“ Article 1: Create the unique clothing size identification system” .
It is the first norm of the bill that seeks to standardize the sizing of the clothes we consume. The processing of the eventual regulation was initiated through a motion of the deputy Gael Yoemans, supported by other honorable ones such as Maite Orsini, Carmen Hertz and Erika Olivera. It only has 3 articles, plus four transitory articles that make up the framework on which this matter will be regulated.
"A joint regulation, issued by the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity, will contain the numbers of clothing sizes with the exact measurements for the differentiated population for men and women," says the second paragraph of the article. 1 of this meager text project, which leaves the regulatory detail to a regulation that will be issued by both ministries. Then, the first transitory article of the norm, mandates an anthropometric study to be able to determine this unique system of sizes: "For the elaboration of the regulation that establishes the final paragraph of article 1 of this law, it may be commissioned to carry out a anthropometric study. Said study may be carried out at a national level, with the collaboration of universities and study centers, with a representative sample of the total Chilean population, with criteria of age and sex of the people. This study may be carried out within 1 year from the approval of this law . In other words, it will be a representative study of the bodies of the local population that will determine the national size.
It is very common that we are different sizes in different brands, that in one store the size 42 fits us perfectly, but in the next the button does not close. According to its promoter and those who support the initiative, this would give rise to arbitrary, discriminatory and even harmful situations for people's mental health, since it promotes the idea of perfect bodies that lead to paths such as eating disorders. This is one of the main reasons for proposing this bill. "Many times it is seen that these issues go by. (But) it is not a minor issue," warned Yeomans in Cooperativa, who remarked that "we are talking about stereotypes of bodies. This issue influences mental health, in boys, girls , young people as well as adults and older adults".
The project was entered on January 24 and is in its first Constitutional process in the Chamber of Deputies. There is no urgency of any kind for its discussion, so the speed with which it advances in the National Congress will have to do with the importance and priority that the Economic Commission grants it, which is where its processing is located today.
Vanity Sizing or Vanity Sizing
In the text that precedes the bill and that is presented as its foundation, reference is made to vanity sizing as a bad practice that is intended to be eradicated with this bill.
Vanity sizing is a marketing technique, a trick by which ready-to-wear clothing stores label their garments one size smaller than what they should actually be based on their dimensions. For example: I bought a size M shirt, which actually should have been classified as L because of its measurements. The objective of vain sizing is to create a feeling of well-being in the consumer so that he buys more, with the consequent greater economic benefits for the store or brand that labels its products with smaller sizes. Although it is a widespread technique, not all stores resort to it. In general, the most exclusive brands do not occupy it, because theirs is just the opposite: filter through sizes and thus maintain the physical stereotype of their client within certain margins. This explains why in one store we are size X, while in another the size Z is what we should put in the bag.
As stated, vanity sizing produces a comfort effect on consumers, which is far from what Deputy Yeomans mentioned in the sense of producing effects on the mental health of consumers. In fact, a study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology shows that smaller size brands, far from producing psychological sequelae, increase the self-esteem of their consumers. On the contrary, brands with larger sizes reduce the trust of their customers, which also results in lower results for the business.
An absolutely rational customer should not be affected by the size they are buying, but their purchase option should be conditioned by how well the garment fits, by appearance rather than by metrics.
Final considerations on the bill.
Of course it is plausible that initiatives such as these try to solve the practical problems that arise for consumers who have been faced with what they consider to be discrimination. In the same way, the creation of univocal sizes will come to solve online purchases, which have gained so much ground. In the experience of the physical store, trying on the garment helps to disappoint us and buy what really suits us. However, when buying online, and even with the help of the size charts provided by web platforms, how what we buy in this way will look on us is always a mystery that will not be cleared up until the moment of dispatch.
However, as the law is presented today, it could cause problems for its implementation, especially for small and medium-sized brands located in the incipient Chilean fashion industry. We believe that the following points should be taken into account in the legislative debate, and in the eventual preparation of the regulations associated with the law.
-Exclusions to the obligatory nature of the law: For authorial design, the regulations should not be obligatory for several reasons. The first is that these types of brands at the local level are small or medium-sized, they have clients that have forged over time, who generally remain faithful to author labels. Why throw away years of sizing work? Why corrode the existing communication and link between brand and client? Although the bill gives them one year from the issuance of the regulation to adjust their sizes, it does so according to a reductionist criterion that revolves around sales. If a brand has annual income of over 25,000 UF, it has six months to do so; those with sales less than that figure, one year. A process of these characteristics could mean a significant impact for an author design brand, affecting its production process, its finances and, most importantly, its relationship with its clients.
-Periodic anthropometric study: A periodicity must be established to renew the anthropometric study. The physiognomy of Chileans is not the same as it was 20 years ago and surely in the same period in the future our bodies will have changed again. If the study is not regularly updated, we will have a vanity sizing protected by the same legislation that tried to suppress it.
-Collect the opinion of designers' trade associations: Sometimes, laws are made without listening to those who will be affected by the regulations. The trade associations of costume designers in Chile do not have much weight, they are not as diligent or involved in the acts of authority that affect their work. A regulation that falls on the deaf ears of Chilean costume designers could mean a fatal blow for an industry that is still in its infancy.
-The deconstruction of the idea of the perfect body : This is achieved not only with a size law, it is also important to regulate some aspects of fashion advertising. What good is it for us to have a size law that tries to solve -among other things- issues related to mental health, tear down archetypes and nullify discrimination if fashion advertising continues to be plagued in its vast majority by hegemonic beauty? A comprehensive regulation in this regard is urgently needed.
-Width of sizes offered: If what is wanted is to promote the idea of the existence of different types of bodies, the regulations should consider the obligation to have a minimum of sizes offered per design. Otherwise, brands can easily circumvent the non-discriminatory intent of the law by offering only small sizes or one size fits all. Each brand should have at least three sizes for the same design.
-Organic legislation for the local fashion industry: As latent as the problem of sizes, is the precariousness of the Chilean fashion industry. It is urgent to legislate for this industry by creating organic regulations that consider all the edges of this sector, whose potential is great despite its precariousness. It is time to highlight and support what has been done in Chile, to level the field to be able to compete in better conditions with the retail giants. It is urgent to promote local production, with all the benefits that come with it.
