The size cocoa in stores like Zara, Mango or H&M

Tania Llasera has denounced it but thousands of women in Spain have suffered it. Changing sizes suddenly because mysteriously now the one you were wearing is smaller, entering the dressing room with three different sizes of the same pants, buying an M in a Zara shirt and that the Mango one doesn't even fit your wrist... The list goes on and cocoa carvings in stores is a reality.

The problem has been around for a long time, in fact, in 2007 the Ministry of Health asked the textile sector to unify sizes so that they were the same for all brands. Needless to say, it has not been achieved despite the fact that the request has been repeated.

From ASGECO, the General Consumers Association, they report that it is the European Union that has the power to achieve the unification of sizes in all manufacturers, but it is still far from reaching it.

According to a study carried out in 2019 by the Government of Aragon and the Aragonese Association of Relatives of Patients with an Eating Behavior Disorder (Arbada), 70% of people suffer psychological discomfort when they do not find a size in a clothing store.

As a consequence, the study concludes, these people are being encouraged to engage in risky eating behaviors. The report points out that the majority of brands accessible to consumers "do not adapt to the characteristics of a large part of the population and encourage body dissatisfaction". In addition, they point out that the silhouettes of the mannequins also influence buyers psychologically.

The survey adds that 86.10% of the people asked said that their size varies depending on the garment model that is tried on.

The brands put the batteries ... half

In addition to unification, consumers have asked for the range of sizes to be expanded both above and below to satisfy all bodies, although large sizes are the ones that have been most in demand.

In this sense, Zara's decision is understood, which has chosen the model Paloma Elsesser as the image of its new collection. Elsesser is one of the most sought-after faces in the industry and she is wearing a 46, something unthinkable until now for a Zara model.

Despite the novelty, there are not a few who, like Tania Llasera, ask for more diversity in sizes and accuse the Inditex group of making the garments smaller and smaller and that there are several centimeters of difference between what was a 38 in 2015 and what it is now.

Another of the low cost firms that has changed its policy on sizes is Mango. In 2014, the Catalan firm launched Violeta, its large-size division that went up to 52. This year, the firm decided to close all stores and integrate the entire range of sizes under the Mango name, both in physical stores and online.

The decision was widely applauded, although for the clients of the firm there is still something that is squeaking: to get the largest sizes, you can only go to the online store since they are not sold in a physical store. Something that also happens with H&M plus size garments and that many see as discrimination in terms of accessibility.

Violeta by Mango parade in 080

Uxia Prieto

Journalist at The HuffPost