To think no-one looks "wrong" being a certain clothes size?

[AroundTheGlobe]

I'm excluding obvious ED from this by the way.

I'm around a size 12 and 5"6. I've started dieting and said to a friend that I'd bought a dress in a size 8 for inspiration. She then told me I would look wrong as an 8.

My sister who is the same height and has been a size 8 her entire life has never been told she "looks wrong"

Yes people that lose a lot of weight (or gain) will obviously look very different to their own norm but surely no-one looks wrong?

Hi
I'll admit I'm a bit over weight and I am hoping to loose some invoking to get to a size 12 again anyway about ten years ago I lost lots of weight went to a size 6 , I looked I'll sunken tummy ,no boobs , and a slight yellow tinge to skin.
I look better as a size 12 plus
Skinny is not always good , I'd say I have a fat bum but a good friend says it suits me !

I'm 5'7 and a size 8. I do not look skinny/bony/anorexic. I look like me.

I need to be slim, extra weight doesn't make me curvy. It goes around my waist / tummy so less curvy infact.

No one is saying that everyone looks bad as a size 8. I have a friend who's 5'10'' who looks fine. It just doesn't suit us all.

I don't know. I look puffy and dumpy above 9 stone (I'm short)
But my beautifully voluptuous friend would look silly below a 14, she'd look all gaunt and ill.

Yes, I agree it's about your build and height as a combination that makes you look good carrying more or less weight.

I'm 5'4", but have a small frame, so if I'm any bigger than a size 10 I look bulgy and fat, even though my BMI is fine. I'm a size 8 now and look much better - like I'm in proportion for the first time in my life.

People get v threatened when someone loses weight.

Ignore her and do what is right for you.

I am 5'6" and although felt right as a size 8 when. I was 18 it felt wrong aged 31 and I didn't think I looked my best. I am happiest as size 10 (my usual size). When I go up to 12 that feels wrong for me but could be as much about buying New clothes as anything!

Currently 8 myths pregnant- with dc 2 though.

My opinion of the friend in question is that there a're some people who would rather see their friends a bit overweight - not saying you are overweight when a 12 but she might be threatened by a thinner you.

YANBU, I don't think people can look 'wrong' at any healthy size.

But did she mean too thin? I'm the same height & would def have to be anorexic/very underweight to be size 8. Was size 10 in my teens with ED & very skinny/bony. Body shape comes into it a lot.

I'm 5'5" and when my weight crept up to a size 8 bottom 10 top (v. narrow hips - mixed race) I got comments on how I was looking rather chubby and unhealthy. Now I'm probably a size 4 and often get compliments on how healthy I look. I think it's down to having narrow hips that means I look more 'natural' at a smaller size. I have a friend who's just under 5' who looks emaciated if she drops under a size 6-8 though, even though it would seem like we should be the other way around because of our heights, it's because of our body shapes - she's a hourglass, I'm a straight or apple.

I now seem to remember that even when I was sinew, skin and bone with no periods, I couldn't comfortably button up a beautiful size 6-8 h&m shirt I got as a gift, as my ribcage was simply too wide (boobs had all but dissappeared, though, as they start to do below size 14).

Two of my cousins are willowy and 5'10ish, and stunning. They are successful models . The rest of my cousins are like me - rather more stumpy and "peasantly" Boo..

Toys -I consider my shot putter back and shoulders to be statuesque and regal - not at all 'peasantly'

I wish they would size womens clothes like they do mens - with the waist and length etc in inches/cm rather than use the numbers we have. I have found little consistency between shops. Some shops are tiny, others use vanity sizing.

So I don't actually really know what my size is as I have clothes in a variety of sizes depending where they are bought.

Entirely down to build and shape - ignore dress sizes! At 5 ft 7, below a size 12 definitely looks wrong for me - I was size 12 (and 10 stone) on my wedding day, and was beginning to look skinny (boobs noticably smaller and ribs showing!) I have very wide hips and big bottom, so dread to think what weight I would have to get down to to get in a size 8. I am very fit and muscular 10st 7 at now.

depends on how old you are. I am 5ft 6 and the last time I was a size 8 I was in my early 20's. Its almost as if my bones were smaller then! I have lost weight a few times since then but I find that now I am older if I go below a 10/12 I do look 'wrong'. The term lollipop lady comes to mind. Also if you are over 40 it can have a dreadful effect on your skin and face.
Is your sister the same build as you? shoulder and hips, bust size, etc?

Yes, sherbet, that's true. I lose weight first and foremost from the face, so start looking gaunt, and now also old!!, very quickly. DM is the same.

unlucky

Regal? My body was clearly built for working on muddy fields or lumberjacking..

Toys. Come the revolution we will be fine as we can carry our own weight in firewood.

toys and east
won't let me upload photos?? - instead links - look at main pics - neither of these look like they were narrow of shoulder!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc

(In reality I come from farming stock...so more likely built for the muddy fields ...but I wouldn't admit that anyone! )

I am another who looked ill and stopped having periods for a year at a size 8. The fact that your sister has been an 8 her entire life suggests that is the natural size for her body. My sister and I have very different body shapes (measurably my feet are a 7 and hers are a 3) but she is pretty much the same height as me (5ft4).

Any way all that aside it was maybe a bit rude of your friend to make that remark once you had bought the dress but I think she is kind of correct that some people don't look 'right' at a size 8.

I'm about a 14 at the mo. 16 I look too heavy, but when I was a stone and a half lighter and fitted easily into a 12 my face looked old and scraggy and my tits were non-existent, so I was happy to put on a bit although I should maybe have stopped about 10lbs ago

Depends totally on body shape/frame size I think. I am 5'10" and a size 8 and am still curvy have boobs and hips. I have tiny wrists and ankles so a small frame. I had been a size 10 for a couple of years until last summer and didn't feel like 'me'. Now I am the size I feel comfortable with again and I don't have to starve myself to stay this size so it must be right for me. BMI 18.5 but that's what it's pretty much always been since I was 19. Before that I was just over 8 stone - eek now THAT must've been skinny! But that was natural for me - just glad anorexia wasn't such a well known condition then as I'd have been labelled as that for sure when I ate like a horse!

Interesting stuff. Key things for me:

1. Body shape has a huge influence on how you look and the effect of losing/gaining weight and the boundaries of "right" for you.
2. Exercise is key - muscle weighs more than fat. The scales can tell me the same thing but a huge difference in inches and how great you look depending on your muscle tone. Regular fitness has actually made me heavier but I am in smaller clothes and getting more compliments.
3. Confidence and self belief are always sexy, that will trump being the skinniest one in the room every single time.
4. Dress well and in what suits you. Understand your style and colours.
5. Do not obsess, we need to set a good positive example for our DCs.
6. Healthy lifestyle and good food - dull, but true - are more important long term than hitting a goal by radical diet.