Move over 00, there is a new size in town.
J. Crew shocked the world of fashion and retail when it recently launched size 000 for women's clothing. The new size was introduced in May as a way to appeal to women in Asia, where the brand just opened several stores, according to the New York Daily News.
But how small can women's sizes be? Critics slammed the size 000, which stands for extra-extra-extra small, as just another clothing brand using "vanity sizing" to place unrealistic standards on how women should look.
"It's setting a bad example of 'how small do you have to be' " Kara Goldberg, a 20-year-old NBC intern, told the newspaper at a J. Crew store in Manhattan.
"J. Crew knows that size 000 already exists as toddler 4T, right?" @sassycurmudgeon joked on Twitter, People reported.
Vanity sizing means the size listed on a clothing item is one or two sizes smaller than it really is. Designers have used the trick for years, making shoppers believe they are thinner by fitting into smaller sizes.
"Women want to measure up to the 0 ideal," Body-image specialist and psychologist Susan Head told Cosmopolitan about the concept of size 0. But the problem is that weight is a "quantifiable figure you can count on," while sizes are not consistent.
"Not only is a 6 today probably roomier than a 6 from just a few years ago, but different stores have varying definitions of 6," she told Cosmopolitan.
J. Crew said the size 000, which only fits women with a 23-inch waist, is not the result of vanity sizing. The triple zero represents the smallest percentage of all of the brand's sizes and is only sold online and in Hong Kong, J. Crew told the Daily News.
But that doesn't mean the company has no agenda, according to one shopper.
"J.Crew is a really powerful brand because Michelle Obama likes it, so they are making a national and international statement," Jennifer Appel, a learning specialist from Long Island, told the Daily News.
