Vanity Sizing

[Kindle 8,667]

1984 - 135 pounds Levis size 10 relaxed fit

2016 - 137 pounds Levis size 7 slim fit

Just sayin....

[AvaFern 3,516]

Haha! I have a pair of size 5 pants I wore my senior year of high school in 2002, they are STILL really tight, and yet all of my pants now are between a 0 and a 4 and they fit loosely. I'm not complaining, but our sizes have changed just in the last 15 years as well. In 2002 I was the same weight that I am now, except apparently I had a way smaller butt, lol.

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

Some is vanity sizing, there is lots of vanity sizing and some is our bodies being different.

Months ago, I was able to wear some jeans from college, then though at the time I was much heavier than I was in college.

I am still heavier in weight than I was in college and those jeans now are too big.

I look smaller than I did in college, even though I weigh at least a good 30 pounds more than my Freshman gain highest. My body is totally different.

[WLSResources/ClothingExch 3,443]

Go farther back and the sizes get funnier. Eons ago I was researching through New Yorker's ca. 1940's and couldn't help but notice Saks 5th Avenue ads. In those days, the "regular" range was 10-18,* with 18 being not for women considered overweight. It wasn't only the sizing, though. There was more leeway for what was considered "normal" body size. We've all seen mention in the past five years that Marilyn Monroe (never an 18, mind you) would now be viewed as plump-ish with plump arms because it wasn't the norm for women to do weights.

* whereas 12 is now the top of the range

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

The sizes started at 10 back then. So a 10 then would be todays size 0 and an 18 was a like a size 8 or a 10.

Marilyn was never as fat as fat girls want to think she was.

Though Marilyn's weight and sizing obviously fluctuated over the course of her career, her standard measurements, according to her dressmaker, were roughly 35-22-35. This accounts for why her pant and dress sizes were often listed as an 8 and 12, respectively—a dress would also need to accommodate her bust, while pants could be sized smaller based on her slimmer hips. She is often cited as having been a size 16—and she was! Kind of. But only based on British vintage sizing (a U.K. size 16 was a rough equivalent to a U.S. size 12 in the '50s). But according to today's sizing guides—which is what people generally have in mind as a reference when discussing her measurements—Marilyn would be roughly a U.S. size 6 or 8. She'd likely need an 8 for her bust, but with forgiving fabric, a 4 or a 6 would easily fit her hips. And of course, her tiny waist would certainly need a belt.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/66536/what-dress-size-was-marilyn-monroe-actually

[WLSResources/ClothingExch 3,443]

Marilyn was never as fat as fat girls want to think she was.

I didn't even know that fat girls want to think of Marilyn as fat at all. She never was fat, just not toned. Toned women were rare during her reign. The same goes for toned men. It's true, though, that, according to the 'ideal' that's thrust in our faces now, she was a tad fubsy. Bizarre thinking.

Hey, those who were of the age of consciousness at the time will know that revivals of hair are anachronistic for the actors. Their muscle definition is out of place in a show about the '60's. They really look weird.

[borg/assimilated 576]

I have noticed this as well! I wear smaller size pants now at 163 lbs. than I did at 125 lbs. twenty years ago!

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

Marilyn was never as fat as fat girls want to think she was.

I didn't even know that fat girls want to think of Marilyn as fat at all. She never was fat, just not toned. Toned women were rare during her reign. The same goes for toned men. It's true, though, that, according to the 'ideal' that's thrust in our faces now, she was a tad fubsy. Bizarre thinking.

Hey, those who were of the age of consciousness at the time will know that revivals of hair are anachronistic for the actors. Their muscle definition is out of place in a show about the '60's. They really look weird.

She was barely fluffy, Elizabeth Taylor was always on the meaty side, she was never super slender. A lot of actresses at that time were not really slender, exercise wasn't a big thing then and most women thought it wasn't feminine.

She had a 22-24 inch waist most of her life. You can never put her in the chunky pile like people keep trying to do.

Edited May 22, 2016 by OutsideMatchInside

[WLSResources/ClothingExch 3,443]

She had a 22-24 inch waist most of her life. You can never put her in the chunky pile like people keep trying to do.

Do you recall that Scarlett had a 17-inch waist at the start of GWTW? And that Mammy's 24-inch waist got her described as a "cow?"

[Christinamo7 4,041]

I still have some of my old clothes from the 80s because my mother made them - and I look forward to getting small enough to see how they fit then.

at least I know they haven't changed size on me. ha.

in 87 I was about 135 and a size 6 petite. no idea what that would equal in today's sizes.