eli5 Why aren’t women’s clothes sized by measurements like men’?

Question

I can understand uniquely shaped clothes (halter tops, etc) but why not pants, skirts, suits, etc?

In: 603

Answer 1

Sometimes they are, but often times there’s more overall variation in women’s shapes than men’s. Men pretty much go straight up and down, so they don’t need to account for hip/waist ratio, it can just be waist size and length. But women, they could have a small waist with big hips, or a stomach but no hips. Or be large chested on a small frame, or be an xL but the weight is all in the arms or stomach vs chest.