Is a size 14 big?

I’m usually a 14 these days and I would say on average a 14 is a “medium” size. It is too big for me though because I’m only 5’4” with quite a small frame, I preferred my size and felt more comfortable when I was a 10-12. I don’t think I look “fat” exactly at the moment just a bit chubby!

You’re quite a bit taller than me though so probably don’t look large as a size 14.

I really think ladies sizes are becoming meaningless though, there is so much variation. I can be a 12-16 in one shop!
Just go with how you feel and look more than what the label says.

depends entirely on how tall you are, surely?

Those that are saying it’s big, large or overweight. Well yes it might be if you are 5ft.

Not if you are tall though. Not in the slightest.

So many nasty and toxic responses, how sad that women can treat each other this way!

OP I am a very similar weight and height to you. I was smaller around 9.5 stone and then had a baby and now more like 12 stone. None of my old clothes fit me and I felt really rubbish about it. But I decided that my priority was in my family, not my own image. I eat fairly healthily (but still have plenty of treats) and try to go on walks regularly with my baby. Yet still I'm 12 stone. I decided to get myself a bit of a new wardrobe for my new body (nothing crazy- spent about £150 for some new staple items) and feel so much better now. Could you get some new clothes to fit your new body, instead of trying to force your body back into old clothes? It made the world of difference to me. I still look good, I just have a different style now.

I used to have anorexia so I know how negative thoughts and self image can eat away at you and make you feel awful. Please don't listen to the nasty negative comments some people on here have made. Your weight doesn't sound like a problem. Perhaps your diet and exercise habits could be improved, but for the sake of health and longevity, not for the sake of a smaller body to fit our society's ridiculous standards.

I'm going to keep saying this because it's true. If you are tall you have to size up for sleeve length. I don't have any size 10 blazers or jackets, I do have some tops but high street brands aren't sized for tall people.

I'm not busty but those who are won't fit in anything below a 12 in tops unless they want them silly level tight.

More important than all of this is to love who you are. By all means slim a bit if you feel it will help your health but most size 14 people are not needing to do that

I am similar to you in that I’m currently a size 14 /.../ I don’t look at other size 14 people and think they look big.

Exactly that - our perception of what is big changes depending on our own weight and everyone around us. Speaking from experience, when I was bigger, i always thought of person x as very slim and person y as average. Then I lost weight and now person x looks average and person y is large - their weight has not changed.
If all your friends are size 20 and you're 14, then you feel like the slim one. If an average woman is size 16, then again, 14 is slimmer than average, all good. But an average woman in the UK is also only 5'4'', and most people at that height and size 14 would not be small.

That’s not an attack on thin people, it’s an attack on a particular kind of competitive undereating you see on Mumsnet which is full of tactless or unkind digs at fatter people.
Most thin people have the modicum of empathy needed to not take part in this but nonetheless there are plenty on here who do enjoy putting others down and that’s what this post is getting at.

Wow, that was a venomous little rant.
Having a pop at 'thin/normal weight' people is a thing now?

I 100% understand where you are coming from. I ended up at a size 14/16 and 12 stone (5ft 5") for around 15 years. Last June I was just so fed up of the diet merry-go-round I went on Mounjaro and lost almost all the extra 2 stone. Honestly I feel so much better, I am not interested in looking attractive, I just don't want to feel physically uncomfortable or to worry about looking foolish in clothes. I'm extremely bottom-heavy and my dream item of clothing was always just to be able to wear a pair of jeans without feeling like someone's nana wearing a pair of M&S triangle-shaped ones. My body hurts less (knees etc) and it's so nice to just wear 'normal' clothes (a pair of jeans for me). I'm now microdosing the pens (counting clicks - here on MN if you need details) for cost reasons, and it seems to be working for me.

Dress size is not how obesity is measured.

Don’t be ridiculous.

Speaking honestly as someone that has gone from a 6 to a 16, and back down to an 8-10… yes it is. Anything above a 10, is slipping into large.

As someone who has also struggled with weight, in the medium range (at 5,5 heaviest 11st but look SO much better at 10st) I don’t think at a size 14 anyone is walking past you in the street with a shocked “she’s huge” but while not obese it is big (IMO, 6/8 small, 10/12 medium, 14/16 large, 16/18 obese, 20+ morbidly obese)

I only began losing weight when I stopped wanting to be thin and started wanting to be strong.

I think H&Msizing has always been off. Sometimes up, sometimes down. Sometimes in the same collection. I tried on blazers in March there. Sizing up in one style was too tight, sizing down in the other was still too big.

Current size 6 is definitely smaller than an 80s 8 or 10 everywhere I've been. I still have clothes from those times. They are not Tammy sized (teen shop for those who don't remember it).

As a tall person I always sized up for sleeve length or bought mens sweaters. When I was pregnant with DS I was 9st 4 and this meant I got referred underweight.

It is if you’re 5ft tall. Skinny if you’re 6 🤷‍♀️

No it isn’t!

BMI chart says 14 is a healthy size for me as I’ve been a 14 for years and in the healthy bmi range and with my low blood pressure and cholesterol I’d say I’m as healthy as I need to be.

What causes the NHS problems is high blood pressure,high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer, people eating shite which all sizes do and a lack of exercise not some random clothes size.

But you knew that didn’t you. 🙄

Fatness is expensive in terms of healthcare.

You’re a bit of a tit are you !!!

And how pray tell … oh enlightened one, or should I say ‘fragmented brain’ … very apt… by the way….are you funding my health care ???

I’d rather you send me money for a night out, or maybe a puppy… a new rug for my front room… if you do insist on funding anything for me !!!

🙄

Yes except we all have to fund your healthcare

I’m 5ft 5 and 10st 11lbs and a size 12-14.
my body shape denotes that I have a smallish 10-12 top and a large size 14 butt and thighs. But according to my BMI I’m still ‘overweight…’
in fact when I was a tiny, weight lifting gym bunny and a size 8-10…but still well over 10 stone, I was still classed as ‘overweight!’

So it’s all comparative.

No one’s business what size you are unless you specifically tell them. If you feel happy and healthy, it’s a big middle finger up to anyone else!!!

Yes it is fat and the UK would be healthier if more people recognised this

size 10 was a lot smaller though, people have posted sizing charts from 70s on this thread. I also have a vintage H&M suit in size 14 that is smaller than their current size 10s..

16 is plus size lowest size usually