My Tiny Kingdom

Which, if you ask me, is just fucking lazy. According to the Wall Street Journal, moving away from the old 2-4-6-8 system and into a S, M, L system is something consumers prefer, as evidenced by their purchasing patterns. Clothing labeled small is much more likely to sell out than clothing labeled with a size 4, or even a size 8. And clothing labeled Small or Medium means that women are less likely to be unable to fit into the size they usually wear and leave the store empty handed (according to the WSJ piece, consumer researchers have found that if female shoppers can't fit into their "normal" size, more than half of the time they'll leave the store without buying anything). Manufacturers enthusiastically endorse this profitable move, saying stretchy fabrics and roomier clothing designs mean that shoppers don't need exacting sizes. I say that this is a kind of bullshit chicken-egg question. Who's to say that the current Spongebob Squarepants-fitting style of women's tops isn't the direct result of manufacturers simply realizing that it's more profitable to sell women clothing that isn't flattering or form-fitting? I've seen the havoc wrought by inexact sizing dresses that rely on drawstrings, bunchy elastic embedded in the waist of rompers so that fewer sizes can accommodate a wider range of bodies. Shoddily constructed wraparounds that would give Diane von Furstenberg an allergic rash.

Women, You Do Worse On Math Tests If You Wear A Bathing Suit

We know some of this to be true; everyone has a favorite outfit they look good in and that makes them feel more confident. Professor Pine's data consists of things like asking psycology students to put on a Superman t-shirt. They declared it made them have better impressions of themselves and that they felt physically stronger. To most people, that says psychology undergraduates are as mentally developed as four-year-olds but to Pine it became a book, Mind What You Wear: The Psychology of Fashion. Don't believe it? You must be wearing a plain t-shirt rather than a Superman one. These clothing anecdotes as evidence are the basis for conclusions about how mental processes and perceptions can be primed by clothing, as they internalize the symbolic meaning of their outer layers.