to think that most shops use vanity sizing now, and a 10 is really an old 14

[GetOrfMoiiLand]

Are there any shops which use what I would call 'old' sizes.

I remember when a 10 was really small. When I was in my teens and a lot smaller than now, I was a 12 at most. I am now a 10.

My gran (on clearing out her wardrobe) was always a size 12-14 - on trying on some jackets from the 80s which were a 14 they were very tight.

Hardly any shops stocked 8s, and they were tiny. Now every shop stocks 6's, and they are not really that small. My local Asda stocks clothes in a 4.

I think it's maybe our shapes which have changed, people are taller, broader shouldered and less 'curvy' (in and out, not fat) now than they were then. I was a size 8-10 25 years ago and am a size 12 now and probably weigh a stone or so heavier.
I agree with a poster further up who said you see tiny size 6 teenagers / young women now, i don't remember so many teenagers being so underweight when i was one. Also a higher proportion of overweight too, i remember most of us were the same size. so more eating disorders of both kinds.

GoldenGreen - Well done on your weight loss! Don't let this thread take the shine off for you - a 10 (even a modern one) is still a gorgeous size.

Bunnyspoiler, someone who is a size 6 doesn't necessarily have an eating disorder. Like I said, I'm a size 6 and I'm sick of reading that size 6s are teeny tiny. I have small shoulders and small hips. I'm not particularly thin at all. No I don't have any flab but I'm certainly not stick thin.

I found a load of my old stuff from the eighties a year or so ago. I was a student and tiny then, really tiny. I weighed around 7 stone and I wore size 10 jeans. You couldn't get 8's. Well maybe you could but not where I lived. Tops were size 10-12.

You seriously wouldn't believe how small these clothes are. The waist of the jeans measures 23", my current size 10's measure 29"

A few years ago I lost a shed load of weight and squeezed into a pair of size 0 jeans from Gap. That's a four in Uk sizing. They are about the same size as the 10's from 1986

It makes me depressed too

YABU.

I'm now a 12! No dieting required. In ten years I'll be a 10.

By the time I'm 80 I'll be wearing 12-18 months - the legs might be a bit short though.

I collect vintage clothing and a vintage (i.e. 50s/60s) size 14 is closer to a modern size 10/small 12. Ditto with vintage sewing patterns. Even taking that into account the waist measurements are TINY compared to modern ones.

Also when I was at school back in the dark ages (started secondary in 1975) everyone was super skinny. Much skinnier than the girls nowadays who are more 'womanly' from an earlier age.

Out of interest, which years are you talking about that had the opposite?

bibbity

Aren't we all taller now with bigger busts? Also, women in, for example the 1940s, weighed more but had smaller waists. I'm sure it isn't just a case of everyone getting fatter, but perhaps a combination of body composition (probably less muscle) and being taller. Plus, I don't think there's a scrap of logic to dress sizes - I'm at least three dress sizes depending which bit you get hold of!

thanks ghoul

Definitely. Maybe 1 size in some shops, 2 sizes in others.

20+ years ago, I wore size 10 Levi's. I was at least a stone and a half lighter than I am now and looked pretty skinny (though I didn't realise it at the time, of course). I am now wearing size 12 jeans, occasionally a 10 (if I have been trying hard to eat like a bird), with a mum-gunt and flat bum

OH GOD please this has to stay in my head,I know what you are saying is true op but for the lve of god I don't want to have to say it out loud in real life

Polly, I, taller, but definitely don't have a bigger bust

Jins Yippeee! Then I was a size 0 in my yoof

I haven't changed in size since 14/15 (apart from pregnancy) and don't see any difference except I can get more choice in smaller sizes and I've always been a size 8 no tits top and 8/10 for arse at 8.5 stone.

I have generally stuck to Topshop if buying tops and jeans as I know they have always been bang on for sizes.

Definitely true OP

In the 80's it was almost impossible to buy a size 8 because the smallest sizes in the shops were generally a 10.

But that 10 was easily equivalent to today's size 8.

oh bigTilly you have made my day made me realise that I am still a size obsessed loon,I too would have been a size zero in my yoof too :o yah yah yah

I agree with the poster who said that there is a greater variety of sizes now. I can remember in senior school [in the 70's] every girl in our class was either a size 8, 10 or 12. The biggest size you could buy in a fashion shop was size 14, and after that you would have to wear 'old ladies' clothes.
Yes we are getting taller. I really notice that. Also hormonal contraception is thought to be a factor in patterns of weight gain.
One other thing, I can remember in the 70's a lot of women still wore girdles which did make them somewhat slimmer. I don't know anyone who wears one now.

I used to buy Etam teens 'Tammy' range in my late teens/20's so I agree there wasn't the size 8's about (apart from Next hideous petite range).

5ft 3 and a half inches for an average female in the UK in 2000's
5ft2 and a half inches for an average female in the uk in the 1950's

not really that much taller in 50 years

but wasit measurement has gone from average of 27 inches to average of 34 inches

so 7 inches increase on the waist and one inch increase in height

I think one is issue is that most women take hormonal contraceptives at sometime in their lives. This probably makes us bigger on average plus our shape changes too. Obviously diets have changed too but I think the pill etc is a factor.

I really don't think that people have become fatter purely because that's how we evolve. It's so much more to do with culture, people eating crap and not doing any exercise.

Quiet I feel I can hold my head up to DD now! Having been a chubba in my school days!

I have soooo noticed this. I seriously bought almost no clothes in the last 6 years as I had 3 kids and my figure was all over the place and I didn't want to spend money on clothes. I have now started to restock my wardrobe and it has driven me up the wall. I don't always try things on. I know I should be about a 14 and have been having to take things back and swop them for a 10. It is a total joke.

When I was just over 8 stone as a student I had to breathe in to get a topshop size 10 on. Now I am 2 stone heavier and I can see the lard but I am supposedly a 10/12. I think most of the change has been in the last 5 years.

I personally know one overweight lady who doesn't address her weight because she says she is a 12/14 (and very short). I never believed her before but I do now.