Sizes: Club Monaco vs. H&M

Well by now you all should know that I am a "Club Monaco Ho." I can't get enough of that store. I think it has to do with my undying love of the 80s, which I feel "The Club" regularly invokes. I tend to visit the one down on Fifth Avenue, fly back to the sale section and try tons of stuff on, then allow myself one or two "full priced" items from the front. Even when things don't fit me, I don't curse them for mal-sizing. I feel like the sizes are fair - the bottoms are true, if not a bit generous, and the tops are perhaps a bit on the small side, but I tend to need bigger tops than bottoms, so I should blame my hulking back and not the store.

Then, even though I have sort of dissed it, I sometimes run across (yes, I RUN, like the wind!) the street to H&M where I sometimes find pants worth the mere $35 that they usually cost. However, I find that H&M is a little skimpy on the sizing - I can barely squeeze into an 8, which I can usually do without much fanfare at other stores. Often 10s are even too small.

Ladies, for those not in the know, the cheaper a store is, the more likely the sizes are going to be skimpy. Well, at least when you're dealing with most American, mass-market apparel.