The 'joy' of clothes shopping

What clothing size are you?  You don't need to answer that, but if you're like me it varies - sometimes vastly - depending on which shop you're in.

When you think about it, that's utterly ridiculous isn't it?  There's a standard size for shoes, so if you're a size seven you know that a size seven shoe will fit you no matter which shop you're in (give or take adjustments for width) - so why can't we have the same for clothes?

I'm not a fan of clothes shopping, I'll be perfectly honest with you, and I think one of the main reasons is the variation in sizes which means you have to try things on in shops.

Now, I hate changing rooms - I hate them with a passion.  They are always too small, badly lit, there's never enough hooks onto which to hang your handbag, other shopping, the clothes which you need to take off in order to try the new stuff on because you don't want to put them on the floor, etc.

Then if they've only got a curtain, not a proper door, there's always the dread that someone will fling it open mid-change, or you'll catch it with your arm when wrestling with a garment, and you'll accidentally 'flash' the entire shop.

Plus, with all the tags and security devices attached to most items these days I have never managed to try anything on without being scratched with cardboard and/or plastic.  I emerge from the changing room looking like I've gone ten rounds with Nicola Adams, let alone just tried on a fancy frock or a 'going out out' top!

But what does make me really cross is when clothing's just labelled 'small, medium or large', so you have to establish what that roughly equates to in the usual nonsensical sizing stakes.

Believe me, there is nothing guaranteed to depress me, and I'm guessing half the nation, more than to be told that 'large' is a size ten!  No quicker way to lose sales either, I imagine.