Just what IS "Plus Size"??

Pollywog39
Pollywog39 Posts: 1,730 Member
edited October 4 in Chit-Chat
I was watching some stupid fashion-type show the other day, and this crazy-weird supposed fashion guru was telling his protege that she "had to make her clothes appeal to the 'every-woman'", and that part of this would be to make her clothing fit Plus Size ladies.

Guess what the PLUS SIZE person wore?

A SIZE 8!!!

what the flippin' hell????????????????????????

I almost choked on my halloween candy :wink: :wink:
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Replies

  • Just1forMe
    Just1forMe Posts: 624 Member
    WHAT????? Are you sure you heard right?? That's insane. Plus size is usually 14 and up....maybe even 16. :noway:
  • KMSForLife
    KMSForLife Posts: 577 Member
    Ridiculous
  • adjones5
    adjones5 Posts: 938 Member
    Wtf? I guess when your runway models are 5'11 and weigh 11 pounds, size 8 does seem big. Compared to the rest of the world, size 8 is tiny.
  • Luandanielle1979
    Luandanielle1979 Posts: 747 Member
    I think the world has a very distorted veiw of what a real woman should look like I would be very happy wearing a size 12 and being healthy and curvy. iTS CRAZY ISNT IT X
  • Kristin111365
    Kristin111365 Posts: 77
    Wow I though Plus Sizes were 12 and up!!!! a size 8 is crazy.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    Remember plus size models and plus size consumers are not the same thing. A typical model would be more size 0, maybe 2
  • sunshinesonata
    sunshinesonata Posts: 241 Member
    I think that's just absolutely ridiculous.

    A size eight is considered plus size? No wonder there are so many women out there with image issues.
  • sunshinesonata
    sunshinesonata Posts: 241 Member
    Wtf? I guess when your runway models are 5'11 and weigh 11 pounds, size 8 does seem big. Compared to the rest of the world, size 8 is tiny.

    I agree. I would love to purchase a pair of size eight jeans!
  • Pollywog39
    Pollywog39 Posts: 1,730 Member
    I know! I thought I was hearing it wrong, but this idiot kept saying that the Size 8 gal was a "plus size".......but he was comparing her to size 0 and 2's.

    Insane!!!!
  • cmbrysonussery
    cmbrysonussery Posts: 55 Member
    I work in the fashion industry. Clothing PLUS Size starts at 16 for most designers/manufacturers. Model PLUS size is usually a size 10-12 girl (and she's 5'10)
  • ShannanLaNae
    ShannanLaNae Posts: 434 Member
    yea plus sizes are usually 12 and up, that person was an jerk and a half to say that. In the real world a size 8 is a goal size!
  • sarad777
    sarad777 Posts: 210 Member
    It's likely correct. They are likely discussing vanity sizing. It's probably more like 12 to 14 in real sizes.
  • SueGeer
    SueGeer Posts: 1,169 Member
    Unbelievable.....how demoralising for larger ladies.....and no wonder youngsters have such distorted images of their bodies. Sad World...

    Sue :smile: x
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
    In American sizing, I think 16 and up is considered 'Plus Size'. Sometimes they throw a size called 14W into the mix, but a 14W is cut quite a bit larger than a regular 14.
  • garlic7girl
    garlic7girl Posts: 2,236 Member
    That is why it is sooooooo important for us adult women whether we have daughters or not to model to young girls and teens that celebraties and Hollywood body type does not equal healthy! I have talked with a lot of friends and skinny does not equal healthy. I think it truly goes by how you feel and consultation with trusted doctor/regisitered dietician. Teach to appreciate and take joy in the shape of the body you were gifted to have.
  • brancakes
    brancakes Posts: 263 Member
    I get more annoyed that there is a "plus size"!! why put a label on people who god made big and beautiful? Just make clothes and leave it be!!! women are women, I don't need a plus label! but that is just me!
  • dkvote
    dkvote Posts: 58
    I recently watched an evening news show and they said the "average size woman" was now a size 14! However, it is the least purchased size...this article is about that but not from the actual news show I saw it on... http://www.cleveland.com/style/index.ssf/2010/08/size_14_is_average_american_wo.html
  • AllisonMart
    AllisonMart Posts: 155 Member
    In high end fashion size 8 is plus. Crazy, isn't it?? In commercial clothing lines, plus is 14 and up, sometimes 12.

    When are we going to have standard women's clothing sizes? There are no industry rules or regulations for what defines an 8 or a 12. The whole racket just makes us feel bad about ourselves, and we must endlessly try on clothes, take things back and get different sizes over and over again, which just tears us down more.

    And the real question - when are we going to stop being so unrealistic about body image? I would love to be a size 12 looking healthy and lean, but I don't want to be a waifish 0 looking hungry and ill.
  • bjberry
    bjberry Posts: 665 Member
    I've noticed that clothing in very expensive stores is sized differently. A size 12 woman in Walmart would be a size 8 in those very upscale stores. I prefer to get a size 12 in Walmart, rather than spend $1000.00 on a size 8. Just my opinion. :wink: :drinker: (lots of water)
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    why put a label on people who god made big and beautiful
    Well, I'm tall, can't help that. I'm beautiful, yes. But nobody made me plus sized. I did that all on my own...
  • NiciS72
    NiciS72 Posts: 1,043 Member
    I believe the context in which this was said was in the modeling world. If you watch a lot of those shows you'll know that the models that show off what we would call Ladies clothes are size 0 and 00 usually. So on the other side of it if you are an 8 you are considered a plus size model. F***ed up as it is, that is the "ideal" they are shoving down the consumers throats.

