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American Morning
Interview with Cindi Leive, Olivia Barker
Aired May 17, 2002 - 07:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: OK. All you women out there, do you think you are a perfect size 6? Well, maybe you are, maybe you're not. If you're like most women, that size 6 could easily turn into an 8 or a 10 or a 12, and in some cases a 14, all in the same day. That is what happened to "USA Today" writer, Olivia Barker.
When she went on assignment, and took her own clothing tag truth test, she became a victim of size lies, and she is not the only one having a fit over sizes. Retailers according to the coveted Gen-Y market with lots of low-riding pants and tight-fitting tops. But is that a mistake?
And 13 to 24-year-olds contribute only about 17 percent to the apparel industry's dollars, while women 35 to 54 buy 40 percent of the clothes sold. So what's an older shopper to do?
Well, joining us now to offer some help, "USA Today's" Olivia Barker and Cindi -- it's Levine (ph), right?
CINDI LEIVE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "GLAMOUR" MAGAZINE: It's Leive.
ZAHN: Leive, Leive, OK -- editor-in-chief of "Glamour" magazine -- glad to see both of you -- welcome.
LEIVE: Thank you.
OLIVIA BARKER, "USA TODAY": Thanks.
ZAHN: So what happened to you when you were measured by a dressmaker?
BARKER: Well, I went in there, and he told me kind of what I thought I would hear, which was, you are probably a 6 or an 8, and that sounded fine. So I put on my size 6 jeans that I've had for a long time and thought fit me very well, and went about trying to find out if that indeed was what I -- you know, how I would fit in places like the Gap and department stores and...
ZAHN: But let's see what happened to you when you went shopping.
BARKER: OK.
ZAHN: We are going to put up on the screen now a graphic showing what you were subjected to. All right. BARKER: Exactly.
ZAHN: So you went to Barney's. You bought what fit you. The shirt was a medium.
BARKER: Right.
ZAHN: The jeans were a size 8. So already you are up one size in the jeans.
BARKER: Right, exactly.
ZAHN: At the Gap, the shirt a medium, jeans size 8. This is acceptable so far. A little depressing...
BARKER: You know, I had never worn an 8 in the past, so -- OK, but here.
ZAHN: Macy's.
BARKER: Yes.
ZAHN: Jeans size 12?
BARKER: I know.
ZAHN: And a shirt size 8.
BARKER: This is incredible. I started out at this rack of jeans, and I went right to the size 6. And I held up the 6, and it looked like what I wore when I was 10. It was just, you know, like for somebody with hips this wide. And the size 12 was the largest that it went to. I put it on, and I probably could have gone to a 14.
And it was wonderful because the sales woman who was helping me said that so many women go to this jean section, and they say, do these go to a 30? Because you know, real women were not fitting into this, and they assured me that I was not in the junior section. That this was contemporary, you know, 20, 30 something women. And it was unbelievable.
ZAHN: What happened when you went to Target?
BARKER: Well, it was more forgiving. It was a lot more forgiving. The shirt I actually got was a size small, and...
ZAHN: You shrunk...
BARKER: I know.
ZAHN: ... from one trip to the next.
BARKER: Right, exactly. The next day I shrunk. Who would have thought? And the jeans were -- you know, the size 8 jeans were positively huge compared to these size 12s. It was just amazing to see how all of the places (UNINTELLIGIBLE). ZAHN: So, Cindi, why is it all over the place? Is there a certain psychology here?
LEIVE: Well, there is no standard. That's the big problem, whereas men's clothes generally tend to be standardized, just the way shoes are for both men and women. Men can walk into a store and say, this is my neck size, this is my inseam size, and they walk out five minutes later with five things that fit. The men...
ZAHN: It's a conspiracy.
LEIVE: It really is very I think unfair a lot of women feel when they go shopping. You know, it didn't always used to be this way. In the 1940s, there were standardized sizes, but I think designers quickly realized that sizing is very psychological for women, and that they could actually sell more clothes if they sized certain things smaller and certain things larger.
ZAHN: What impact is this having on business? Can you tell, because there is no standard measurement, does that -- I wonder if that helps or hurts retailers?
LEIVE: Well, I think in many cases, it probably hurts, because women are not able to find what they want as quickly as they should be. It makes it very difficult to order through mail-order. You should be able to just know that you are a 6 and get the 6, but in fact, you might be a 14.
In other cases, though, I think it can help, because although what you discovered was that a lot of places were sizing their clothes much smaller, some chains have started sizing their clothes larger, so that you might believe you're a 10 but you walk out (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
BARKER: Flattery.
LEIVE: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: I'm having a good mental health day.
LEIVE: Yes. And you think I am a 6.
ZAHN: Some of those (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and they are a size 60.
LEIVE: Right. You want to buy 10 pairs.
ZAHN: Now, you got a lot of response from the piece when you wrote this.
BARKER: Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
ZAHN: By and large, what did women tell you?
BARKER: Oh, you know, thank you, halleluiahs, you know, I'm not alone. I have been suffering through this. I thought I was a size 10 for 15-20 years. And I'm walking into these stores that I relied upon for so long, and I can't fit into the size 10 clothes. And I haven't gained weight, you know. I'm a little older. So they were just wondering what was behind all this. Is this in my head? Am I making this up?
But judging from the diversity of response all over the country and I really think that a huge population is being neglected.
ZAHN: Final word of advice, Cindi, to all those female shoppers out there, whether you are a 12 or a 54.
LEIVE: Size doesn't matter. Don't think I'm a 4. Don't think I am 14. Just go and take what looks like it's going to fit and try it on. That's always your best bet.
ZAHN: It's a conspiracy I bet. We should make it more efficient.
LEIVE: Yes. I think women would buy more clothes.
ZAHN: Absolutely. Well, Olivia, thank you for dropping by, and, Cindi, thanks for your time as well.
LEIVE: Thank you.
BARKER: Thank you.
ZAHN: Good luck to both of you, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) size 2 I might add -- both of you.
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