Change Clothes

I think I'm shrinking. Either that or America is growing a whole lot bigger, at a rate for which I have yet to receive the McDonald's memo (menu?).

I'm not a particularly big guy, vertically or horizontally. But I'm not all that small either. Last time I checked, I'm 5'9" and 175 lbs. That's about average, isn't it? Tell that to the clothing manufacturers.

I normally wear medium-sized shirts and jackets, with the occasional large thrown in here and there. It doesn't even feel like that long ago that I was buying strictly larges with the occasional medium thrown in. Small is definitely something I've never had to try on. Until now.

While shopping the past couple weeks, I found myself trying on mediums and finding the fits too loose! After some trepidation, I grabbed some smalls when nobody was looking. (Oh, the shame.) Lo and behold, they fit perfectly.

These are the same brands that I've bought over the years, ranging from designer labels like Claiborne and Cole to mall brands like Banana and Hollister to athletic apparel like Nike and Reebok. They're all making their sizes bigger! What's going on?

I'm really starting to think that people in America are just getting fatter and fatter. The clothes I tried on still retained similar lengths to my current wardrobe but the widths are markedly different. I'm not even a skinny guy so if medium is too big on me, we have a problem, people.