Sizing changes since Marilyn Monroe's era

toodleton
toodleton Posts: 82
edited September 24 in Motivation and Support
So I stumbled upon this cool little tidbit of info about sizing and how it's changed since the 50's and 60's. I have always loved Marilyn Monroe and the fact that her body was "normal" not too skinny and not too heavy. According to this website, Marilyn wore a size 16 back in the day! BUT that size 16 then correlates to a size 10 now! I just found that rather inspirational. http://www.pinupsart-n-style.com/vintage-clothing-sizing.html

Replies

  • catcrazy
    catcrazy Posts: 1,740 Member
    So I stumbled upon this cool little tidbit of info about sizing and how it's changed since the 50's and 60's. I have always loved Marilyn Monroe and the fact that her body was "normal" not too skinny and not too heavy. According to this website, Marilyn wore a size 16 back in the day! BUT that size 16 then correlates to a size 10 now! I just found that rather inspirational. http://www.pinupsart-n-style.com/vintage-clothing-sizing.html

    I'm 43 but i recall a 28 waist being a size 14...sizes have changed so much
  • Ashia1317
    Ashia1317 Posts: 415
    I love it!!

    Personally, I find that shows like America's Next Top Model, etc ridiculous call me plus size rather than normal (i know it's the fashion world, but c'mon). Size 8/10? Really?

    It would appear to me that 8/10 is rather normal. How do you explain these sizes never being available at the dept stores because their sold out? Ever notice really LOW sale racks - 75% off? Can you find your size? I can't. I always seem to find the styles I want in S or XS.
  • LOVEthighSELF
    LOVEthighSELF Posts: 104 Member
    Yea I had read an article that said Marilyn was a todays size eight! Which now a days our society considers 'thick'! unreal!
  • Enigmatica
    Enigmatica Posts: 879 Member
    So I stumbled upon this cool little tidbit of info about sizing and how it's changed since the 50's and 60's. I have always loved Marilyn Monroe and the fact that her body was "normal" not too skinny and not too heavy. According to this website, Marilyn wore a size 16 back in the day! BUT that size 16 then correlates to a size 10 now! I just found that rather inspirational. http://www.pinupsart-n-style.com/vintage-clothing-sizing.html

    I'm 43 but i recall a 28 waist being a size 14...sizes have changed so much

    Yeah, the sales teams got the bright idea that women would buy their clothing if they used a smaller size number than their competition. So here I am with a 27 inch waist in 2011, and I'm in either size 4 or 2 depending on the brand. Ridiculous.
  • lloydrt
    lloydrt Posts: 1,121 Member
    Marilyn Monroe was in an incredible movie in 1953 called Niagara. It was when she was just first starting out. In this movie, shes planning on doing her husband in, (Joseph Cotton) Its a murder mystery, who killed who kinda movie.....

    She and her husband are staying in a motel/trailer court motel that over looks Niagarar falls. Its a place lots of young honeymooners come to after they get married...anyays,

    In one scene, she comes out of her hotel room, in a hot passion pink , tight fitting dress that you would have thought they painted on her, it hugged her so tight.......This is when every hot blooded American boy in America took notice of this up and coming star....

    Marilyn ( Rose Loomis) wants to hear a record of her favorite song, Kiss......so, she need to "walk" outside, hand the kid playing the phonograph the record and "walk " over to her new befriended honeymooners, the Cutlers........


    as she "walks' out of her motel room so she could hand the kid playing records , Mr Cutler, who just got married to his sweet heart and are staying in the room next to Rose and her husband, looks at this incerdible , hot, lushious, buxomy blonde in a hot pink dress and says.to his new bride.....

    "Hey Dear, why dont you ever wear a dress like that"?

    her reply...........

    'Listen, in order to wear a dress like that, you have to start laying out plans at the age of 13"

    Too funny, that had to be one of the funniest lines in movie cinema.........

    here is the clip, its worth watching..........You lll see where Marilyn really does have a good voice, and other assets.....Lol

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X5X0JNiPPw
  • toodleton
    toodleton Posts: 82
    Absolutely agree with you! In the past when I've wore a size 8 in jeans then I was rather slim and trimmed because I do have hips/butt. The only people I know that can buy off those 75% off racks are the ladies with super stick straight figures, no bumps, humps or curves of any kind. I'll take some curves thank you very much : )
  • toodleton
    toodleton Posts: 82
    Loved the movie clip, lol, she looked stunning yet not anorexic like a lot of today's spotlight stars
  • toodleton
    toodleton Posts: 82
    Marilyn Monroe was in an incredible movie in 1953 called Niagara. It was when she was just first starting out. In this movie, shes planning on doing her husband in, (Joseph Cotton) Its a murder mystery, who killed who kinda movie.....

    She and her husband are staying in a motel/trailer court motel that over looks Niagarar falls. Its a place lots of young honeymooners come to after they get married...anyays,

    In one scene, she comes out of her hotel room, in a hot passion pink , tight fitting dress that you would have thought they painted on her, it hugged her so tight.......This is when every hot blooded American boy in America took notice of this up and coming star....

    Marilyn ( Rose Loomis) wants to hear a record of her favorite song, Kiss......so, she need to "walk" outside, hand the kid playing the phonograph the record and "walk " over to her new befriended honeymooners, the Cutlers........


    as she "walks' out of her motel room so she could hand the kid playing records , Mr Cutler, who just got married to his sweet heart and are staying in the room next to Rose and her husband, looks at this incerdible , hot, lushious, buxomy blonde in a hot pink dress and says.to his new bride.....

