I am watching Good Morning America. They just did a segment on a Plus Size Girl band. No one under size 12 could try out. Since when did a size 12 become plus size??
Size 12 is NOT a plus size. If it is, then I wear plus siz pants to work everyday! My pants for work are from Theory and I'm a size 12 in thier Emery style pant. Some of my skirts are even a 14 and I am no where near plus sizee. All of the sales people I've dealy with have never believed them when I've asked them for a size 12 in something...they all thing I'm an 8. Think again! I even challenged a saleperson who argued with me over my size: I said if you bring me a size 8 and it doesn't fit, then I get the size 12 for free. She immediately brought me a 12 :-) Whatever society says, 12 is definitely not plus size. In my opinion, any sizes that they carry on regular floors of department stores (I believe up to 12 or 14, and some designers up to 16) are not considered plus sizes.
I think 12 became a plus size when they started playing with the sizing charts! I think what is a 12 now used to be a 16! Vanity sizing has changed everything!
LL d'Merle - I am 5'8" and a size 12 in most pants. Sometimes, at shops that run big I'm a 10 and at shops that run small I'm a 14. But a 10 and 14 are rare. My bottoms are generally a standard 12. My tops have been known to vary from a 4 to 10 depending on the style and the designer of the top and how they run. I think bottom sizes tend to be a lot more basic and standard than tops though because there are fewer different styles in a bottom.
Well I have to say that I would love to be a 12 again (really a 10). I do not want to be skinney but I definatly need to be smaller. In the stores I shop, womens sizes go up to 16 but that is about where plus starts.
It seems the media is always trying to make the average woman feel inferior in some way, now it's size of clothing which varies among different manufacturers. If you are healthy and feel good, what difference does it make what size you take? Very sad that woman are forced to feel bad about themselves no matter what age. I take a size 12 and have been told by those younger than me that I need to lose some weight. I'm 5'7 1/2". I have been a size 8 and size 10 in the past and was told then that I needed to put on a few pounds. I don't think some of us can win.
I think size 12 is a nice size for a woman,,been married 25 years come this X-Mas,,my wife has gone into clothes with 20+ numbers,still loved her, she had 2 kids,she's a 12 or something now and I don't think she's a plusser
Plus sized models are usually size 12 - that's why the plus sized clothes look awesome on them in the magazines and don't look so great when a real person wears them. The fashion industry is so deceptive in every way. Size 12 is a great size for a real person, in my opinion. In fact, any size that is healthy and proportional is perfect. People come in different bone structures. Models just look good in photos selling clothing - they wouldn't necessarily be the most attractive in real life.
I had always thought that 12 and up was a plus, but I haven't given it a lot of thought.
I want to know why they consider 4's and under petite! I wear a 2, sometimes a 4 and I am no where near a petite! All of my damn pants look like I am waiting for the flood!
I have to say for the record that I am a size 20 sometimes an 18 now that is plus. I like me and television and health nuts think that if you can not see your bones you are fat. My size is not who I am it is just a look. People who not have eating disorders if others were not saying evenyone in the world must be a size six to be healthy and beautiful. It is a shame that some think a size 12 is a plus size. I think that who ever is setting up the size chart should be shot. Everyone is a different size for a reason. We are all different and we are all beautiful in our own way.
Moggy - you make me laugh... I don't know about you all, but I wear a different size depending on the brand, cut, store, day of the week... I don't know that I had an actual "plus size" in my head. I agree w/ some of the former posts... A size 12 will look different on different people. Model height (a minimum of 5'8" & that's considered short for models) a size 12 wouldn't seem plus sized to me for sure. Far from it actually...
I'm over 6 feet tall, weigh just over 200 lbs, and wear a size 16/18. I look like a "normal" woman, just magnified. *grin* I don't think of myself as a "plus" but apparently most clothing manufacturers disagree. If I was a size 12 I'd look like Kate Moss, and no guy (except Pete Doherty, perhaps -- woo-hoo) would come near me. Personally, I'd rather be me! The problem is, the definition of "normal" isn't determined by the average American. It's determined by skinny-@ss fashion editors in France. Alas, no haute couture for me. And I'm cryin' in my Cheerios over it... :)
My wife was at her ideal weight when she was in her twenties. She's 5' 7" and really is large boned. Her wrists are larger than a lot of men her height and her shoulders are too. She didn't look like a freak, still doesn't. The smallest size she ever wore for an extended period was 14. At size 14 her stomach was noticeably concave and her hip bones showed.
She got me interested in the size craziness when we first lived together. It really got underway with Twiggy and other models of the early 60s. Designers wanted women that looked like 6' tall 12 year old boys. It's been the same ever since. If you look at clothing ads from the 50s and before you'll see that the models are slender but normal looking. Women in advertising art--airbrush was still common--were normally proportioned. It's really interesting to look at beauty pageant pix from before WWII and compare them with today.
If money is no object anyone can be a size 6 or smaller. It's a number on a label.
It's true. They adjusted the sizes over time beginning about 10 years ago. As Americans began to thicken, sao did the amount of fabric that went into them. I am 114 lbs. Before the adjuatments, I was a size 10 (same weight) and now I am a 2 or a 4, depending on the brand. To be a 12 (which I was until 3 years ago) I had to weigh 160+! So it is not us ladies, it is the people who make the cloths. They got togeather when women's clothing sales were in a slump and decided that they could sell more if they made you feel better about yourself by playing with the sizing.
