Custom clothes for a new generation

Marks & Spencer said it was normal to be a size 16

By BBC News Online's Emma Clark

Have you ever tried on a pair of trousers and found them just a little too tight, or too short?

Soon all the hours spent queuing for shop changing rooms, only to find that you are not the size you thought you were, could be a thing of the past.

The main aim is to get better fitting clothes

Jennifer Bougourd
London College of Fashion

A new £3m project, called Size UK, aims to standardise not only British sizing, but ultimately sizes across the European Union.

"The main aim is to get better fitting clothes," says Jennifer Bougourd from the London College of Fashion, who has been involved with the project since its inception three years ago.

"We want to abandon 10, 12, and 14 and establish a new size classification," she explains, adding that the new size labels would be likely to use metric categories to reflect height and other such measurements.

New sizes for all

The project, which will use state-of-the-art scanners to measure body shapes, will carry out the first ever UK survey of men's sizing and provide the first research into national female sizes since 1951.

France and Germany plan to run similar surveys as part of a project by the European Commission to look at the ways garments are labelled.

Funding for the project has come from most high-street retailers and has been matched by the Department of Trade & Industry.

Ms Bougourd estimates that a new sizing system could be in the shops in less than two years.

'Out of date'

For Liza Colbeck, a quality assurance manager at House of Fraser, the new UK data will be invaluable.

Retailers that support the project

Arcadia

BHS

Debenhams

Freemans

Grattan

GUS

House of Fraser

John Lewis

Littlewoods

Marks & Spencer

Monsoon

N Brown

Oasis

Redcats

Rohan

Speedo

Tesco

"The most important thing is having a clear understanding of what our body shape is.

"Men's data is non-existent and we are working on ladies' data that is very out of date," she adds.

For example, the retailer would like to find out whether men's neck sizes do really correspond to torso sizes, as is the current practice with shirt sizes.

"We are putting a lot of money in, but we can see the benefits, finding out what customers wants," says Ms Colbeck.

Changes in shape

Women's measurements gathered in 1951 have become increasingly irrelevant and led to inconsistency in the retail industry.

"Over the passage of time, these measurements are becoming outdated. Health studies show that we are a taller population and that 20% of us are clinically obese," says the London College of Fashion's Ms Bougourd.

Women have developed straighter figures since the 1950s

"There is now a mixture of those [retailers] that retain the standards... and those that use vanity labelling, where a size 12 might in fact be a size 14."

Ms Bougourd also points to anecdotal evidence that women have straighter figures and less defined waists than they did in the 1950s.

"Some of it is because of diet, lifestyle and exercise and some of it is because there has been a change of ethnic mixes," she explains.

There are also changes for men, who are expected to have bigger frames from lifting more weights.

New technology

Using 3D body scanners and 10,000 volunteers across the country, Size UK hopes to build up a database of research.

The new data could have wide ramifications not only for the way garments are manufactured, but also for the size of seating in public transport and the future of shopping.

"It is so vitally important for the nation in general," says Anthony Rosella, who is managing the data collection for Size UK.

The new technology could benefit men in particular

He also believes that the technology being used in the project will be particularly important for men.

"Men are more likely to shop remotely [such as over the internet] and this data will facilitate that," he says, adding that men will be able order up the right size more easily.

He also notes that men's wives or partners, who frequently shop for them, will have a higher success rate in buying better fitting garments.

It is so vitally important for the nation in general

Anthony Rosella
Size UK

Eventually, shoppers might even be able to dress a virtual image of themselves, using a "body card". The card could also direct shoppers to clothes that would be more likely to suit their body shapes.

On the practical side, retailers will get a better idea of which sizes to stock and mail order services will spend less time dealing with returns, says Ms Bougourd.

It is also "possible" that more sizes could be introduced based on the new data, speculates Ms Colbeck.

Volunteers

But before the revolution comes, the project needs to drum up volunteers, particularly men, who have been slow to sign up so far.

Cities where data will be collected

London

Edinburgh

Birmingham

Manchester

Leeds

Southampton

Nottingham

Cardiff

Retailers across the country are advertising the campaign with leaflets, while eight universities, including University College London and the London College of Fashion, are primed to gather the data from 20 August.

Volunteers will be asked to step into a booth which will use scanners to map the shape of each body in a matter of seconds.

A "virtual" tape measure will then make up to 130 measurements around the shoulders, chest, hips, navel and so on.

Retailers hope to analyse the data at the beginning of 2002, which means a new age of shopping could dawn before the end of next year.