Macy’s Wants Your Size 8 Dress to Fit Like One

Macy’s is launching a new brand that aims to solve two problems for women: standardizing how clothes fit and simplifying the process of getting dressed.

On 34th is a line of women’s apparel and accessories that the department-store chain says is its most significant private-label launch in nearly two decades. It will be available in stores and online beginning Aug. 17 and borrows its name from the Manhattan street where the Macy’s flagship store is located. 

The new private label is the first of four that Macy’s plans to add through 2025, part of a broader overhaul of its in-house brands.

Clothing sizes that vary from brand to brand not only frustrate shoppers but also drive up costs for retailers and are a leading cause of returns. Brands have been trying to solve the problem by using analytics to help pair customers with the right fit. Now, some are going back to the drawing board and developing new sizes and silhouettes that better match modern body shapes.

Macy’s spent two years developing On 34th, which spans work and casual clothes targeting women ages 30 to 50. The line includes 250 styles that can create more than 1,000 outfits, the company said. Prices range from $19.50 for a tank top to $299.50 for a leather jacket. Sizes range from 0 to 26W and XXS to 4X.

The department-store chain conducted online surveys of more than 100,000 shoppers, and its executives spent hundreds of hours shopping along with customers in stores. The conclusion: Women want to be able to mix and match items to create outfits. “They didn’t want getting dressed to be the most complicated part of their day,” said Nata Dvir, Macy’s chief merchant. 

Macy’s enlisted the help of Alvanon, a fashion-technology company that works with brands and retailers on the sizing and fit of garments. Alvanon has conducted thousands of body scans over the past two decades and determined that most clothes sold today aren’t made for today’s body shapes. 

Not only are Americans wider in the middle, but also larger overall, said Don Howard, Alvanon’s executive director in charge of global consulting. 

“Most fits are based on this idealized hourglass shape that was the fashion years ago,” Howard said. “But only about 8% of women have an hourglass figure.”

Previously, Macy’s had five different fits for all its private brands, ranging from extra curvy to straight.

Going forward, Macy’s will have two fits across its private brands, one slightly curvier than the other. That will allow customers to more easily shop across brands. “When you are a size 8 in one brand, you will be a size 8 across all brands,” Dvir said.

Allie Mann, a 38-year-old marketing consultant, said she finds getting dressed now more difficult than before the pandemic. “You’ve got to toggle between comfort and professionalism,” she said. “You want to show your personal style without going too far.”

Mann tested some of the On 34th offerings and said she was particularly impressed with the pants. She said they were tailored enough to wear to work, but have a drawstring so the waist doesn’t pinch. 

Over the years, Macy’s has developed private brands that rival national brands in size and name recognition, such as its I.N.C. line of women’s clothing. But sales of its private brands have slipped in recent years. In 2022, private-label brands accounted for 16% of annual sales, down from 20% in 2019.

As part of the overhaul, Macy’s is re-evaluating its 25 private-label brands, with the intent of replacing some and refreshing others. Private brands are an important way for retailers to differentiate themselves from the competition. They also tend to be more profitable than national brands because they cut out the wholesaler and give retailers more control over design and production.

For the most recent fiscal year, Macy’s net income fell 18% to $1.2 billion. Sales were roughly flat at $24.4 billion. Macy’s shares are down 23% this year, compared with a 19% gain in the S&P 500 index. 

Other retailers have stumbled as they have tried to offer more inclusive sizing, by ending up with too many extra smalls and extra larges and not enough sizes in between. Macy’s says it can avoid those pitfalls by using data to ensure stores get the proper allocation of sizes based on customer demographics.

Write to Suzanne Kapner at [email protected]