Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NEW YORK - If the pants fit, women will buy more of them, says Cricket Lee, the creator of a new fitting system that could make life easier for consumers.
Lee, chief executive officer of Fit Technologies Inc. of Dallas, demonstrated her new sizing system Sunday, on the opening day of the National Retail Federation's annual convention in New York. She hopes to have the system in 20 retail chains within the next 18 months, beginning this summer.
"Imagine if a woman could go into a dressing room and find pants that fit," Lee said. Based on research by the NPD Group of Port Washington, N.Y., Lee predicts that retailers will see sales rise by 25 percent if they use her system.
The Fit Logic system determines clothing size by measurements and body type, dividing women into three groups: top-heavy, hourglass and bottom heavy. The system assigns two numbers to each size, the first based on the tradition clothing size, the second designating body shape.
Actress Jennifer Lopez, for example, who wears a size 4, would be a size 4.3, meaning she carries more weight in her hips and thighs.
Retailers and manufacturers who buy the Fit Logic program will make their clothing to the program's fit specifications, which would be explained on hangtags.
Attempts to help women find the right fit aren't new to the apparel industry, but a universal fit system would give the industry something it hasn't had for decades. As it stands now, manufacturers use their own specifications for fit, and make the fit characteristics a part of their brand identity.
A woman who wears a size 12 by the standards used by Chico's, a chain that caters to baby boomers, measures 39.5 inches at the bust, 31.25 inches at the waist and 42 inches at the hip. At Ann Taylor, where customers skew a bit younger, the measurements for size 12 are 37-29-39.5.
"Women actually thought there was something wrong with them when they couldn't find clothes that fit," Lee said.
Manufacturers have tried to make it easier for customers by designating styles as "easy fit" or "classic fit," or by giving the fit categories names. Liz Claiborne, for example, uses names such as Audra to designate a fit type.
The problem with those efforts is that the size categories are different among the brands, Lee said.
The first large-scale fit study for women was conducted during the Depression era, when people worked hard and didn't have a lot of food, and World War II.
"Between women who were hungry and those in the military, those are where our standards were established," Lee said. Larger sizes were determined by simply adding inches to the small model size, she said.
Industrywide size standards were set in 1952, based on those fit models, but they eventually went out the window as vanity sizing took hold in the 1980s. Some manufacturers put smaller numbers on their size tags to appeal to women whose bodies were getting bigger.
Lee said her system still will have some appeal to women's vanity. After the initial rollout that set sizes for pants, the Fit Logic system will be extended to sizing for tops, and with dimensions by age group. Bodies change as people age, and sizing must take those changes into account, she said.
The Fit Logic system was tested on a sample of 30,000 women. Clothing made with the system by Nautica, Jones Apparel Group and Garfield & Marks has been tested in Nordstrom, Macy's and QVC.
Lee said she has some retailers and manufacturers signed up to move forward with the system, and she will start recruiting more companies in February.
Lee's company wants a 2 percent commission on each garment made with the Fit Logic system.
David Wolfe, creative director for The Doneger Group, a New York consulting and buying business that serves retailers, applauded the Fit Logic initiative.
"The industry just has to get together and do this," Wolfe said.
---
SAME SIZE, DIFFERENT FIT
Now, manufacturers use their own specifications for fit.The following compares a Size 12 at Chico's, which caters to baby boomers, and at Ann Taylor, where customers tend to be a bit younger. Bust: 39.5 inches vs. 37 Waist: 31.25 inches vs. 29 Hips:42 inches vs. 39.5
---
(c) 2007, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.
