Is a size 14 viewed as overweight?

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Just reading online that uk size 16 is the average size of a uk woman right now. Im a size 14 and 5ft 3 so always felt overweight anyway but in reality would you view someone as a size 14 overweight? For me anyone who can fit into a size 10 would be considered slim although I know clothes sizes come up different depending on shop. Just curious what dress size people on here buy and if they consider themselves overweight.

5ft 11 so no, size 14 doesn’t look overweight on me, though recently I was looking at a clothing website where a 14 was XL…. 🙄🙄🙄

It depends how you carry your weight. I’m big framed and big boned all over, akin to a brick shithouse. I carry weight all across my frame so even if I gain a few pounds it’s not noticeable.

I’m 5’11 and wear 12-14, depending on the shop. My BMI is fine and I don’t think anyone would say I’m overweight. I have a slim hourglass figure, so often need a 14 to accommodate breasts and backside.

Sizing is a bit meaningless, really. Your height and build also determine your dress size, not just your weight.

Size 14 would be overweight for me, I’m fairly tall but still I’d feel overweight

Dd is very tall also.
But it is this mantra that you are tall so that means you are a bigger size
I don’t understand. Isn’t anyone who is a particular bust waist and hips measurement etc the same size.

why would a size 12 be different on a short person as opposed to a tall person.
if both have the same measurements
On someone shorter they might look bigger than a tall person but that doesn’t mean they are a different dress size.

I think over a 10 is over weight. I’m 5ft 7 and a 12 and feel like I should lose 15-20lbs

I'm 5ft 8 and am overweight at a 14. Not huge but definately carrying excess weight. I would look best 10-12. So to me... Yes it's overweight as I'm quite tall.

Sorry should have said, if you're 5ft 11 I bet you aren't overweight but not sure what percentage of women are this height

It depends on height. Hence BMI is a better indicator for most people.

A size 14 at 5'2" is likely quite a lot larger visually and proportionately to a size 14 at 5'9".

I'm 5'4" and feel podgy when I get to size 12.

Also, acknowledging a body is overweight isn't shaming or judgemental, it's a fact.

I find you can't really think anyone is overweight without it being deemed as 'body shaming' these days, which just makes the obesity epidemic (and all of the health issues it entails) even worse.

I am 5 feet 6 and a size 14, however as others have said it is to do with individual body shape how you look or how you carry it. I have gained a stone since lockdown and I was a size 14 before that weight gain too. I look slightly bigger now, but just filled out the clothes a little more.

Oops, I hit post too soon. I was also goi g to say, bmi charts will probably class a size 14 as overweight but it depends on height, etc. I'd certainly not consider a size 14 obese though.

It depends upon height, fat distribution, where you buy your clothes and how you like them to fit.

Check your BMI. It isn't perfect but it is a reasonable guide for people who aren't elite athletes. Not worth getting upset about a point or two over/under as there is evidence that the limits should be adjusted for certain demographics but as a general guide it isn't bad.

I am 5'7" and a 14. The NHS BMI calculator suggests I am within my recommended healthy weight range. It really depends, so just put your figures into the calculator and see.

If sizing does now normalise to the mean then why is there such a big difference between stores.

For the fourth time, because they profile their customers. Some demographics are generally slimmer than others.

If designers aren’t vanity sizing then why not have size 10 being the 32” bust 22” waist and 34” hips

Because they're normalising to the mean, and they are profiling their customers, and size numbers are not based on measurements but on scaling systems to enable pattern cutters to scale up and down from the medium size. They have to adapt to the market. Not many people are that size any more, and even of those who are, they will have a lot of variation in how they are shaped. Profiling customers and not having uniform measurements everywhere actually makes it easier to accommodate variation. Most women aren't hourglasses anyway. The most common shape in the UK, in all sizes, is pear.

Everything else has got bigger too (chairs, beds, doorways) but nobody gives a shit about that.

How many times do I have to say it?

Look, I am sorry that you struggle to find mass produced off the peg stuff that fits you. I'm sorry that sizing has not adapted to suit you personally. I'm sorry that sizing inflation is not vanity sizing when you clearly want it to be, for whatever reason. I'm sorry about whatever happened with your daughter and your old clothes and shopping in the 80s or whatever (although sizing variation has gone on for decades; I remember articles about being three different sizes in the 90s). Sizing and fit are shit for everyone. How many people say they find it easy to clothes shop?

But it's not due to a mass conspiracy to flatter fat women into thinking they're thin. They're doing what enables them to sell without making sizing even more bloody complicated than it already is.

I'm bored now.

I’m 5’8” and size 14. I look slim with long legs, but, I am overweight by about 12lbs. A better way of measuring if you are a healthy weight is to measure your waist, it should be less than half your height. e.g. 5’3” persons waist should be less than 31.5”.

I'm 5 11 a 14 and definitely overweight my bmi is a kick in the arse off obesity tbh. Must lose weight!

I've never really understood using clothing size as a measurement. I'm overweight. My clothes are size 12-18 depending on the clothing and brand.

I really think it depends on body shape, like pp i'm 5ft 11 and size 14, but my bmi is 21.5 which is fine..
For example (re body shape) i'm a 36" bust measurement but no boobs its all, its because i've got a broad back, so nothing i can do about that or being a size 14.

Overweight isn't subjective, it's based on BMI (unless someone is a professional bodybuilder or something.)

Some people have a BMI over 25 (medically classed as overweight) at a size 14, but most are probably ok. I'd say a size 16 (all over, obvs some people have different proportions) tends to be definitely overweight.

It doesn't help that there's vanity sizing in shops, so a lot of people probably think they're a size 14 when they're not.

Unfortunately OP - yes - in a word!

Yes usually would say that’s overweight but does depend on height I suppose. I’m 5ft 4 and a size 8-10. A couple of years ago I was a size 12 and my BMI put me as overweight.

I dont get why these thread keep appering. Obviously someone wearing size 14 can be overweight while someone else with the same clothes size will be perfectly fine.

It's weird because I needed a size 14 coat with a BMI of 22 due to having a large chest even though I was skinny elsewhere years ago; but now I'm definitely overweight with a BMI of 30ish and still wear a 14-16.

Don't forget sizes are subjective because they vary widely between shops.

Rather than dress size, go by BMi and waist measurement to see if you are overweight.

People come in all shapes and sizes though. You're shortish so I'd say you probably are overweight. Someone who's 5ft 10 could look great at a size 16. Also there's a range of OK, not one exact middle point.
Are you flabby? Do things jiggle a pit too much. Do you have a muffin role etc.
Size 16 might be the average size but that's because most people are fat. I often hear people use words like skinny to describe someone who's slim.
Also 'fat' as a word is a loaded. People who sre msybe a dress size overweght will often say 'Yes, but im not Fat, fat am l?" I'm fat. I know no-one would really use that word to describe and it irritates me when yhey saybim not. Yes mste, I am fat..... just not as fat as you.

Well yes because the taller you are generally the bigger your frame is so size 14 on a 6'2" person means they probably don't have rolls of excess fat on them where as on a 5'3" there probably are rolls of excess fat. It's not that the tall person 'hides' it better. They just are bigger overall so are not overweight at a size 14