    "Hey Dear, why dont you ever wear a dress like that"?

    her reply...........

    'Listen, in order to wear a dress like that, you have to start laying out plans at the age of 13"

    Too funny, that had to be one of the funniest lines in movie cinema.........

    here is the clip, its worth watching..........You lll see where Marilyn really does have a good voice, and other assets.....Lol

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X5X0JNiPPw
  • toodleton
    toodleton Posts: 82
    OMGosh! I'm soo sorry, I'm rather new if you couldn't tell lol and I was trying to reply to each person that had posted on this topic but I'm very confused as to how to do that and do not know how to delete posts either :(
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
    clothing companies started vanity sizing in the 1980s. (another thing to blame on that era. lol)

    i don't think anyone considers someone in an 8-10 'thick'. that is a normal and healthy weight/size for most people. however, a current-day 16-18 and up is (and i'm not saying that to be mean!!! or hurt anyone's feelings!).

    i wish women's clothing didn't have arbitrary numbers at all and just said what size the waist actually was - 27 inches, 32 1/2 inches, 38 inches, etc. it would make things so much easier!
  • Ashia1317
    Ashia1317 Posts: 415
    Absolutely agree with you! In the past when I've wore a size 8 in jeans then I was rather slim and trimmed because I do have hips/butt. The only people I know that can buy off those 75% off racks are the ladies with super stick straight figures, no bumps, humps or curves of any kind. I'll take some curves thank you very much : )

    I LOVE LOVE LOVE my curves!!! :happy:
  • p1xelate
    p1xelate Posts: 141 Member

    i wish women's clothing didn't have arbitrary numbers at all and just said what size the waist actually was - 27 inches, 32 1/2 inches, 38 inches, etc. it would make things so much easier!

    I agree! When I was a teenager I was a complete tomboy and the sizing is so EASY no guessing. I am a different size in every brand of women's it seems.
  • singer201
    singer201 Posts: 563 Member
    I was a slim, fit 125lbs. 5'6" in high school and wore Misses size16 in sewing patterns back in the late '60's. I remember in Home Ec sewing class that the pattern makers had just revised the sizes around that time. Actually, that made the patterns fit me better because I had a slimmer waist than standard for my bust size.

    "Old" sizing Misses 16----36- 28 - 38
    "New" sizing Misses 14---36 - 27 -38
    Current sizing Misses 14---36 - 28 - 38

    Other than that "adjustment" in the late 60's, at least pattern sizes have stayed about the same, as ready-to-wear size labels now border on the ridiculous. With the conservative RTW makers, I wear a 16-18, where in patterns I currently take a more realistic 22-24!
  • toodleton
    toodleton Posts: 82
    I was a slim, fit 125lbs. 5'6" in high school and wore Misses size16 in sewing patterns back in the late '60's. I remember in Home Ec sewing class that the pattern makers had just revised the sizes around that time. Actually, that made the patterns fit me better because I had a slimmer waist than standard for my bust size.

    "Old" sizing Misses 16----36- 28 - 38
    "New" sizing Misses 14---36 - 27 -38
    Current sizing Misses 14---36 - 28 - 38

    Other than that "adjustment" in the late 60's, at least pattern sizes have stayed about the same, as ready-to-wear size labels now border on the ridiculous. With the conservative RTW makers, I wear a 16-18, where in patterns I currently take a more realistic 22-24!

    I'm so surprised that you wore a size 16 in high school! In high school, I was 5'7" and weighed 121 and wore a size 7/8 in jeans and my waist was around 28 inches!
  • EvilMomma
    EvilMomma Posts: 70 Member
    Thank you so much for that tidbit of info! I want to wear a size 10/11 because it I'll be just right--not skinny, not fat. I feel good about the goal I set.
  • singer201
    singer201 Posts: 563 Member
    I graduated from high school in 1970! For jeans, I wore men's Levi's since I had slim hips and they fit better (bought them by the waist size--28). I have no idea what dress pants size, since all I wore was jeans. Everything else in ladies' RTW was a 14 (bust 36), and men's small t-shirts were loose. It's been a long time since I've worn anything that size, but I hope to again--give me a year.
  • toodleton
    toodleton Posts: 82
    I graduated from high school in 1970! For jeans, I wore men's Levi's since I had slim hips and they fit better (bought them by the waist size--28). I have no idea what dress pants size, since all I wore was jeans. Everything else in ladies' RTW was a 14 (bust 36), and men's small t-shirts were loose. It's been a long time since I've worn anything that size, but I hope to again--give me a year.

    oh ok :0) So our waists were similar for height&weight, well I was in hs in the early 90's so I guess a lot had changed in 20 years! I think a lot has changed in the past 20 as well, used to waists were much more defined and cinched in and now everything is so low that you can be a lot bigger than that and wear a small size but hey it works for me! lol
    And I hope you get to that size again too!!!! You can do it :0) Add me if you like
  • mlmcquinn
    mlmcquinn Posts: 41
    Interesting piece of perspective: We are watching the I Love Lucy series on DVD. We just watched episode called "the Diet". Lucy wants to be in Ricky's show, but the costume for the part is a size 12. Lucy says she hasn't gained any weight since they were married. They get her on the scale and she weighs 132. She has to get down to 110 to fit into the size 12 dress for the show. WOW.
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