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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to think that it might not really be true that the UK average clothes size for women is UK size 16?

303 replies

which1 · 18/10/2019 18:51

I just can't help but think that that's not true. That this is the average has been floating around for years I know.

But whilst I do see some people who are size 16 or above, I do not think I see so many as to tip the scales to the extent that 16 becomes the average.

I would say that the average is a UK12.

(I'm not talking about on Mumsnet as the vast majority here are pretty slim and around size 8 average from all the threads that I see either about clothes sizes or posters who mention in passing on a related topic.)

OP posts:
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5
problembottom · 20/10/2019 09:52

I used to work in a very posh area of London, I was a size ten and I was bigger than a lot of women around. I slimmed down to a six to eight and felt right. Then I moved to a city up north and I immediately felt so skinny! Wouldn’t be surprised if 16 is the average where I live now.

Jolonglegs · 20/10/2019 10:01

Really interesting reading on this thread. I wonder if size and BMI is related to populations areas?
I'm just over 6 feet, taking size 14 in knicks, skirts, and leggings etc, but 16, sometimes 18, in dresses and tunics. Sizes vary so much!
I wish I was smaller in height, and smaller in sizes, but we are where we are.

ConFusion360 · 20/10/2019 10:22

Nowadays... obviously, a lot of clothes are cut with large waists (I know this as an hourglass).

That's why my sewing machine is rarely put away.

Somebody asked about children's clothes. I have sometimes buy age 12 clothes but I have to choose carefully. I find the sleeves can be too short, the head holes too small and there's no allowance for a a bust.

Chouetted · 20/10/2019 17:41

The large waists issue is really obvious, especially at larger sizes. It's really rare to find plus-size clothing that goes in properly at the waist. Often it even goes outwards.

There are entire shops I've given up shopping in because they seem to assume everyone who is plus size is shaped like the michelin man.

FizzyGreenWater · 20/10/2019 17:48

I'm a bit lost at this thread.

Surely it just means nothing any more to say 'I'm a size 16'? There's no such thing.

I can go into a range of shops and fit a 14 in one shop and an 8 in the next.

When trying something on, I would normally take at least two and sometimes 3 sizes, depending on the item and where I can see it comes on the 'random UK sizing' scale.

How many threads are on here asking if X shop/brand is 'generous' in their sizing or not?

Measurements mean something. Womens' clothes sizes do not, any more.

I have no idea what 'size' I would say I was!

Gwenhwyfar · 20/10/2019 19:31

"You are in the normal healthy weight range for your height. So you are slim, by medical definition. "

Eh? Healthy BMI isn't the same as being slim and I don't think medical people claim it is. It just means you're in the healthy range.

OooErMissus · 20/10/2019 19:53

Exactly! I'm smack bang in the middle of my healthy BMI, and tall, and I wouldn't describe myself as slim, because I'm simply not.

daisychain01 · 20/10/2019 20:17

Just found an article in one of the weekend supplements. It shows a photo of 6 pairs of jeans in a size 12 and how different they are depending on the cut and style.

Looking at the photo, the smallest pair looks like a size 6 and the biggest looks like 16.

The article says that the variability in high street clothing sizes is very unreliable, and the best way to get a good fit is to try the clothes on and ignore the size.

So the premise of this thread, that (a) there is such thing as an "average size" for women in U.K. nowadays, and (b) that the average size is a 16, is completely wrong. It sets a lot of.women up for failure with a negative mindset and perception that a number on their clothes tag matters.

When do men ever, ever give a toss about what their waist size is (which is the normal way of distinguishing trouser sizes, along with leg measurement) or whether their shirt is an M, L, XL or XXXXXXL!

daisychain01 · 20/10/2019 20:36

Volunteers: Means lots of fat people won't have come forward.

It starts to sound mean and dehumanising when you refer to volunteers as "fat people". Maybe you've onto something there - how about they didn't like the idea of lazy labelling based on their body dimensions so refused to take part.

Teateaandmoretea · 20/10/2019 21:30

Eh? Healthy BMI isn't the same as being slim and I don't think medical people claim it is. It just means you're in the healthy range.

It is by the definition of normal people. The competitive undereating and sizing types on here have an unhealthy attitude to weight and food. If you are a normal BMI you will be described as slim by medical people.

ConFusion360 · 20/10/2019 21:50

It is by the definition of normal people.

Really? DH is in the healthy BMI range. He is not slim. Nobody would describe him as slim. Not even medical people (of which we have several in the family).

