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'About Bloody Time': H&M To Change Sizing After Customer Complaints

Natalie Gil
5 June 2018, 10:50
For some people, trying on clothes can be more stressful than enjoyable. High street retailer H&M has been called out multiple times for the way it labels clothes, with women complaining that its sizing is smaller than elsewhere on the high street.
In March, shopper Rebecca Parker wrote an open letter to H&M on Facebook alongside a picture of her size 12/14 frame inside a pair of the brand's size 14 jeans, which she couldn't pull up beyond one thigh. Reams of women responded saying they'd had the same problem in the store, with some even claiming to have abandoned the brand altogether.
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H&M appears to have listened to customer feedback and change is afoot in its stores. The brand is making its womenswear sizes bigger so that they're in line with UK sizing, HuffPost UK reported, and its online sizes will be changed "shortly".
This means that, from now on, what the store previously considered a UK size 12 will now be labelled a size 10, although the brand admitted it will take a while for the label of every item to be updated and hasn't given a specific timeframe. Its clothes will still go up to a UK size 20 and its plus-size range to a UK size 36, but the measurements will be larger.
In her open letter, Parker was steadfast in her belief that it was the brand – and not her body – that was at fault and pointed out that inaccurate sizing could encourage distorted body image.
“

The pair of jeans clearly were not made for a woman who is a size 14. Why is that?

”
"I am very proud of my body. It has taken a long time but I am thoroughly content with my large hips, squishy thighs and little tum, thank you very much. I’ve always been a 12/14 and pleased with it but when I tried on your jeans I was annoyed, hot and frustrated. The pair of jeans clearly were not made for a woman who is a size 14. Why is that?"
She went on to ask the question: "Why is it ok for a brand to label an item of clothing as a size which it clearly isn’t? I’m not writing to complain about the impact it had on me. Admittedly, I’m annoyed but I didn’t need another pair of jeans and the pearls were a nice feature but I’ll manage without them. It’s more about what it might mean for someone else."
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The discrepancy between H&M and the rest of the UK high street was caused by a disagreement over how European sizes should be converted to UK sizes. For instance, a European size 40 would be a UK size 14 in H&M but a UK size 12 in most other shops.
Previously, the brand defended its sizing by saying its "sizes offered in the UK [were] the same as in all the 64 markets" in which it operates, but it now seems to have changed its tune.
News of the change has been warmly received on social media, with many saying it has been a long time coming.
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