A few months ago, Castro's CEO Etty Rotter caused an uproar when she claimed that there are clothes that don't look good on women over a size 42 and that there is no place for large clothes on the network.
Knitwear, tunics, t-shirts and tailored dresses that bear the label S but really do not meet the definition of "small". If anything, large and at best medium.
We visited some of the chain's stores and found out that it is not a special and wide cut, but the known cuts that are adapted to larger body sizes. A saleswoman at the store explained that the "oversize" details characterize the new collection. "The customers love them and they go great," said the seller.
So the small became a large, and the shirt in the smallest size that can be found online today is actually a size 38. Customers in the classic S size - shirt size 36, will have difficulty finding items that fit their measurements. It should be noted that the transformation only reached the shirts and dresses department. At the top of the piles of folded jeans are still labeled size 32 followed by size 34.
A simple measurement revealed that these are indeed small sizes. We also checked what is happening in the other fashion chains. This is how we were exposed to the elusive nature of clothing sizes in fashion chains in Israel. Contrary to the standard that exists in every European country (relatively small sizes that can be found in stores like Zara and Mango), we were not able to find the parallel between all the fashion chains in Israel.
Each network has its own dimensions and, as we have seen, it plays with them according to its marketing needs. "My shirt size was always 36, which used to be small in most stores in Israel," said one of the customers. "Today I was shopping, and I need to buy XS at Castro, S at Renoir and M at Pool & Bar.
It's not clear who determines the sizes, shouldn't it be an international standard?"
A veteran dressmaker who works in the Israeli film industry told us that the problem of changing sizes is well known to her. "When I have to fit pants for the players, I see that there are big differences between the networks.
Sometimes you can even encounter a difference of one and a half - two sizes. If, for example, I bring size 44 pants to an actor and I use the big chains - some of the pants will be a size smaller than him, some will be a size smaller than him, and others will be even bigger." So apparently the clothing sizes, unlike for example the shoe sizes, are really not a fixed standard, at least not in Israel, but only as a recommendation.They change from network to network, from season to season and we will have to keep up to date, measure and check carefully, in order to find out what our new size is. Castro stated in response: "The sizes in Castro have always been uniform and do not change.
The expression 'over size' symbolizes in fashion a fashionable look of clothes with a large and relaxed appearance as its name is over size.
This is one of the main trends in winter fashion in the women's collection as well as in the men's collection. This season you can find many items with an oversized look in knitwear, jackets, dresses and shirts."