How many pounds needed to drop a dress size?

When I started my weight loss journey this time around, May 2nd, 2020, I looked for the answer to this question everywhere! What I found was what @Lietchi said above. But I was able to quantify it anecdotally.

At sizes 18 and above (U.S.), it takes at least a 30 lbs to go down a size. I found my shirt size went down before my pants size.

It isn’t until you get below a size 10, does 10 lbs really change your dress size.

What I’ve observed is the biggest change in clothing size in women comes from gaining muscle and losing fat. If you look at any of the before and after pictures in the Success Stories section where weight training is part of the story, you’ll see and read the results.

HTH. Keep up the good work. Don’t get discouraged.

Lietchi wrote: »

That's really going to depend on several factors:
- the larger we are, the more we need to lose to go down a size
- where we hold our weight and where we lose it: some people lose in their extremities first (arms, legs) which won't influence size as much, some people will lose weight in their upper or lower body first which means size will only go down in that half of the body...
- some of us have clothes that are actually a bit too small, so losing weight won't make them too big, but first make them fit better

Yep all of this, the question may as well be How long is a piece of string?

I lost 40lbs and went down 1 dress size in trousers (I have wide set hips) and 3-4 dress sizes in tops.

I've regained + 10-15lbs more and I've gone back up 2 dress sizes in trousers and none in tops. Most of my regain went on my thighs, hip and lower abdomen, but I have quite wide shoulders anyway, so it hasn't had much impact on my top half.

You could get a million different answers and none of them would really help you know how long it will take you personally, particularly without knowing your current stats.