No longer overweight for the first time since age 6! Question about clothes...

My thought exactly. I never said I wanted to wear a size 4. Just get into one. 

I told you, Grim - I'm married!  LOL

Thank you for offering an international perspective! I see similar size complaints on some websites I shop at...there's no consistency. Vanity sizing (and what it does to selection) is precisely my point with the clothing question...I'm just barely not overweight and in an American XS. I am not skinny. So where do skinny people find clothes in the US? Do they all just buy juniors' or shop at places like Hollister? Where do they find appropriate professional clothes that won't fall apart after 5 washings?

On the flip side of international sizing, the other day I was looking at the tag of my Reebok workout pants, size XL. It had a list of the equivalent size in other countries. Japan's said 5X. I suddenly felt deflated knowing in Japan Im still considers ginormous! Two step forward....

Ouch. When I was at my biggest, does that mean I would have worn a 30XL in Japan?

I guess I probably would have just shopped wherever the sumo wrestlers go.

When I was obese and visiting Japan I always felt I was wearing a car cover instead of a rain jacket.  

I bought a size XL skirt with an elastic waistband in Japan as a goal skirt. I'm closing in on size 12 in US sizes and am nowhere near fitting my sorry butt into that skirt!

I know right?  My first pair of jeans that I bought here in a regular store were a European size 38 (US 4-6) but inside it gave the equivalent sizes for other Euoprean countries.  This awesome 38 was sized as a 42 in Italy (US 10-12).  A 42 is deemed plus size here  and eventhough I don't live in Italy it was like a throat punch during the happy dance in the changing room.  Like Gina says below - I now stick with a brand and style and pay less attention to size.  It's a head game for sure!

I'm almost 10 years post-op and my BMI is 20. Sure, I can't shop at some stores because the ridiculous vanity-sizing has a size 4 actually fitting a size 10 or 12. Sizing these days is totally skewed, catering to women who want to wear a small size. Pfft.

I have no trouble purchasing clothing. I would think at a 25 BMI, you wouldn't either.

What's a US size 4 in Canada, a 3, or a 5?