Meet Your Goddess

When I first began questioning the traditional sizing system, I thought the solution would be practical.

I believed the answer lay in better measurements, greater transparency and helping women understand fit. That thinking ultimately became the foundation of the Annabel Fit System™, which encourages women to know their own measurements and use garment measurements to make more informed purchasing decisions.

But as I continued exploring the issue, I realised there was another question sitting beneath it all.

Why do we place so much importance on a number?

For decades, women have been assigned a size label and, whether we like it or not, many of us have attached meaning to that number. We celebrate when it gets smaller. We feel frustrated when it gets larger. We compare it with other brands, other women and often with earlier versions of ourselves.

Yet the number itself is largely meaningless.

A size 14 in one brand can fit like a size 10 in another. A size 16 can fit perfectly in one garment and not at all in the next. The number tells us very little about who we are and surprisingly little about how a garment will fit.

As I developed the Annabel Fit System™, I found myself returning to this idea again and again. If numbers create so much confusion and carry so much emotional weight, was there another way?

Over the last couple of years I explored many different concepts. Some were based on symbols, some on shapes and some on entirely new sizing structures. While they each had merit, none of them felt quite right. I wanted something that felt positive. Something that celebrated women rather than categorised them. Something that felt memorable, empowering and distinctly feminine.

Eventually I landed on goddesses.

Throughout history, goddesses have represented qualities like wisdom, courage, intuition, resilience, creativity, confidence and leadership. They are symbols of strength in many different forms. Most importantly, they remind us that women are multifaceted. We cannot be reduced to a number on a label.

And so the concept of Goddess Sizing was born.

Rather than assigning women a traditional size number, Annabel garments will be identified by a goddess name. A woman who might traditionally wear a New Zealand size 14 will now wear Rhea. A New Zealand size 20 becomes Athena. A New Zealand size 8 becomes Gaia.

The fit itself does not change. The measurements do not change. The garment does not change.

Only the language changes.

Some people may see that as a small thing. I don't.

Language shapes the way we think. It shapes the way we speak to ourselves. It shapes the stories we tell about who we are.

My hope is that Goddess Sizing encourages women to see sizing a little differently. Not as a judgment. Not as a measure of worth. Simply as a practical way to find clothing that fits.

Of course, beautiful fit remains at the heart of everything we do. Goddess Sizing works alongside the Annabel Fit System™, detailed garment measurements and a commitment to greater transparency. Women will still be encouraged to understand their own measurements and choose the size that best suits their body.

The practical side remains. But perhaps the experience can feel a little kinder.

Because clothing should never make a woman feel less than. It should help her feel confident, comfortable and present in her own skin.

Ultimately, Goddess Sizing is not about creating another sizing system.

It is about creating a different conversation around sizing altogether.

One that recognises that women are far more interesting, far more complex and far more powerful than any number could ever represent.