and as a result we now have more of women's fashion Boutiques, on the high street from Europe.

Measuring size ten in a style of dress for instance, is a totally different clothing sizing in another store?

Confusing?

Size ten in a designer fashion sense will not be the same looking on women measuring size 14?

Retailers don't make women's fashion clothes to compliment people of different body shapes?

British Standard 3666 - 1982 size designation of women's wear

In the UK women's clothing size is traditionally indicated by numbers. In 1982 the British Standards Institute produced a standard set of sizes from 8 to 32 quoted in centimetres.

Unfortunately, there is no requirement for manufacturers or stores to use the British Standard resulting in a range of size indications for the same size of garment from different sellers.

A new standard BS EN 13402 is intended to replace this system with one in which actual measurements are used, however this is not yet in common use.

The women's wear Industry have adopted variations in sizing that has only exasperated the frustrations of many customers searching to find Evening wear Dresses, Skirts, Jackets that because of the brands individual sizing policy, we are all suffering the aftermath of not having a uniform clothing size structure, for UK, Europe and the Rest of the World.
This table shows the sizes as given by the British Standard.

Most High Street names in women's clothes- with the exception of a few, such as Primark - use the results of a National Sizing Survey (SizeUK) to analyze the average shape of their core customers, and then cut their clothes to fit.

Andrew Crawford, Director of SizeUK, said: 'SizeUK enables retailers to understand the distribution and overall size and shape profile of their target customers, to improve the sizing and fit of their garments and maximize the percentage of their target customers that can fit their clothes.

UCL is the leading UK 3D body scanning centre. Andrew Crawford serves as Director of the UK National Sizing Survey which measured 11,000 subjects using 3D whole body scanners to automatically extract 130 body measurements from each subject.

This research was supported by most of the leading UK clothing companies. It involved collaboration with my colleague Professor Bernard Buxton, Jeni Bougourd of the London College of Fashion and Andrew Crawford of Bodymetrics. (The DTI state that SizeUK received more media coverage both nationally and internationally than any other project they funded.)

Subsequently Andrew was advisor to United States Sizing Survey (SizeUSA - collaboration with Dr. David Bruner of TC2) and also currently advising the Thai Government on a national sizing survey. I serve on the European Sizing Co-operation (a consortium of the largest European clothing companies) which is interested in standardising clothing size labelling in Europe, and in a pan European Sizing Survey.

He also collaborates with the Institute of Child Health (Dr. Jonathan Wells and Prof. Tim Cole) on the use of body scanning for healthcare applications such as epidemiology, the screening of children for obesity and growth defects.

To find your correct size you must learn to take your measurements correctly. This may mean a painful few minutes with a measuring tape, but the results will be worth it.

Use the charts and instructions on the clothing sites you visit to calculate your information and then select the right sizes for your current measurements. It's the best way to ensure that you'll get a perfect fit every time.

1. Difficulty: Easy
2. Time Required: 2-5 minutes
3. What do I need: Ask a Friend for best result, Tape measure, Pen, Paper, all to be done in front of a mirror and your back to a wall?
4. Where do i start?
* Make sure you measure yourself in your underwear!
* Before making any online purchases, always check with the merchant's size charts and fitting tips.
* Check the method and instruction used by SovaCollection. From the fitting chart are measurement tolerances that give you a confident realistic picture, that tells you if you will fit into the chosen garments!
* As long as you have taken measurement of yourself, you not only have information about yourself, but it will give you a better vision as to whether you will fit into other websites clothing with similar size chart listings.

Fitting methods and measurements might vary slightly from one online merchant to another.

Tips about Clothing wash care

The best way to avoid clothes that may shrink, fabric bleed, after washing a dress or top is to make sure you are check up on the fabric label of the garment you are interested in.

Dry Cleaning only is the best way, although depending on the make of the garment, it may not be feasible to do so, such as some Evening Dress embellished garments with crystal stones that will damage due to dry cleaning.

As a whole with dry cleaning you get a professional finish, Dry cleaning will keep most clothes from fading.

If you are looking for a fabric that will not shrink, you can look for rayon blend or a polyester blend, certainly spandex, Spandex may shrink in dry cleaning though.

If it's 100% cotton, it will shrink.

As a general rule, almost anything can be washing machine cleaned, if washed correctly, even wools and cashmere, which will shrink if, dried improperly.

Some fabrics will lose their "softness" (silks, cashmere) when washed as opposed to dry cleaning, in which case always read the instructions on the label for wash care of these items.

Always seek the advice of a reputable Dry Cleaner and you can also seek the advice at the link laundering & dry cleaning symbols
.