Average size of women-a statistic that does more harm than good.

skintchick

SmallL wrote: »

I have looked however there dresses are much too long for me (im 5ft), they would all be knee length and below and i dont think that suits me!
However i am tempted to get some blouses/button up shirts if i manage to get my module in uni that means i get to work with school children!

Shorten them! Or pay someone to do it for you. It's a very easy job, wouldn't cost much. I'm currently looking for a dress for a do that comes below the knee and am going to probably buy a maxi and have it shortened to get the length I want. too long is easy to resolve.

sock-knitter

i am 6' 3" tall, and when i was a size 12 everyone said i looked too thin and ill
at a size 14/16 i look healthy, and have a healthy bmi

Gloomendoom

skintchick wrote: »

Of course some women are that size naturally, but I would suggest that it is very few - size 4 simply didn;t exist a short while ago

As has been pointed out earlier in this thread, size 4 didn't exist a short while ago because that size was called a size 6, before that it was an 8 and before that it was probably a 10.

The clothes manufacturers keep moving the goal posts.

Interesting article here...

For the last time, what size was Marilyn Monroe?

anguk

skintchick wrote: »

I specifically said some women, not all women, for this very reason. I'm sure you have heard the phrase 'lollipop lady' in reference to celebrities? It is a reference to women who diet down to propertions that are not right for them, so they end up with their heads looking massive compared to their bodies.

Of course some women are that size naturally, but I would suggest that it is very few - size 4 simply didn;t exist a short while ago and it is this weird American import of size zero that has people obsessed with trying to get down to a size that for the majority of women (obviously not you moomoomama) is simply not natural.

When I was in my teens I was quite slim and the smallest women's size I could get was a 6, if I needed smaller I had to buy kids clothes.

I think clothes are made smaller now, my 18yr old daughter has a lovely figure, the clothes she buys are size 8-10 (depending which shop she gets them from) yet she can fit into some of the size 6 that I've had in the wardrobe for about 25 years, but if she tries a 6 on in the shops it's too tight.

lostinrates

Gloomendoom wrote: »

As has been pointed out earlier in this thread, size 4 didn't exist a short while ago because that size was called a size 6, before that it was an 8 and before that it was probably a 10.

The clothes manufacturers keep moving the goal posts.

Interesting article here...

For the last time, what size was Marilyn Monroe?

No mention of the type of underwear she might have worn? I jave always assumed for her wonderful hourglass shape would have been supported by some sort of foundation garment, whoch can have a pretty dramatic impact on things like waist size...and increase the hips.

Gloomendoom

anguk wrote: »

I think clothes are made smaller now, my 18yr old daughter has a lovely figure, the clothes she buys are size 8-10 (depending which shop she gets them from) yet she can fit into some of the size 6 that I've had in the wardrobe for about 25 years, but if she tries a 6 on in the shops it's too tight.

That is the opposite of what other people seem to experience. I know my mother has had a few anxious moments making up clothes for people from old patterns.

When you start looking into buying vintage clothing then you have to remember that many dresses were small in size (a modern 8-12).

The trouble is that most will probably not have the original labels in but if they do then remember that we have all grown considerably since the war.

A 1950/s early 1960s size 14 is more often the same as our size 10.

Source

mgdavid

Emmzi wrote: »

I don't like threads like this as invariably these topics descend into fatty bashing threads.

Generally a) overweight people know why they are, don't like it and have the brains to know what they should eat and
b)do very little about it.

fixed that for you

mgdavid

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

.....The average man prefers a woman to be rather more well-covered than the average woman prefers or aspires to be herself. .....

you sure?
you can quote sources?
or just your impression?

System

babymoo wrote: »

Women are damned if they are "too small" and damned if they are "too big".

I think this is absolutely true. I'm a Size 6. I never diet, don't eat as healthily as I should, and don't do enough exercise, so my size certainly doesn't come from trying to be thin. That said, I've lost count of the number of people (men and women) who've told me that I'm too skinny and should put on some weight. My BMI puts me at the lower end of the 'healthy' range, so not underweight, but people seem to think it's acceptable to comment on it. These same people would probably never dream of telling a woman she's too fat and needs to lose weight.

Comments like this one are a good example:

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

The average man prefers a woman to be rather more well-covered than the average woman prefers or aspires to be herself.

I don't mean to get at you at all, B&T. I know you're not coming from the perspective of insulting people who are skinny! But the (unintended) implication of that comment is that the average man wouldn't be interested in me because I'm probably about the size the average woman aspires to be.

To the OP, I don't think the average size in the UK is 16, is it? Even if it is, I think any effects that would have would be balanced out by the sheer number of slim/thin women shown in the media. I imagine most people know whether they're a healthy weight or not, regardless of the size they wear or what they see around them.

DevilsAdvocate1

I'm obese, probably morbidly obese. Its got absolutely nothing to do with the average dress size. I don't think "Oh, I'm a size18 but that's okay cos I'm only a bit above average". I don't think about my size at all.

The only way I would ever be thin would be to do lots of exercise. I think I eat healthily, certainly I eat my 5 a day. My job involves lots of walking. I eat when I'm hungry. I think different people have different appetite sizes, and for mine, I end up being a size 18. For a good 15 years I battled with my weight. I was hungry, I was irritable and generally not a nice person. After my first child was born I decided enough was enough. I no longer get weighed and I no longer worry about my weight. For the first time in my life my weight is stable and I don't think about food every second of the day.

Most of my friends are slim. They talk constantly about food. Those that are very thin (size 8) are all fussy eaters. I think they are thin due to their fussiness and the food the actually eaten by them is not necessarily healthy. Two of my friends have anorexia.

Some of my friends exercise madly. One needs both her knees replacing (she's on a waiting list). She's only 38. Another had to have an operation on her knee in her early 20s. Both of these friends do a lot of running.

I'm a size 18 and don't care. My knees don't need replacing and I feel fit! Bizarrely, since I decided not to worry about my weight anymore I have gone down from a size 22 (bordering on 24) to a very definite size 18. This has not happened overnight. Instead, it has happened over a 3 year period. My clothes are just starting to feel loose again, so it might be size 16 soon!

Haven't we all got better things to worry about than size and weight?