Sizes vary by manufacturer. I can be anything from a 14 on top to an 8 on the bottom depending on the manufacturer. I have no idea what I weigh. It's very hard to find clothes that fit with all the variations.
I agree Marian. It's hard to find clothes that fit. Somedays I'm a plus and some days I'm "normal" whatever that is. Oh my. I just said I was normal. This topic and the heat have got to me today.
Thank you all for adding your thoughts and comments. I think as long as you're healthy, be happy no matter the number on the tag. Lots of beautiful people on Gather.
Can you believe this, a bunch of women telling the world what they weigh and what size they wear!! I remember shopping with my mom a few years ago when she was looking for something very, very nice for an occasion. We went to the best stores designer departments, and my mother...who was a size 14 was told they had nothing that would fit her. Their sizes stopped at a 10. It happened in several upscale stores (Neiman's, Nordstrom) and I felt so bad for her. I do think they say the plus size models are generally a size 12, but I don't think of that as a plus size. I wear an 8, but I have a pair of pants from my honeymoon (1974) in my closet that are a size 9...and I can't begin to get them on.
For me, double digits are a plus size. I am 5'8" tall, and in order to fill out a size 9, I need some extra fat on my body. That might not be true for someone with a bigger frame.
Well it's a new day and SUPRISE!!! A change. I watched a portion of NBC today and they say Plus Size is 14 and up. I wonder what it will be tomorrow?? Maybe I should try CBS??? LOL
Well, If I was a size 12, I would be soooooooooo HAPPY! I do not consider size 12 to be a plus size at all. Now starting at 16 is about right. I was a size 14 after I gave birth to my first born and I didn't look plus size at all. All those motherly curves put me there.
Well I've never bought plus sized clothes but I always thought that they started when the regular sizes stopped. Before I lost weight I was wearing 14s and 16s. I was shopping in regular stores and in the regular Misses department. Now my sister who is much larger than me shops in the womens and plus-sized stores like Lane Bryant. I guess I always considered plus sized being 18 or more since that size isn't available in regular sizes.
Now when you are talking about being overweight that is a totally different topic. When I was in size 16 I was considered overweight based on the doctor's charts for height/weight/BMI. Now that I'm down to size 10-12, I'm in the upper numbers but still considered in the healthy range, not overweight.
Let's look at the average American woman. She is not the typical runway model — the 5'9 1¼2", measuring 34"-24"-34", broad-shouldered, slim-waisted, long-legged, size 6 head turner. Quite the contrary, statistics indicate that 40 percent of the women in this country are size 14 or larger, yet stand only 5'4" or shorter. In "garmentese" this woman is a size petite-plus — larger in width, smaller in height.
I'm curious to know why so many people find the term plus size offensive...I've been a 14 for a while, and even though that's totally normal (I'm 6' tall), I've always been considered a plus size. I don't see anything wrong with it, and I think it just makes people who may be an 18 or a 20 feel worse about themselves to hear people saying how TERRIBLE it is for a 12 to be plus size.
Why don't men have PLUS size? They are BIG & TALL..That just seems more polite than PLUS SIZE. Anyway who cares what size you are as long as you are happy and healthy, tell them to kiss your ass and don't look if they don't like it. I wore a size 0 up until I had my first baby then I went up to a size 7, it's now 11 yrs later and 1 kid more and I wear any size from a 9 to a 12 depending on style, store, brand, day of the week, etc.
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Comments: 57
I think 12 became a plus size when they started playing with the sizing charts! I think what is a 12 now used to be a 16! Vanity sizing has changed everything!
And what a dumb premise for a band, too.
I want to know why they consider 4's and under petite! I wear a 2, sometimes a 4 and I am no where near a petite! All of my damn pants look like I am waiting for the flood!
In my OWN eyes, a 12 isn't plus. It's beautiful.
The problem is, the definition of "normal" isn't determined by the average American. It's determined by skinny-@ss fashion editors in France. Alas, no haute couture for me. And I'm cryin' in my Cheerios over it... :)
She got me interested in the size craziness when we first lived together. It really got underway with Twiggy and other models of the early 60s. Designers wanted women that looked like 6' tall 12 year old boys. It's been the same ever since. If you look at clothing ads from the 50s and before you'll see that the models are slender but normal looking. Women in advertising art--airbrush was still common--were normally proportioned. It's really interesting to look at beauty pageant pix from before WWII and compare them with today.
If money is no object anyone can be a size 6 or smaller. It's a number on a label.
Soon, I will be a 0 and I won't have to diet.
Thank you all for adding your thoughts and comments. I think as long as you're healthy, be happy no matter the number on the tag. Lots of beautiful people on Gather.
Now when you are talking about being overweight that is a totally different topic. When I was in size 16 I was considered overweight based on the doctor's charts for height/weight/BMI. Now that I'm down to size 10-12, I'm in the upper numbers but still considered in the healthy range, not overweight.
Let's look at the average American woman. She is not the typical runway model — the 5'9 1¼2", measuring 34"-24"-34", broad-shouldered, slim-waisted, long-legged, size 6 head turner. Quite the contrary, statistics indicate that 40 percent of the women in this country are size 14 or larger, yet stand only 5'4" or shorter. In "garmentese" this woman is a size petite-plus — larger in width, smaller in height.
10's been the average for me for about the past 17 years or so.
Given that perspective, 12 is NOT plus size. I would start plus size at 16.
I wore a size 0 up until I had my first baby then I went up to a size 7, it's now 11 yrs later and 1 kid more and I wear any size from a 9 to a 12 depending on style, store, brand, day of the week, etc.