Last week I went shopping for my Little Miss; she needed ethnic dress for celebration at school. I bought a lovely little cotton kurta and trousers for her. And her smile of approval on seeing the suit told me that she liked it too.

There were so many choices of suits for her that I was spoilt for choices. It becomes very difficult for me to choose just one dress. They all look so cute with beautiful designs and vibrant colours. I just have to imagine Little Miss wearing them and I want to take home all the dresses. But I, like a smart shopper, selected one and purchased only that ONE. Maybe I’ll go back to the store for another one later 🙃.

On the matter of dresses, have you ever checked out dresses for kids in the large stores? Specially where they have stocks from almost all major brands. Every few months I find myself in the aisles of brand stores and what I see has amazed me.

I was looking for shorts for Little Miss in a brand store. The shorts in girls section for her age group were at least two to three inches shorter than the ones in boys section of same age group. I am not talking about hot pants here but simple shorts kids wear to play around and lounge comfortably in.

This difference in sizes had me amazed, to say the least. How do these people decide on the sizes a child is supposed to wear? Do they think that a 8-year old boy is going to be taller than a 8-year old girl? Or do they think that comfortable clothes are only meant for boys?

For the last two years or so, we buy most of Little Miss’s clothes from boys section. The t-shirts,  shorts, trousers, pyjamas are all more roomy and comfortable. Somehow these brands have decided that girls are supposed to dress up for fashion and boys are supposed to dress up for playing and comfort.

The same trend continues for adult dresses too. Men’s t-shirts are airy and comfortable whereas women’s t-shirts are clingy and definitely not meant for the comfort of wearer. The L size for men is quite different from the L of women. And if the difference was meant keeping in mind the difference of body types then shouldn’t women’s clothing be tad bit larger than men’s?

Men’s clothing seems to operate on a fairly consistent, logical system. A 32-inch waist is a 32-inch waist. A large is a large. Women’s sizing, however, is a mystical, ever-shifting enigma. You can be a size 8 in one store, a 12 in another, and a “why did I even bother trying this on?” in a third. It’s like a fashion-based psychological experiment designed to make us question our entire existence in the changing room. “Is it me? Is it the dress? Is it the fabric that clearly thinks it’s a size smaller than it is?”

And if you dare to buy a dress online then only the fashion Gods ccan protect you. All of us have faced the judgemental stare of the courier person while returning/ exchanging a dress because of “size issues”.

Don’t even get me started on pockets. The difference in pockets is mind boggling. Even in kid’s clothes, the trousers meant for girls has smaller pockets or just for show pockets whereas boys’ trousers have pockets large enough to fit a large Dairy Milk. Same continues for adult clothing too. Why can’t we have pockets in our dresses? We too carry mobile phones, keys, money, credit cards; and also lip balms, tissue, hanky, sanitary napkin, hand sanitizer, so we need those pockets on our dresses too.

Fashion and comfort should go hand in hand bit somehow gender bias has cropped up in clothing stores too. Here’s to hoping for a future where fashion is truly equal, where a pocket is a pocket, and where the only thing separating us is our personal style, not a historical conspiracy against our ability to carry lip balms.