ith summer quickly approaching and the annual pressure of being bikini body ready amping up 11.6 million Brits admit that ‘swimwear season’ makes them anxious, with poorly fitting clothing creating stress in the summer, as many women struggle to find clothes and swimwear in their size.
Despite the ever-growing need for the fashion industry to be more inclusive, most brands still cater to only a small proportion of people. The average UK woman wears between a size 16 and 18, but many high street retailers fail to offer clothing options that meet that size or exceed it, leaving many Brits shopping exclusively at plus-sized brands.
Studies show that 46% of people report that their mental health is negatively impacted when their clothing fits incorrectly. And more than 50% of adults wanting to lose weight are motivated by not fitting into their old clothes, making fashion sizing one of the biggest factors in weight loss.1
Now, a new study by online healthcare provider ZAVA analysed measurements from popular fashion brands in the UK to reveal which brands have the most inclusive size ranges for their customers.
Study highlights:
Yours Clothing is the most inclusive brand with a measurement range of 30in between the smallest and largest sizes, scoring 9.43 out of 10 for size inclusivity.
Yours Clothing offers the largest max sizes at 68in bust, 62in waist, and 72in hip measurements.
Mango ranks as the second most inclusive, with 24.41in between minimum and maximum sizes and scoring 9.26/10.
Burberry offers the best options for smaller individuals with the smallest minimum sizes at 26.77in bust, 21.26in waist, and 29.92in hip measurements, gaining an 8.75/10 inclusivity score.
The UK’s Most Inclusive Fashion Brands
Rank | Brand | Bust Size Range | Waist Size Range | Hip Size Range | Size Inclusivity Score/10 |
1 | Yours clothing | 38 – 68” | 32 – 62” | 42 – 72” | 9.43 |
2 | Mango | 30.7 – 55.1” | 23.2 – 49.6” | 33.9 – 58.3” | 9.26 |
3 | M and co | 32 – 54” | 26 – 48” | 36 – 58” | 9.17 |
4 | FatFace | 31 – 52” | 24 – 45” | 34 – 55” | 9.00 |
5 | Burberry | 26.8 – 42.9” | 21.3 – 37” | 29.9 -45.7” | 8.76 |
6 | fashion-nova | 32.5 – 52” | 24.5 – 45” | 35.5 -55” | 8.71 |
7 | Timberland | 29.5 – 49” | 22.5 – 42” | 31.5 – 51” | 8.67 |
8 | Superdry | 33 – 49” | 26.5 -42.5” | 32.5 – 48” | 8.37 |
9 | asos | 29.9 – 45.7” | 22.8 – 38.6” | 32.9 – 48.6” | 8.34 |
10 | oasis | 31.7 – 47.2” | 24.6 – 40.2” | 33.7 – 50” | 8.27 |
11 | dorothyperkins | 30.7 – 44.1” | 23.6 – 39.4” | 32.3 – 49” | 8.04 |
12 | chicos | 33.5 – 48.7” | 26.5 – 41.5” | 35.0 – 49” | 7.79 |
13 | PrettyLittleThing | 30.9 – 45.7” | 23.8 – 38.6” | 34.1 – 48.8” | 7.71 |
14 | Joules | 32 – 47” | 25 – 40” | 35 – 50” | 7.67 |
15 | next | 29.9 – 42.9” | 24.6 – 39” | 32.9 – 48.4” | 7.42 |
The full dataset is available here
Yours Clothing
With an impressive inclusivity score of 9.43/10, plus-size brand Yours Clothing is the most inclusive in the study. Yours Clothing has fashion available in sizes 14-40. Their bust measurements range from 38in to 68in, resulting in a range of 30in between the sizes – the largest of any brand in the study. Both the hip and waist sizes serve a measurement range of 30in – the max in those categories as well. Yours Clothing is, however, less inclusive on the lower end of the measurement spectrum. Starting at size 14, their smallest measurements are among the largest of the study, excluding women with smaller measurements from their offering. Their size steps are also comparatively large at 2.31in, making for less tailored fits for women between sizes.
Mango
In second place, we have Mango, with an inclusivity score of 9.26/10. The Spanish fast-fashion brand sports the second-largest range of measurements between their sizes: 24.41in for bust and hip measurements, and 26.38in for waist measurements. Compared to Yours Clothing, Mango serves smaller sizes, starting considerably lower at bust measurements of 30.71in, hip measurements of 33.86in and 23.23in for waist measurements. On the top end of their size offering, they fall between 13-14in short compared to the range offered by Yours Clothing. Their sizing steps are also less precise, at 2.44in between bust and hip sizes, 2.64in between waist sizes.
M&Co
Scottish online retailer M&Co ranks in third with an inclusivity score of 9.44/10. M&Co serves sizes 8-28, with bust, waist and hip measurements available in a range of 22in between the smallest and the largest size. M&Co offers the smallest steps among the top 3, with just 2.20in between sizes, promising a closer fit. On the whole, however, M&Co’s minimum measurements are larger than those of Mango, and the maximum measurements are slightly smaller, resulting in an overall less inclusive range.
FatFace
Fourth, we have British lifestyle brand FatFace with a score of 9.00/10. This multichannel retailer serves sizes 6-24, with bust, waist and hip measurements available within a range of 21in between min and max measurements. With size steps of 2.33in, FatFace offers the second least tailored fit between sizes in the top 5, but offers smaller minimum size measurements than M&Co in third and Yours Clothing in first. Maximum measurements are slightly smaller than all fashion brands ranking above FatFace.
Burberry
Burberry is rounding out the top 5 with an inclusivity score of 8.76/10. The luxury fashion brand offers clothing in sizes 2-18. Burberry has the smallest available minimum measurements out of all brands in the study, with their smallest size fitting a 26.77in bust, a 29.92in hip and a 21.26in waist. Burberry further offers one of the most tailored fits, with size steps as small as 1.57in for waist measurements between sizes.
Crystal Wyllie, doctor at ZAVA, weighs in on the mental impact clothing size limitations have on people:
“Fashion sizes measurably affect our mental health, self-confidence, and even weight loss behaviour. Studies have shown that larger sizes, regardless of actual measurements, can reduce self-confidence, and inconsistent sizing can equally lead to negative self-perception. For example, if someone has lost weight, but doesn’t fit into a smaller size in a particular garment.
As we at ZAVA have found out in a survey, over 50% of people are motivated to lose weight because they can’t fit into their old clothes, and difficulty finding clothes that fit them can be a barrier to the weight loss journey, especially when people’s own body image is negatively impacted by fashion sizes.
This has a disproportionate impact on women, with 73% having avoided wearing certain types of clothes because of their weight, while this figure is lower, but still high at 52% for men. Other motivators linked to fashion are seeing yourself in photos (49.7% of respondents were motivated by this), holidays (33.1%), which often involve fitting into beach or eveningwear, and weddings (18.1%) for both the couple or guests, with wedding dresses often requiring expensive alterations.1
In an age where body ideals are changing rapidly, where there is increased pressure on body image due to social media, and much more inconsistency in sizes across brands, the impact of fashion sizes on weight loss behaviour has grown massively. Particularly, the unpredictability of sizes when buying online has added to this.
It is therefore crucial that fashion sizes are not seen as an objective measurement of beauty, health or indeed body weight, and that sustainable habits should be adopted for weight loss, based on positive motivations such as energy and physical health, rather than shame.”
