Dress size limit?

[SuckingDownDarjeeling]

I've always wondered if I could physically have ever been a 'size zero'. Because I have fairly wide hips, even at my slimmest I'm not a wisp. I've dieted down to a size 8 in the past, and I wondered if size 6 or below was even technically achievable for me. I never tried to get there because I really didn't want to diet any more after that. (I have to do it all again now anyway though, I let myself go after pregnancy ).

Can a person's bone structure and build potentially limit how small their dress size could ever be? Or with enough starvation dieting, can anybody and everybody be a size zero. Whatever one of those is. I've never met one in real life 🦄

I understand some of the responses here might tell me to google it, but I tried and I'm not great at wording effective search terms. I'm interested to hear people's opinions and experiences, too.

I am now a 16 on bottom 14 on top. You'd never know my rib cage is wider than my hips when it's just skin and bones

I’ve often thought the same OP!

At my slimmest (8st 11lb at 5ft 7in) I still couldn’t fit in anything below a 10, it’s like my hips are a specific width apart and obviously I can’t push them together.

When I was 18/19 it used to bother me and I dieted hard to try fit into this magical size 8 and I physically couldn’t do it

The smallest size I've been is an old size 10, so more like a size 6 now. I was underweight at the time though. It's my waistline that did me in though, I don't have a very defined waist and clothes used to be cut very tight on the waist.
My daughter is really tiny, she still fits into some of her age 11-12 clothes, though she's an adult. Most women's clothes are too big for her.

I am small; smaller than I would like because I am / have been very ill.

I've lost count of times when came across people I haven't seen for ages exclaim "OMG! You're so tiny!" or words to that effect. Bit dampened when say yes, that's what chronic illness will do but yey!! I'm a UK size 6 / 8!!!

Frame size has a huge impact on how small you can be.

A large frame - broad shoulders, ribcage, hips - will mean that no amount of dieting - safely - will get you to a size 4/6.

At my lowest weight, I had a BMI of 19 and measured 35-26-35 but I looked like a starved greyhound. My friend however who was the same height but small boned looked looked lovely and curvy with those measurements due to having a completely different body composition to me.

Ive long since made my peace with the fact that I’ll never be a waif. The size 8 feet ruin it anyway.

I'm a substantial woman. My brother and uncle are rugby players and I share some of the features of that kind of build (broad, size 8 feet, fairly tall). At my absolute slimmest as an adult, I couldn't fit into a 12 - my shoulders are definitely the sticking point. maybe my bones could fit in a 10/12, but there's no way on earth this frame would make it into a 4. Nor would I want to!

I think it's limited
My friend is 5ft 5 and a size 6 and has a teeny frame, very petite
I'm 5ft 10 and look like I should be power lifting. Broad shoulders and hips, big feet/hands/wrists and even age 13 I can't remember being smaller than a size 10-12

I have quite broad shoulders and am comfortable at a size 12 (Uk). At my thinnest I have been a small 10 but I couldn’t get any smaller. Even ill, on a drip unable to keep any food down for months I have never been smaller than a 10. I think some of us are just built bigger than others. I have friends who are tiny and healthy.

Definitely there's a limit for everyone (though some people's will be very small). People talk about 'size zero' models but quite often they will actually be a 6 or an 8, but they're 5'11 so that is incredibly thin. People generally tend to forget how much of a difference height and broader bone structure make to both weight and size; I see quite a few women on MN going on about being a size 8 or 10 as a mark of their incredible worth and self-restraint compared to all the fatties, by which they mean anyone over size 12, but then they happen to mention they're 5'1...

I think you're right OP. I have 3 friends that are a UK 4-6 and they are all so much more slight of build than I (varying from an 8 to a 12) could ever be. Even comparing wrists where there's little to no fat on me, mine are about a third wider than theirs are.

Clothes sizes now are vanity sizes. I would have been a size 4 in today's measurements in the 70s but current sizes are at least 2 to 3 sizes larger. In today's sizes I would be an 8 to 10.

I am over 180 cm in height and I would not have an ability to walk, balance and hold myself upright if I were to be as narrow as to fit into size 4. Same with the length of feet.

I suspect it would also be very disproportionate. - long legs and arms sticking of a tiny frame. I was approached for modelling at 16, I weighted 10 kg less than now and I look very thin now (size 12). But I was 8-10 then, never close to 4.

I have been that size but my ethnicity is mixed and I do have a small ,
bone structure, size 3.5 feet. Until I had my dc I had a 23.5 to 24 inch waist. I wonder what the average hip width is minus any flesh. Post menopause I’m around 27 ish inches.

@PerfidiousAlbion I have size 8 feet too!! To me , that gives a lot more merit to the idea that bone structure will always play a role.

Would you like to start a size 8 feet support group with me?

I can be a 10 but no smaller.

I have an hourglass figure so a v small waist but bony and bigger hips, ribs and shoulders,

I was verging on an 8 when I was ill and looked skeletal, my eyes especially were sunken and the eyeballs popping out.

I am 5/6

I always amazed at how small extremely underweight people are. I don’t know how all their organs fit in. It’s an interesting question, I guess it also depends on the fit and whether there’s some stretch when getting it over wider bone part

I really want to nominate this for the silliest thread ever, and thats saying something as i say some really daft things!

Thread Q: Do some people have smaller bome structures than others?
OR
If I state a random size of clothing, will some people not be able to fit into it?

Sorry OP, its just a bit of a funny thread

OP I’ve always been very slim. People comment that i need to eat more all the time even though I eat a LOT and no less than the average person my size.

I look slim and I am slim. I struggle to put on weight.

I have never ever fitted into a size 0, or even a size 4. And I’m 8 stone and 5 foot 8!

@DocusDiplo I tend to think of stupid questions, especially at night time

I'm actually hugely relieved that so many people have shared their stories to confirm that you can be as slim as ever and still not fit into a size 4.

Hopefully, some people will find this thread after googling and give themselves a break! I've seen some 'thinspiration' stuff online before, it's scary. If I'd seen these opinions years ago when I was dieting, I definitely would have given myself a break. Because at the time I was aspiring towards some very unrealistic goals and it wasn't healthy at all.

@Namechange313

I’ve often thought the same OP!

At my slimmest (8st 11lb at 5ft 7in) I still couldn’t fit in anything below a 10, it’s like my hips are a specific width apart and obviously I can’t push them together.

When I was 18/19 it used to bother me and I dieted hard to try fit into this magical size 8 and I physically couldn’t do it

I'm also 5ft 7in and in my late teens I was 8st (eating like a horse but my metabolism was crazy at the time - wish it was more like that now) Back then I couldn't fit in a size 10, 12 was it, but 12 was baggy. My hips and my shoulders won't fit in a 1990's size 10.

Officially size 0 = UK size 4 but American sizes are a lot more generous than UK sizes. So in reality a size 0 is more equal to a UK 6 or an 8.

Also I wish British people would stop calling it size 0.

I think frame and height are deciding factors.

My daughter is nearly 17 and a size 4/6, she’s only 4ft 7 though and unlikely to grow more. She would struggle to get above a size 8 I reckon.