to think that size 12 isn't large?

[wussbird]

Well am I?

Just looked on seraphine.co.uk for a maternity top I saw in a magazine and they have it in small, medium and large.

The large is a size 12-14!

Well, my mother insists 12-14 is large. Well, she would actually use a different, shorter word. But she is currently the "fattest I've ever been", to quote her, and is thus a size eight.

Perhaps she's responsible for the labelling?

TBH my working-Fashionista friends are all a size 12 and over! But then that's the difference between writing about it and wearing it on the catwalk, you can still eat cake!

wubbly, you sound a very similar build to me.

Fellatio, but it is not only about the size, its the health issue. I had put on a stone since giving birth (weird, I know, I must be the only person on Earth who puts on weight after giving birth) and my levels of energy had decreased, I feel palpitations when I try doing the 30 Day Shred (bloody MN), and my scales show "overfat" every morning I step on them. So it is not about being shallow, it is about being healthy.

Depends entirely on your height and build and on whose size 12 we are talking about.

If you're over 5'7 then size 12 is perfectly healthy.

If you're under 5'3 then it's probably a bit overweight.

Clothes sizes have definitely changed over the years - size 12 now probably is the equivalent of size 16 in the 70s.

I don't really think being a size 12 is a health risk to anyone Ilike. Unless they are five years old.

Well it might if you have a waist size greater than 34.6 inches - most studies that's when your risk of heart disease goes up.

I'm 5ft8 and a size 12. My BMI is perfect, so for me size 12 is just right.

However, I have noticed that waists are more generous now (but not hips and chests) so have managed to maintain size 12 post children.

Fellatio - it can be - depends on how big the rest of you is/your proportions and body shape.
If you are like me, and are carrying all the weight around your middle (apple shape) but can still fit into size 12 clothes (which I can) - then it's a health risk because of the waist:hip ratio, which is a FAR better indicator of healthy weight than any BMI measurement. Mine is currently too high, despite having a BMI of 24.9 (so just inside the "healthy" range of 20-25) - my WHR is about 0.87, which is above the healthy level of 0.8 recommended for women.

I know I am putting myself at higher risk of heart disease, type II diabetes etc. and I have to do something about it.
Have just seen some photos of myself on FB and was - my mirrors must be trick ones or something, because I never look as big in them as I do in photos!

It's a difficult one because - as you get older - you can end up looking terrible if you are thin.

I think my waist is a bit wobbly but - when I recently saw a film of myself - I looked old and thin and gaunt! It was depressing...

Well if you had a waist size greater than 34.6 inches, you wouldn't be a size 12, would you? A size 12 waist is usually about 28 inches.

"as you get older - you can end up looking terrible if you are thin.."

Yes, the old "face or body debate" (I always visualise Dot vs Pat from Enders for some reason) - is there a way to get both without involving a surgeon I wonder?

Ephiny depends how short you are I suppose!

Ephiny, a size 12 is not a 28" waist any longer. Tis at least a 30", or if you're talking M&S, 32" waist.

But Ephiny it isn't any more! When I was a 12 my waist was a good 32" and I easily fitted size 12s at the waist. Size 12 claims to be 28" but it just isn't. My waist is about 27" now and I am in a Topshop 10.

I would say a 14 is a large. Plus size shops like Evans start at a size 14.

This thread and some of the opinions on it are thoroughly depressing.

Size 12 in tops is very average, not likely to be plump on hardly anyone.

But I think in most cases a modern size 12 in jeans should at least be considered plump (which can be perfectly attractive, of course). Size 12 jeans are tent-like on me (am almost 5'8" tall and 10 stone with 38" hips, so not a skinny minny at all).

The sizing guide in Topshop says that a 12 is a 30 inch waist and a 14 is a 32 inch waist.

I am 5'5 (average)my bmi is 23(av erage)I buy size10(medium) seems about right to me. If I put on any weight I would be fat, when I was skinnier I bougnt an 8. These sizes are for average height I think .

How heavy are you naughtymummy?

Ephiny - my waist size is about 30" and I am 5ft8 with a BMI of about 22. So, medically absolutely fine - just wobbly.

I guess if I ran for many hours a day it would stop wobbling!

(I don't think I ever said my size was 34.6" - but someone must have done because that's a very accurate measurement to quote!)

I am 46, and when I was 20, it was a size TEN that had a 22" waist, and a size 12 was a 24" waist.

They had just invented size 8s when I was about 20, but a lot of the time, at 7.5 stone they were too small for me.

I am now 9.5 stone and can get into a 10 with a deep breath. Someone my size would have been in a 14 or 16 in 1984.

She'd be 9st 12 to have that BMI, nappy.

civil - someone referred to waist sizes above 34.6" --> higher risk for heart disease etc. Which it does, but a high WHR is still a better measure than just waist measurement.