Bluntness100 · 20/10/2019 22:04

No you wouldn't, you'd be described as being in the healthy range. Not slim. You can be a healthy weight and not slim.

EmeraldShamrock · 20/10/2019 22:15

If you are a normal BMI you will be described as slim by medical people
You will be described as what should be normal but not slim.
Slim is when you are on the lower end of a normal BMI. Not slim is the higher end of BMI.

Orangeteddy · 20/10/2019 22:15

I work at the head office for a major supermarket. Size 16 is our best selling clothes size, followed by 14 and 18. Demographic for supermarket clothes may be less affluent than some high street brands but overall seems to be a reasonably fair representation of the population. It’s worth remembering that there’s almost twice as many adults are now over 40 vs under 40 and in general people put on weight as they get older/after having children. If you work in an office with lots of 20 and 30 somethings you’re probably not seeing a true reflection of average sizes.

SerenDippitty · 20/10/2019 23:01

Slim is when you are on the lower end of a normal BMI. Not slim is the higher end of BMI.

The lower end of the BMI is thin for some people, not slim. I am 5ft 2. To be in the middle of my BMI healthy range I’d have to weigh 8st 5lbs. When I weighed that 5 years ago I was a size 6-8. But still not slim according to you?

EmeraldShamrock · 21/10/2019 03:36

The lower end of the BMI is thin for some people, not slim
I was using slim as nicer word for thin.
If you were in the middle of your BMI you certainly wouldn't be fat more healthy weight not necessarily thin.
I am on the low end at 19.5. Blush 7st 8lb 5ft2.
An extra stone puts me at 21.5 BMI I'd have some extra pockets to pinch but wouldn't be remotely overweight.
It depends on shape too, I've Small shoulders and hips and usually the smallest in a group.

Teateaandmoretea · 21/10/2019 06:14

Slim is when you are on the lower end of a normal BMI. Not slim is the higher end of BMI.

Nonsense.

You find me a bloke who is normal BMI and considers himself anything other than slim.

Slim is a healthy weight. If you think otherwise you have issues. 2/3 of people in the UK are above a healthy weight.

Just utterly bizarre the handwringing on here over weight tbh of normal, slim people. The whole point is you are meant to be slim, aka healthy BMI.

Teateaandmoretea · 21/10/2019 06:21

But still not slim according to you?

Any thread about weight attracts some strange, warped factions. The ilk of which you meet rarely in real life.

I would have to have a bmi out of normal range to be described as anything other than slim even in gasp London where I spend quite a bit of time (and no one I can think of immediately in my office is a size 6) Confused

I did once go to a caravan park in the north east though and I felt like a skinny freak. There is some regionality but there is nowhere I've ever been where everyone is a size 6. The only people I know who are a 4 or 6 are about 11.

PonteLaCorona · 21/10/2019 06:49

There was a biscuit club
This is the only club I want to be part of

Bluntness100 · 21/10/2019 07:09

Slim definition is gracefully thin or slender. It means someone is basically thin but looks healthy with it, rather than the thin that is too extreme and looks unhealthy.

It is quite factual you can be at the higher end of your bmi and not be thin. It's a silly argument to say everyone within that health range is thin, clearly not. Some might be, many not.

The same goes for the other of the healthy range of bmi, some people might look too thin there, unhealthily so.

ConFusion360 · 21/10/2019 08:07

You find me a bloke who is normal BMI and considers himself anything other than slim

Easy! See my previous post. DH is within the healthy range but currently trying to lose a stone. He has a bit of a beer belly. He hates it and certainly doesn't consider himself slim.

ConFusion360 · 21/10/2019 08:16

but there is nowhere I've ever been where everyone is a size 6. The only people I know who are a 4 or 6 are about 11

I spend a lot of time working with Chinese nationals and people from other parts of Asia. I'm a UK size 6 but sometimes feel like the elephant in the room.

wondering7777 · 21/10/2019 08:38

I just checked my BMI and am 21.6 - happy with that! Apparently though I could lose another stone and still be just in the normal range for my height. If I was that much lighter I think I’d look like skin and bone! Perhaps it’s because I’m quite big boned?

lljkk · 21/10/2019 18:06

DH claims he's fat if his BMI gets > 20.

He comes from a family of the Scrawny.

ManiacalLapwing · 21/10/2019 18:56

You find me a bloke who is normal BMI and considers himself anything other than slim Plenty of boys and men are a healthy weight and are unhappy with their bodies. It's very common for men to want to lose fat and gain muscle. Also, up to a quarter of eating disorder sufferers are male.