Even measurements aren’t really an accurate indicator for most garments.
The manufacturing tolerances for anything below designed fashion are just too large. When stuff is hand made (by experts, not just for the marketing label of “hand made”) then they tend to be accurate enough, but the stuff most people buy in shops is never going to have a reliable fit unless the whole supply chain is overhauled.
And that’s not to mention how for changes as the fabrics age and are washed. That’s a whole extra load of complexity.
Edit, to give an illustrative example. When cutting out pieces for a garment, the cutting will typically be done on a band saw (or fabric cutting equivalent). For most garments the fabric will be stacked 10-20 sheets high so that many pieces are cut in one go. A person shoving 20 layers of fabric through a saw in a few seconds is never going to be accurate. Contrast this to a high end garment where it might be 2-5 layers carefully guided through a saw by someone who can take a minute to get it right, that’s just far more likely to hit the targets.
The manufacturing tolerances for anything below designed fashion are just too large. When stuff is hand made (by experts, not just for the marketing label of “hand made”) then they tend to be accurate enough, but the stuff most people buy in shops is never going to have a reliable fit unless the whole supply chain is overhauled.
And that’s not to mention how for changes as the fabrics age and are washed. That’s a whole extra load of complexity.
Edit, to give an illustrative example. When cutting out pieces for a garment, the cutting will typically be done on a band saw (or fabric cutting equivalent). For most garments the fabric will be stacked 10-20 sheets high so that many pieces are cut in one go. A person shoving 20 layers of fabric through a saw in a few seconds is never going to be accurate. Contrast this to a high end garment where it might be 2-5 layers carefully guided through a saw by someone who can take a minute to get it right, that’s just far more likely to hit the targets.