Dress sizes and weight etc.

[imamearcat]

I was just reading another thread about someone not being a size 6 anymore. Just got me thinking. I'm in pretty good shape and I think look quite 'slim' but would never in a million years be a size 6! I was very slim / underweight in my early 20's but even then wouldn't have been a true 8.

Are some people just more naturally bulky? Is it height, shop sizing? I guess a combination. I think I would be much happier if I could be a size 8 though lol.

Your height will have quite an influence on it. I doubt there are many women over 5ft or so who are size 6.

It's all so variable - you can have a very different body shape within different clothes sizes and yes, height varies in quite a lot.

I was a size 8-10, now a 10-12 in my 40s but always had large waist and small boobs, so not an idealised body shape at all (but totally fine with it and happy with how I look).

I can still fit in clothes from size 8 (on top only) to size 12 depending on what item of clothing and what shop so I don't put on much emphasis on clothes sizes!

Miss Selfridge sizes are always tiny, Warehouse stuff always seemed to require biggish boobs, Zara stuff is really long and quite narrow-fitting, Boden & M&S sizes fairly generous.

Back in the 90's as a teen-ager/early 20's I was a size 10 /12 and my BMI classed me as under weight. My friend was a size six and in the healthy BMI range. I'm 5'9" tall and hourglass (broad shoulders and hips, small waist) my friend is 5'1/2" tall and very fine boned. She will always be a much smaller dress size than me.

I was thinking the same thing OP. Size 6 must be tiny.

I'm 5'8 but smaller build I would say (quite small wrist, size 5 feet). I do have 'strong' legs! Jeans are always the issue for me!

I'm 5ft 10 and built like I should be lugging sacks of potatoes about. Never feel feminine
My friend is a tiny size 6, her frame is half mine and her shoulders are v narrow. I feel like a lumbering giant next to her

@imamearcat

I was just reading another thread about someone not being a size 6 anymore. Just got me thinking. I'm in pretty good shape and I think look quite 'slim' but would never in a million years be a size 6! I was very slim / underweight in my early 20's but even then wouldn't have been a true 8.

Are some people just more naturally bulky? Is it height, shop sizing? I guess a combination. I think I would be much happier if I could be a size 8 though lol.

Why do you think you would be happier if you were a certain size? Why do you feel like your worth is connected to how little space you occupy?

This is the question you should be asking yourself.

We’re all different heights and builds. That’s what gives us our basic shape. It’s how much we eat and exercise that determines how closely we stick to our core shape.

Are some people just more naturally bulky?

It's down to bone structure. If you are large framed, you will never be a size 6, no matter how hard you try and will probably end up looking skeletal if you try.

That said, size six is yesterday's size 8.

@ChristmasTreeFairy5000 my worth? I'm not really talking about my worth. I like to feel more lean, but then just wonder if I'm still actually quite fat because I'm still a size 10!

I was a modern size 6 in my teens and 7 stone soaking wet. Now 10 stone 4 and a busty 14.

At one point I was 5'5 and about 7 stone and nowhere near a 6.

At 8'10 I was a solid 10.

DD is the same. She's very tall and thin.

The only people I know who are a 6 are either of a particularly small and fine boned build, or anorexic

I'm 5'7 and a size 6.
My weight hovers around 45-47kg.

I'm 5ft7 and look v slender at 12. Ive done every diet regime going no matter how unhealthy and cant even get close to getting below a 12. 6? I'd be admitted to hospital.

I'm 5'8 and weigh 8 stone 13. I think my bmi is about 19-20 on that basis.

I bought a couple of size 8 tops today and they were a tiny bit too small. I'm broad shouldered and quite muscular so even though I'm pretty slim I still have a large frame. I can't imagine I would ever be a size 6.

At my slimmest I was an 8 on the top, 10 on the bottom but still weighed 10st 10lbs. I have thick, strong legs (years of rugby) and have a physical job which means I have a stocky frame. Jeans shopping can only be undertaken after a boozy lunch.
I like to think of myself as having a functional figure- it mightn’t be suitable for the cover of a magazine, but it is strong and capable of hard endurance.
I think the last time I was a size 6 I might have been 10 years old!

We’re all unique- shops size labelling helps nobody and I learned after a particularly nasty bout of self hatred about my size that frankly, sizing is an absolute heap of shite. No shop is the same and it’s all vanity sizing anyway. I have stuff in my wardrobe that ranges from size 14 to XS from H&M.

Wow @RealityCheck24601 you must be very slim.

I’m 5”3.5 and 7stone 4. I was a size 4-6 before I ever got pregnant. Now my child is 2 and I’m the same weight but a size 8-10! The muscles in the waist have changed so I’m skinny with a big bloating belly! Honestly, I’d rather be an hourglass and a bigger size! When you’re skinny you can’t hide a thing :( being slim is so overrated.

After my second child I went down to 7 1/2 stone. I was still a size 10 on my bottom half though. I’m sure my hip bones are wider than would fit in a 6 so even my skeleton alone wouldn’t fit it.

I’m not really bothered by size or weight though....more about feeling comfortable in myself.

@RealityCheck24601

I'm 5'7 and a size 6. My weight hovers around 45-47kg.

That’s very underweight for your height. I’m around 44kg but 5 inches shorter than you.

OP, I think it depends on your height. UK4-6 looks different on a 5’1” woman vs a tall woman. It also depends on your breast size, shoulders, thighs, muscle etc.

I wish people realised sizes are widths based, and not weight.

Some people are just smaller boned with narrower frames. You must have seen very delicate and petite women who aren't skinny, they have lumps and bumps but are so narrow they are a size 6.

I'm a size 6. But I have a lot of muscle and quite big legs, however very narrow and 5'2". My friend is actually skinnier than me but broad shouldered so a size 10.

Really, this obsession with sizing is unhealthy. The same way a muscular woman can weigh more (and be a bigger size) than a slimmer woman with no muscle. Size and weight are not directly correlated.

@Noti23 I'm actually quite pleased, my second baby was massive, I was massive! My belly is pretty flat now but I do think I've changed shape a little. Got a bit wider?

I'm 5'5" and 9 stone 12lbs. I do lots of weight training and I'm pretty slim/compact. I'm a 12-14 depending on the fit and sizing, often a 10 in tops. I would have to be underweight to be a true size 10 due to my frame and can't imagine I would look healthy. I can't lose weight from my pelvis!

@JurassicParkAha, so true, like I just asked DH and he just said 'well you are tall aren't you, like I'm never going to have a 32 inch waist' ( he's 6'4'' and big built)

That other thread was brutal. I just popped on lots of well-meaning posters treating BMI measurements as gospel, but I am borderline underweight according to BMI and there's not really a lot I can do about it. I eat loads and don't do any formal exercise. It doesn't matter if some chart says I'm underweight, my body doesn't listen. Weirdly enough I'm still a size 6-8, still alive and basically healthy, and plenty have men have found me attractive over the years...