Seems like size 10 these days is considered 'large'?

[Echobelly]

Caveat: Yes, I know actual clothes sizes are all over the place and not necessarily a guide to weight/shape.

I'm in my mid 40s and I'd swear when I was a kid, 10 was considered 'slim', yet it often seems to be talked about now as though it's the porky side.

I don't think that all that many women naturally fall into being a size 8 - I'd consider 10 a normal 'slim' size, I don't think anyone who is a size 10 would ever be medically overweight, even really short women like me.

Older people like me - do you think attitudes have changed? Younger women - have you grown up with 10 talked about as though it was an undesirable size to be?

Clothes seem to be made for women with much wider hips than me, so a 10 on bottom seems big to me, but not a 10 on top. My bmi is 20 and I wear a 10 top, 6 bottom.

I'm in my mid 40s and I'd swear when I was a kid, 10 was considered 'slim', yet it often seems to be talked about now as though it's the porky side.

Don’t know who you’ve been talking to, I’ve never heard this. I’m a ten and slimmer than most people I know. I couldn’t physically be an 8 on the bottom unless I had my hip bones removed.

I'm 33 and 10 to me is considered the ideal size.
I have never heard anyone say it's 'porky' or on the larger side.

To me a 6-8 is skinny.

To some extent it depends on your definition of 'fat'.

Is this something to do with media, social or otherwise?

Vanity sizing has completely changed what a size 10 is over the past 20 years. I was a size 10 at about 8st 4 in the mid 90s - I’m still a size 10 at 10st 2 now. I am definitely not the same size! I was slim, and I’m towards the top of a normal bmi now, but I’m I could visibly do with losing a stone

Depends on height.

I'm short.

Currently a 12 as need to shift some pounds. But even at a 10 I'm not slim.

And yes. I very much would not be fitting in any size 10s years ago but can now.

I'm probably more like a 10 years ago size 16.

Size 10 is tiny to me. I come from a long line of plus-sized women so I would be considered L or XL or XXL.

I think it's tied in with clothes sizes being meaningless. Even in the same brand the same 'size' isn't the same.

Nowadays size 4s and 6s are standard 'high street' sizes. In the 1980s the smallest you'd find in, say, TopShop would be a size 8 and then usually only one or two of any garment - lots of 10s, 12s and 14s - nothing above that as 16 was considered 'plus size'.

It's good that there's a wider range of sizes available now, but what the 'size 10 is porky' attitude shows is that we are never going to stop judging women by their bodies.

Personally I think it's time we abolished sizes and just used inches or cm as men's clothes do. If it's a '30 inch waist' or '38 inch chest' you can easily tell if it fits, without having to calculate that 'X-brand's sizes run large except for the jeans, although their skinny jeans are larger on the hip so that means probably a 12 but I'd better order a 14 too to be on the safe side...'

My mum was tiny when I was little. She was on those prescribed fortisip drinks. She was a 6-8. 10 was tiny.

Now clothes go to a 2 or 4 - so a 10 isn’t small at all

Possibly due to vanity sizing? 25 years ago a 10 was approx a 26” waist. It’s now approx 30” inches.
I came across a pair of size 12 topshop hot pants I had as a young teen and in today’s sizing they would be a 6/8.
More recently I was a size 14 for about 10 years and in that time I gained 2.5 stone but my size didn’t change (because clothing companies have been increasing the measurements but not the label size).
I don’t know where it’s going to end!

Size 10 was slim once upon a time, when there was no need for any 'smaller' sizes than that. I'm a 4 in Reiss, which is probably the equivalent to a size 10 30 years ago. I'm not skinny - just ordinarily small and slim.

Definitely vanity sizing having an effect.
I sometimes have to wear a size 10 when I am very very obviously a 12 and actually have an overweight BMI at 5’4”.

I’m not massive but I’m also not slim, and I personally consider a true size 10 to be slim.

A current size 10 was a 14 in the 1970s. So it's not small but not exactly porky either!

Vanity sizing.

Pre DDs, 10-15 years ago, I wore a size 6-8, naturally tiny, 7 stone.

I'm now a stone heavier, and size 6 in most shops is too large for me.

A size ten is deffo not the equivalent of a years ago size 16!

Sizes are all over the place and you do see more 6 and 8s than you did when I was young.

I haven’t heard anyone describe a 10 as fat, but if it’s the equivalent of an old 12 then it’s not thin either

Where are you getting that impression from? Just asking because it’s not an attitude I recognise.

When I was younger a size 10 was very slim, but it’s not anymore because of vanity sizing. I used to aim to be a comfortable size 10 and know that that was what suited my body best but nowadays I can be a comfortable 10 at the same time as carrying a few extra pounds. Still not porky, but not slim with no fat either.

That's pretty much exactly right IME. I buy quite a bit of stuff in charity/vintage shops, and a vintage M&S 16 is what I would say was a 10 now.

Personally I think it's time we abolished sizes and just used inches or cm as men's clothes do. If it's a '30 inch waist' or '38 inch chest' you can easily tell if it fits, without having to calculate that 'X-brand's sizes run large except for the jeans, although their skinny jeans are larger on the hip so that means probably a 12 but I'd better order a 14 too to be on the safe side...'

I think that’s a good idea. Women’s sizing is pretty meaningless.
Some online size guides actually gets you to type in what size jeans you usually wear from what shop so it can then advise how their size compares - e.g usually a ten in jeans in New Look means you should actually buy size 8 for that brands website. It’s just ridiculous.

It’s vanity sizing - size 10 used to be slim 20 years ago but size 10 now in a lot of shops is more 12/14

A current size 10 is actually an old 12/14 in most places. Not big ofc, but would have been considered a larger size in teen type clothing

Yes, in the 70s I was a size 10 which was 32-22-34. It isn't that now (and neither am I!)

I’m 37 and sizes have definitely changed since I was a teenager. As a teenager I was 8st10 (5ft10 tall) and size 10, I’m now 9st5, much wider in the hips since having dc and yet a size 10 from most shops hangs off me now.

I should have added, I was working in high st fashion only 20yrs ago & still have samples, pattern blocks etc for various customers. It's definitely vanity sizing as my standard size 12 samples are now an 8/10 as they fit DD well & that's the size she buys

Totally depends on height. If I'm a size 10, I'm on the "chubby" side. (I'm shortish)