this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
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Mildly Interesting
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One thing i found interesting is that as much as the manufacturers of clothing shifted the clothing sizes, average waist sizes still increased more than the clothing sizes did. IMO this highlights that the problem isn't just their marketing but the food, diet, and overall health of the community impacts it as well. The medium size was supposed to reflect the median waist size, if waists are increasing, the measurements have to increase as well to maintain that status quo.
I have anecdotal evidence that similar trends sometimes happens to male clothing. I typically fit a medium pair of track pants perfectly. My parents bought me some track pants from costco, they got small and medium because they didn't know my size. The small pair fits as if it were a large. My theory is the average costco male is a middle aged dad type, by making their sizes ridiculously big they can go home a feel good about fitting the medium pair instead of the large they typically wear.
Maybe , but as I’ve settled into my dad bod, I’ve found that the bigger issue is a different shape, somewhat like women’s clothes. I definitely have more sympathy for them. It’s great that men usually only need to care about waist size and inseam size, but now the same waist size may be big or small depending on the rise, same with inseam. I definitely need to shop by brand that fits, and assume the numbered sizes are still actual measurements.
That being said, for lettered sizes, I’ve definitely turned to brands that are larger. I usually buy Carhardt t-shirts because I can wear an xL-T (and they have tall sizes!) when another brand is needed a 2x or 3x, then I’d go up a size if they don’t have tall.
For me the Costco question is easy: they never have tall sizes.
Oh trust me I'm under no illusion that I'm anything other than a fat blob.
Or since there's nowhere to try on clothes before you buy them in a costco, middle-aged dad bods would be disappointed that the Costco clothes they bought are too big for them. Then they'll have to go back and make an exchange or return. All that trouble might make them forget how good they might have felt for a fraction of a second when size large was too big for them.
I got news for you, most men wouldn't use the dressing room anyway. They'll hold those pants against the ones they are wearing and decide from there.
I bring a tape measure and measure width and inseam.
We're taller now.
Most of the excess in the pants was in the waist/thighs area. There wasn't much of a big difference in pant length between the pairs. Its also possible the sizes ran big and costco got a good deal on them, as a male, im just not used to such a wide swing in sizes.