Woman calls out H&M sizing after having to go up four dress sizes from her usual 12 to a 20

Shopping on the High Street can often feel a little like playing a game of sizing roulette. The woo hoo high of squeezing your ordinarily size 12 frame into a pair of size 10 skinny jeans, the crushing low of having to go up two sizes to fit your boobs into a pussy bow shirt. *sighs*

It’s a familiar scenario most of us can relate to, but while some degree of size variation is to be expected, having to go up a whole four dress sizes? Not so much.

But that’s exactly what happened to shopper Marianne Gray who ordered a dress from H&M in her usual size 12.

After trying the dress on and realising it was too small, Marianne returned it to the store and tried it on in a bigger size. It still didn’t fit, so she went up another size. And another. Eventually after trying on the dress in a size 20, four sizes up from her actual size, it finally fitted.

Taking to Facebook to express her confusion about the incident, the 29-year-old from Glasgow has called out High Street for sending a ‘disgusting’ message to girls.

“I am utterly horrified by what happened in your store today,” she wrote before going on to recount what happened.

“Now I am relatively secure in my body, but I can only imagine the psychological impact being a size 20 could have on a young impressionable girl,” she continued.

“I was quite upset myself! I am a 12 and you made me a 20. I have never seen such irresponsibility in this day and age. I am ashamed of you, horrified by you and will not be shopping in H&M again unless this is resolved.”

The post quickly drew attention from other women who could relate to similar sizing issues on the High Street.

“This isn’t just a moan about her having difficulty getting the dress to fit, it’s about how the shop’s sizing/labelling can affect someone with self esteem issues or body dysmorphia, for example,” one woman wrote.

“These things can really affect people there should be far more standardised sizing in shops. This could have been a young teenager shopping with her friends and this could have done genuine long term damage to her self esteem,” another added.

“The same thing happened to me! I bought a size 16 pair of trousers from them and I couldn’t get them past my knees!!! But they did fit my size 8 friend! It’s horrible and it made me feel so disgusted with myself until I realised it’s not my problem, it’s theirs and they really need to fix this issue!” another woman commented.

A spokesperson for H&M told Metro.co.uk: “At H&M we hugely value all customer feedback. H&M sizes are the same across all the 64 markets in which we operate and online.”

“We work with our own in-house sizing department to ensure size and fit on all collections however the fit of a garment may vary depending on style, cut and fabric.”

H&M certainly aren’t the only retailers who suffer from issues with inconsistent sizing. Earlier this month another shopper has questioned high street retailers sizing policies, after taking a shocking picture highlighting the dramatic difference in brands.

Lucy Horsely, 18, posted a picture on Facebook showing two pairs of jeans, with a size 18 from River Island being smaller than a size 14 from New Look.

So maybe it’s time that retailers upped their sizing game? Not only does having such inconsistency make it near on impossible to know which size to order online, but it could also impact body confidence to be constantly wondering if you’ve lost or gained weight when in fact it’s just a sizing issue.

Have you ever had a similar sizing experience while shopping on the High Street? Let us know @YahooStyleUK

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