A NATIONAL survey is needed to ensure women's clothing sizes measure up, a consumer advocate says.
Choice spokeswoman Elise Davidson said such a survey would give designers more information about the true shape of Australians and help educate women about different sizes.
"Women have become pretty good at knowing they're a size 12 in this shop, a size 10 in another, but there's definitely a gap that needs to be addressed," she said.
"What we really need is some good, solid data on exactly how we measure up."
Choice said differing sizes could lead to body image problems.
The Council of Textile and Fashion Industries Australia executive director Jo Kellock is concerned about the impact of sizing irregularities amongst young girls in particular.
"What I'm concerned about is the 13-year-old girl who's given $50 from her grandmother, she's gone to the shops for the first time with a friend and doesn't think about the poor design or the fact the garment's from overseas, she just says "it doesn't fit, something's wrong with me," she said.
The practice of "vanity sizing", where generous sizes are designed to entice a customer into buying a garment because they feel flattered to fit into a smaller size, is worth an estimated $2.8 billion.
The previous sizing standard was dropped two years ago and the most recent data collected on women was in 1975.
Flinders University body image expert Marika Tiggemann said women generally wanted to fit into smaller clothing, regardless of the size on the label.
Vanilla Boutique manager Gaye Colquist believes shop assistants can help educate customers, saying clothing produced overseas was often smaller because local manufacturers took the "Australian girl" into account.
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