My friend bought me a Guardian Offers T-shirt bearing the feminist slogan “Well behaved women rarely make history” in a women’s large size. But when I received the item and tried it on, it was ridiculously small. I have a 41in chest but could not fit into it! How ironic that, with all the commentary about women and girls being bombarded with contradictory images of females who are too thin, the Guardian is selling T-shirts that are really small but labelled large, with – further irony – a feminist slogan splashed on the front of them. EF, London E8
You were contacted in the first instance by the T-shirt supplier, which explained that the T-shirts in this range are on the small side as they are a fitted style. It drew your attention to the online sizing guide, with a large in this style roughly equivalent to a size 12 (chest size 36in). This sizing matches that offered by major high street stores such as Zara. Clearly this would have been a matter for your friend who bought the T-shirt.
You were offered an exchange for a larger size by the Guardian Shop’s customer services team and, in line with your statutory rights, the shop offers a 30-day returns period.
The Guardian Shop manager said: “The sizes used in the Guardian Shop do not reflect our, or any, opinion about female body shapes. The S–XXL size options are a limitation of our website, which is restricted to one un-gendered option for both male and female sizes. We recognise this is an important issue for our customers and are exploring ways to resolve this. We will endeavour to make this clear on product pages while we look for a suitable resolution.”
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
