Last week, J.Crew announced that it would add to its already ridiculous selection of vanity sizes and introduce a new 000 option for some extra-extra small women. The new addition sparked a lots controversy–even daytime TV personality Rachael Ray was compelled to add her two cents: “(It’s) the most silly, asinine thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” Ray told the Daily News. “What human with any sort of reasoning skills wants to be a 000? It’s just ridiculous. Is there a need for triple 0? No…” But according to the folks at J.Crew, there are millions of reasonable human beings in the world who can’t help but fit into a size 000…and they live in Asia.
Right now, J.Crew is looking to Asia to expand its brand, and the new size 000 is part of that effort to cater to the customers in the region. “Our sizes typically run big, and the Asia market runs small,” a J.Crew spokesperson told the New Yorker. According to the piece, the average American woman’s waist measures 37.5 inches–the waist on a size 000 pant is about 23 inches. Apparently, Asian customers had a hard time fitting into J.Crew’s clothes, as the smallest pieces are sometimes too large. This new size should make the clothes more accessible for shoppers in the Far East.
Sure makes Rachael Ray’s comment sound a little like body-shaming, doesn’t it?
[via The New Yorker]
