Why Women’s Fashion Needs A Make Over

Women’s fashion has been a topic of discussion for as long as I can remember, and for good reasons, and it needs a makeover. Now. Because women shouldn’t have to risk mental breakdowns in the fitting room.

Inconsistent sizing sucks

Starting with my biggest pet peeve when it comes to women’s fashion, it never fits right because sizing is so inconsistent. I know I’m not the only one who’s ended up in tears after a day of shopping, measured themselves and ordered according to the size chart only to receive an item that doesn’t fit or stopped trying to find cute clothes because they never fit correctly.

It’s not okay. It’s also super annoying that depending on where you shop the sizing is labeled differently. Men’s clothing is so simple compared to women, its waist and length measurements. I can’t even find pants long enough in store so I always have to order them and it never fails, I’ll have to order half a dozen pairs just to find one pair that fits. Clothes should be this complicated, we should be able to know without hesitation what size we need.

It seems like everything is made with only certain body types in mind.

This one is a work in progress as more stores are becoming more inclusive of different body types, but it still has a long way to go. It seems like all regular sized clothing is made for short women, and all plus-sized clothing is made for women who are 6′ tall. That’s not the case. I’m 5’8″ and I cannot find regular sized clothing that is long enough for my legs, my arms, or my torso. And I hate having to drown in my tops in order for it to be long enough.

Thin doesn’t mean short and thick doesn’t mean short. Also, not everyone has an athletic build or an hourglass shape. Most women are pear-shaped and yet companies don’t really cater to us – I say us because I fall into the majority. Having bigger hips and thighs with a smaller waist makes it so hard to find pants that fit because they are made with athletic builds in mind.

We never have pockets.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I don’t want to carry a purse or have my hands full, sometimes I just want my pockets to be functional. It’s annoying to have to ask someone else if they will put my phone or wallet in their pocket if I decide not to carry a bag with me. I honestly think that companies purposely don’t give us pockets so that way we have to buy purses. I think purses are cute, but we all know that the girl with the purse in the group ends up carrying everyone else’s crap in her bag on her shoulder. No thank you. Give me some pockets so I can have hands free and be independent and carry my own crap.

Women’s fashion isn’t only a form of expression, it’s sometimes used as a weapon.

Women’s clothing is very controversial as well. This is less to do with how it’s made and more to do with society. As young girls in school, we are told to cover up our bodies because they are “distracting”. We all have heard or read this argument so many times, but its such a problem.

When it comes to how we as women are seen in society, nothing we do is right. We could dress like nuns and be called prudes or weather appropriate and be slut-shamed even though no one should be wearing jeans and hoodies when it’s hot and humid out.

At the end of the day, our clothing choices should just be dependant on what we feel good in but for some, it’s not. Some of us start to dress differently because someone at work has wandering eyes, or because we are tired of being harrassed mid-day walking outside of in a store. It doesn’t make sense that in 2019, our bodies are still treated as objects and that the clothing options we have are often blamed for the way so many of us are treated. It needs to change.