Sizing You Up: Me- Ality Body Scanner

Rusty

Most women are familiar with the fact that none of us are ever just one size. Your size is different depending on what store you’re shopping in and what the cut of the garment is. There are at least three different popular sizing formats (S, M, L; 4, 6, 8, 12; 32, 34, 36, 38), none of which mean the same thing from one store to the next. It’s a bad scene, and any help is appreciated. 


That’s what Me-Ality tries to provide. 

I’d heard of the Me-Ality booths, and just recently saw one at a local mall. I filled out a short form with my name and email address and stepped into the 3D body scanning booth. I positioned myself the way the attendant told me to and, in under a minute, I had a shopping guide listing jeans that were sized to the specifications taken by the machine. The shopping guide listed a variety of brands, and a specific style and size in each brand with a sliding scale indicator of how well they should fit me. All of this was free. 


Sure enough, the sizes listed covered a broad range between stores and brands. Selecting one of the more affordable options on my list (I’m sure those True Religion jeans would fit like a dream, but I don’t have $175 to spend on jeans at this point in my life) I went to Macy’s to try on a pair of Levi’s. 

The Me-Ality guide took a good deal of guesswork out of looking for jeans; I was able to zero in on a specific style and size that was recommended right away rather than trying to dig through several different styles to figure out which would flatter my figure. The size they recommended wasn’t the first one I would have selected were I shopping on my own, so I was a bit skeptical. When I got into the dressing room, though, the jeans slipped on easily, fastened easily, and fit close but not snug. The only downside was that they were too long and a shorter inseam length wasn’t available.

I didn’t end up buying the Levi’s, both because of a lack of a shorter inseam and because I didn’t have a new pair of jeans in my budget that day. But I can tell you that before I do buy another pair of jeans, I’ll be consulting the Me-Ality guide, since they sent me a link to a personalized profile at their website. Right now they only offer sizing for women’s jeans, men’s jeans, and women’s pants. I have heard that they’re a little sparse on plus sizes, so give their list of brands a good look over to see if you think they’ll be able to meet your needs. I also noticed on my shopping guide that at least one brand had a style duplicated several times, only with different rinses or pocket styles, so what looked like three different pairs of jeans is really just one. 

One other thing in case someone is worried about this: I never saw any measurements from my scan, or the scan itself. All I saw was the sizes listed on the printout intended to help me find what fit best. Even the online profile doesn’t list any specific numbers or images from the scan. 

If there’s a Me-Ality scanning booth in your area, it’s a tool that can help take the guesswork out of shopping for jeans or pants and it’s shocking how relaxing that can be. It’s not perfect quite yet, but it’s free and only takes a couple minutes, so it’s worth a shot if you’re curious.