Buying smaller size clothes...what the heck???

I've been on a shopping spree the last few days
because alot of my clothes are getting too baggy. (yeah!)
I've been trying on alot of clothes (tops and bottoms) in at least 6 - 7 different stores.
I've been shopping for size 18 jeans and extra large tops.
Previously I have not seen this degree inconsistancy in sizes running so differently.
Example would be some 18's are so small I can't barely get them past my knees and some fit just right.
Same with tops...some I can't even get on and some fit fine.
Is it because so many garments are now made in foreign countries
that the size standard varies so greatly?
What has your experience been with this?
I didn't find this as bad in the bigger plus sizes.
Just wondering.

Until the early 1980's, clothing sizes were regulated in the US.  The Reagan administration did away with the standards as part of the push for deregulation. As a result, sizing is far more variable, now, than in the past.  Smaller sizes are generally bigger than they were 20 years ago via so-called, "Vanity Sizing."  Size and fit are also now marketing devices designed to differentiate brands and create brand loyalty.

I tried on 4 different 'fits' of jeans last weekend at Eddie Bauer, alone.  The way I'm built (pear shaped), their 'Boyfriend' cut and 'curvy' fits worked best for me - size 10. They fit perfectly .  I could not get the 'modern' fit size 10 over my thighs.  The 12 went up but was gigantic in the waist and even hips.  The 'standard' fit that has a slightly higher rise than the others was ok in in the hips and thighs but gapping in the waist.

Well this makes shopping/trying on clothing quite frustrating.
I'm curvy and don't like the gapping waist either.
I found that Riders by Lee have addressed that issue.

Another oddity about sizing in plus sizes is for years a 2 X
was a size 22/24 but they've UPPED the sizes and a 2 X is now a 3X!  WHAT the heck?!
Can you imagine the uproar if this was done in regular sizes?!

I have found Lee Jeans ..Some have the comfort wait ( Elastic on the inside)  They fit me well and I'm curvy too!

I HATE TRYING ON CLOTHES!  So I find a brand I like and then just buy one of every or every other size.  I still like elastic bands for now.  I went from 26 to 20 and I'm almost 9 weeks!

I'm going on a cruise in Jan but can't shop for that yet!  Oh and Try Goodwill!  Cheap and plentiful in every size.

I hear ya! I can wear anything from a 16 to 1x, mostly 18 fits.

I've noticed that variation too, and for me, it has been quite the variation...
Currently, I've concluded that I wear anywhere from a small to large shirt, depending on the brand... and pants anywhere from a size 10 to 14... depending on the brand and cut... for the most part...
I've found that I have been having good luck with Dockers for Women brand for dress pants and JC Penney's Arizona Jeans brand for jeans... in the juniors sizes...
Generally as a rule, I try on everything... and I mean everything... before I buy. 

And, it only gets worse the smaller you get.

I can wear a size 0 in the boyfriend cut jeans at the Gap, size 2 super skinny jean at Old Navy, but can barely squeeze into a size 5/6 at Rue 21 and Charlotte Russ. I wear XS tops at Old Navy, but need a Medium to Large at Rue 21 and Charlotte Russ, and can barely squeeze into an XL at Aeropostale (I won't even buy anything there, but wanted to know sizing).

Panties are about the only consistent thing I can find in sizing.

How wacky Tiff- I am the exact opposite- I can wear smalls at aero, and 4s, but at old navy I need size 10s.p- but still smalls.. I am not sure what's w me and old navy jeans but they just don't fit right! Lol

Panties I agree about.. But bras even have slightly different fits from different brands..

I wrote about this just last week. I think that when we wore plus sizes, or at least for me, I shopped in just one or two stores. Their brands were pretty stable in terms of size and fit. Going into regular sized clothing was very very overwhelming for me. So many manufacturers, so many different cuts of the same thing (modern, low rise, ultra low rise, slender, regular, curvy, relaxed.....) and each company calls each thing something different.

I discovered that I am petite, and like petite sizing ! Who knew ? Before I was just short and fat.

This journey is really something isn't it !?

I just went shopping today at a store called Dots, they have the stretchy jeans that I love. I tried on 10 pairs....10 PAIRS! It was so weird how all of them were so different, but I learned that I need some that are straight through the hips and waist like mens jeans because my waist doesnt curve inward in the middle. But the biggest problem I have is that I have no butt. None at all that hold up the pants! So every pair I was trying on at first was way to baggy in the back and it looked terrible! This shopping thing is frustrating. I am down to a 3x t-shirt now from a 5x but my jeans I bought today are a baggy 16, I am very big on the top still. Its very frustrating!