Sizing kids clothing by age is least reliable way of sizing childrenswear

04 Oct '10

5 min read

In part this overreaction is the result of larger children not wanting to wear children's clothing, therefore, offering children's clothes in larger sizes, except school uniforms, may not be helpful. However he stressed: “Offering plus sizes at younger ages six to ten years is absolutely a good strategy and too few retailers do this. My advice to retailers is to look beyond the top-level health numbers for an interpretation of trends that are relevant to their particular business.”

Ed Gribbin went on to explain that after five years of age, as children grow taller at different rates, the height to girth ratios in developing countries remain similar but are independent of age, therefore, he stressed: “Sizing kids clothing by age is the least reliable way of sizing childrenswear.” Rather he urged UK brands and retailers to use the preferred 'European' method of sizing clothes by height and waist measurements. Finally he concluded, crucial to the success of any sizing strategy is consistency: “It is far better to be consistently wrong than inconsistently right.”

Putting all this to the test is Marks & Spencer's Sarah Anderson, product development technologist/safety officer for kidswear. Using the feedback from its consumer focus groups M&S has found that by the age of eight girls are being influenced less by their parents and more by celebrity fashion trends, Twitter/Facebook, size zero and celebrity endorsements: “Girls between the ages of eight and 12 are more likely to go to Topshop where they won't bump in to granny or their teacher.”

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Association of Suppliers to the British Clothing Industry, ASBCI

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