    Plus size in the US is still considered 16/18+, but even then it depends on the manufacturer. For example I was wearing a Women's 14 at Talbots but they were too big. I went back and asked them what I would wear in the Ladies section and they said probably a 16. So off I went and those fit. It's nice to be back in the ladies section, but some places I still don't fit their clothes and others I do. This morning I pulled out an outfit I hadn't worn in probably 10 years and it's from Kohls size 18 ladies. It's really WAY too big, but I'm wearing it as I don't have many clothes anymore that fit!

    Don't let the fashion world dictate what is NORMAL to us. You choose. For me I'll be SUPER happy if I can get back to a size 8 which I think is small! I'll settle for a 10. If you search online you'll find that Marilyn Monroe was purported to be anywhere from a size 12 to 16. I'd settle for looking as hot as she did!
  • jamiesadler
    jamiesadler Posts: 634 Member
    I was watching some stupid fashion-type show the other day, and this crazy-weird supposed fashion guru was telling his protege that she "had to make her clothes appeal to the 'every-woman'", and that part of this would be to make her clothing fit Plus Size ladies.

    Guess what the PLUS SIZE person wore?

    A SIZE 8!!!

    what the flippin' hell????????????????????????

    I almost choked on my halloween candy :wink: :wink:

    I always thought plus size was 16 and up.
  • cmbrysonussery
    cmbrysonussery Posts: 55 Member
    Also, "W" sizes are usually cut a standard 4 inches larger than without the W. (Which is about 2-3 Sizes larger)
  • brancakes
    brancakes Posts: 263 Member
    why put a label on people who god made big and beautiful
    Well, I'm tall, can't help that. I'm beautiful, yes. But nobody made me plus sized. I did that all on my own...

    I agree, I am tall too, but I'm the smallest I've ever been and I'm still labeled plus so I just wish they would do away with the labels like that. women sizing is women sizing :)
  • LoveleeB
    LoveleeB Posts: 560 Member
    psshhh whatever. Size means nothing anyway. I can wear size 4,6, & 8 on any given day. As long as you are comfortable in your own skin and healthy then that's all that matters.
  • pain_is_weakness
    pain_is_weakness Posts: 798 Member
    I recently watched an evening news show and they said the "average size woman" was now a size 14! However, it is the least purchased size...this article is about that but not from the actual news show I saw it on... http://www.cleveland.com/style/index.ssf/2010/08/size_14_is_average_american_wo.html

    it's because the muffin top look is in and nobody knows how to wear their size lol
  • pain_is_weakness
    pain_is_weakness Posts: 798 Member
    psshhh whatever. Size means nothing anyway. I can wear size 4,6, & 8 on any given day. As long as you are comfortable in your own skin and healthy then that's all that matters.

    have the same costume as you do in your pic! good taste!
  • nothingisred
    nothingisred Posts: 292
    Most high end designers won't make clothing bigger than a UK 12, some go up to a UK 14 and a very small amount might push it up to UK 16.

    On the British high street plus size starts anywhere from a UK 14 (sometimes even a UK 12, ridiculous I know) to a UK 20. There are lots of Plus Size only shops that start at a UK 14 over here (Evans, Simply Be)

    Now I might get shouted at for my next comment, but have you ever been to a high fashion show? Because if you have you'll have noticed that 90% of the women there are a UK 8 or smaller. And this is high fashion's market. It isn't you or me, because we can't afford to spend £2000 on a pair of jeans. The women that buy these clothes have the money to make themselves that skinny. So why should they bother catering to a larger spectrum of women when there will be no one buying it? This is why "plus size" in the fashion industry is so different to what we would consider plus size, because as far as their customer base goes, a UK 12 IS plus size.

    I'm not saying that makes it right, I'm just saying that's the way things are.

    There has been a huge backlash against skinny being the "ideal" in recent years but in a way I think this has made things worse. It is suddenly trendy to be "curvy" and I see a lot of magazines and celebrities talking about being curvy accompanied by photos of women or celebrities who are probably a UK 8. This I think is particularly damaging, because personally if I was 15 years old again and looking at those magazines I'd be thinking "this woman is half my size and she's considered plus size...then what the HELL I am??!"

    Clothing sizes make so little sense these days that the best thing you can do is to completely ignore it and just buy clothes that fit you. As we as a nation (and as a western civilisation as a whole) continue to have expanding waistlines our clothing sizes are expanding (what was a UK 14 20 years ago is a LOT smaller than what it is today) there is going to be more and more of a gap and more and more confusion over what is plus size and what isn't. Personally I think plus size is just a term to be avoided.
  • thedeegan4
    thedeegan4 Posts: 422 Member
    Wow I though Plus Sizes were 12 and up!!!! a size 8 is crazy.

    I would never consider a size 12 as plus size!
  • agwilker
    agwilker Posts: 104 Member
    That reminds me of the episode of the last season of Project Runway, Olivier (I think?) had to design for a "real woman" aka not a model and he was freaking out because he didn't enjoy making larger clothes. I think the girl looked between an 8-12, not overweight, just average.
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