Went shopping in Vintage shops today, apparently every 10 years the companies add an inch

[EleanorReally]

so what was size 10 in the 1970s is now size 6.
to make us feel better!
Does that mean there were less size 20s in the 1970s? or equivalent.
how come,
there must have been sedentary occupations.
what is to blame?
fast food,
sugar in everything?

this probably shouldnt be in Style and beauty

People were shorter too.

Sugar and fast food are probably the major culprits.

We’re also 4 inches taller than we were 50 years ago and our feet are 3 sizes bigger.

I can’t say I’m getting over excited about it.

Vanity sizing. It’s a thing.

I still have a couple of dresses I wore in the 1970’s (I have my reasons ....), they still fit me and are size 16’s. Now my clothes are size 10/12. My weight is the same as it was then.

You are living proof Fadedred!

My DM weighed 11-12 stones in the 1960/70’s and either made her own clothes or sent away for them as you couldn't get clothes over size 16 in the local shops.

Sounds about right. I have a beautiful 70s prom dress in a size 10 that used to belong to DMs friend when she was young.

I'm a flat chested size 6/8 and I can zip it up and wear it (but not wear a bra or breathe!)

I have some nice pieces from the 70s and 80s and the sizes were different but also the fit - waists much more fitted and in a smaller ratio to hips.

There were larger sizes around, though people ( well, women) would tend to wear more control garments so the overall effect was more solid. Ready to wear was found in OS ( outsize) but remember that so many more women sewed at home or took material to a dressmaker - quite a normal, non luxury option. My mother was a standard 14 then ( maybe a 10 equivalent now) and could sew well herself but would get special occasion dresses made by a local dressmaker and be very fussy about fit.

If you were a larger or non standard fit it was easy enough to accommodate a scaling up or tweaking of a pattern - and there was such a wide range of affordable patterns by several different brands, not like now. Fabric departments and shops were everywhere and a large range of good material available and much cheaper than buying ready to wear.

I went to H&M today for the first time in about a year and grabbed my usual size 12 since I haven’t gained or lost weight. Had to go back for a size 10 which was still too big so now I have a bag full of size 8 clothes

The food industry have spent billions convincing us that we need to snack regularly, that any sensation of hunger should be dealt with immediately and preferably by a processed item of food, and that cooking with fresh ingredients is elitist/tiring/difficult/snobby/stuck up/poor parenting/time consuming.

The marvellously successful results are all around us [10kg overweight, modern size 16, probably size 24 from the 70s]

I was a size 12 when I was 18 and I'm still a size 12 now in my 50s.
However I'm a stone and a half heavier.
It's called vanity sizing I think.

When I was a teenager in the late 60's, 16 was the largest size in regular shops, and was definitely much smaller than a 16 now. I remember the measurements for a 14 were 34-24-36. I really struggled to find clothes.

In H & M I am a size 8 but in reality I am a 12. It is ridiculous. And confusing.

Just saw Happyspud post. Snap.

I think it's appropriate that sizing moves as people's sizes change, it's to do with practicality and reality not vanity.

Most shops stock a range from sizes 6 to 18 (and some a smaller range than that). I'm a size 14 now, and 5'7"- this would make me a strapping lass in the 1950s, probably a size 18 then.

Why would it make any sense at all now to make me the biggest person they could possibly sell to? I already am in some designer shops! There are clearly loads of women who are bigger and taller than me and they wouldn't be able to buy clothes.

Oh, and before anyone suggests it, no it won't make them or me lose weight, I have hardly been off some kind of diet all my life.

The vanity size thing is clearly true...I weigh 3 stone more than I did aged 14 when my 80s skinny jeans (pre-Lycra) were size 13 - in between sizes, who knew? Now my jeans are usually a 12 sometimes a 14. Women are bigger too - snacking, sugar, better health generally etc and don't forget SMOKING. Nearly everyone smoked and that kept a lid on your appetite.

I bought a beautiful vintage skirt in a charity shop the other day - must have been unusually big at the time as it has a label saying 20 on it but it's only slightly too big for me (size 12-14)

It’s true, I’m a size 8-10. I’m 2 stone heavier than I was 20 years ago when I was still a size 8-10. I was 7st2 and now I’m 9st2.

I often think we should all start smoking again. Apparently people were healthier, lighter, and not a burden on the NHS for many years or pensions system as they died much younger on average.

The vanity sizing thing is certainly true. And back in the 70's you couldn't buy anything over a 14 in the shops - people just were not that big . Now it's normal to be able to find all sizes in the high street .

People are bigger and the reasons are obvious . Too many food choices full of sugar, too many takeaways, too much sitting endlessly watching screens.

I was thinking it was all the smoking, and no food between meals.

In the 70's I was a size 10 and things were often too big but you couldn't get size 8. I must have been what is a size 4 now. I recently bought a 60's second hand dress in a size 16 which is the size I am now. I couldn't get it on. One thing I remember from those days was that we didn't snack between meals and I walked everywhere.

In the 80s, you'd only find clothes in 10 - 14 in most shops, with a size 8 if you were lucky (not that I was ever a 1980s size 8 but I had a very slim friend). Nowadays 8s, 6s and 4s are commonplace - not because people are smaller, but because clothes have got larger. A 12 back in the 80s was a 26 inch waist