Is a size 14 fat?

[bubblebutt88]

I know it's dependent on the individual and a lot of variables - height etc but generally speaking would you say it's 'fat?' I am a size 14, I don't think I'm huge but I have a big roll of fat around my belly (thanks c-section and pizza) and I do feel like my face looks a bit bloated at times.

I'm certainly not thin or toned but I wouldn't say I'm obese either. I know id look and feel better if I dropped a dress size but at this time in my life with young kids, a demanding job and lots going on I just can't find the energy to focus on weight loss.

What are your thoughts?

I think with most people it would put them in the overweight and not obese category depending on height etc. obviously this has nothing to do with if someone looks good or not as a previous poster unkindly and incorrectly put it. That has more to do with how you style yourself and confidence. If you don’t feel great in yourself etc that’s probably the greatest motivator for someone to make changes.

I think you're right. She was a US 12, which would be a UK 8. Apparently her measurements were

August 2, 1945
Blue Book Modeling Agency
5’ 6”, 120lbs
36-24-34
“Size 12”

https://themarilynmonroecollection.com/marilyn-monroe-true-size/

Marilyn Monroe and many of the sexiest stars of the 50s and 60s were size

Oh god, this one. MM was a slim woman, average size. She isn't some plus size icon, like at all?

If they are under 5f5 then yes
If they are over 5f10 then no
If in-between then they are borderline getting fat

Marilyn Monroe was a UK 14. her measurement were 35 bust 22 waist..

Find me a UK 14 now that is 35, 22??

She was basically tiny, tiny with big boobs! go look at her photos, no big thighs, arse or fat.

1980’s. I still have a couple of tops, trousers@ and a pair of jeans I could never part with from that time and I reckon they’re comparable to the size 12 I wear now - maybe slightly roomier. But in those days I think it depended on where you bought from. Wallis sizes for example, were a lot bigger and I could fit into a 10-12 top from them.

I think it would be very foolish of the clothing industry not to attempt to make larger women feel good about themselves though, given that's over 60% of the market. Rightly or wrongly, clothes size remains very important to a lot of women with 'perfect 10' (or 8 now aspirational). It stands to reason the clothes buying experience is likely be a more positive one for a woman who finds she is a lower size and she may gravitate back to that shop while avoiding the ones that give her the depressing experience of finding she is a larger size. The clothing industry understands the psychology of sizing pretty well, which is why in outlets targeted to older women who are often larger, sizes have always tended to run big.

Generally, yes. I'm 5'6", average build and could still fit my size 12 clothes when I was slightly overweight (BMI 25-26).

You also said you have no idea what your waist size was and that you are a size 12-14 and wear a size 14 for comfort, all of which points away from the fact you actually have a 31” waist 🤷‍♀️

I wore a size 14 jeans in the 1980s. They fit a 32 waist and mine was 24 - needed a 14 for the hip size. I was 5’ 3” and 8st 7lb. MNs idea of fat is bonkers.

You can look it up using actual numbers and calculations, seems bizarre to just randomly decide/ask for opinions from strangers.

In east Asia you'd always be considered plus size at a 14.

Marilyn Monroe and many of the sexiest stars of the 50s and 60s were size 14.

Size 14 in their era was a lot smaller than today's size 14.

I think it would be very foolish of the clothing industry not to attempt to make larger women feel good about themselves though

Of course. But they haven't fucked the sizing up on purpose as part of a mass industry conspiracy to lie to fag women. Hell, in the last 15 years or so, plus size fashion has absolutely exploded and is openly marketed as such, or at least it's made clear that these clothes go from small sizes up to very large ones. There are other ways to appeal to your customers than fucking up sizing and lying about it!

And the fact that some people prioritise wearing the label with the lowest number over what actually suits them is not in any way proof that clothing companies are vanity sizing. The very fact that shoppers have their favourite places where the numbers are lower than elsewhere actually shows this is not what's happening, or they'd be that size everywhere.

Sizing has increased, yes. It's also gone nuts; mote inconsistent than ever, probably, and this is likely to have a lot to do with so many shitty clothes being pumped out so quickly that nobody knows who their customer is any more and so they can't profile them like they used to. That's the reason sizing used to fluctuate; different clothes are aimed at different demographics and some tend to be slimmer than others, eg teenage girls tend to be slimmer than middle aged women. Now it fluctuates partly because of that, partly because nobody knows who their customer is and partly because they're being pumped out so cheaply and quickly.

Like I said, nobody wants to believe that the industry isn't just en masse trying to lie to fat women. I don't know why!!

I bought into the vanity sizing philosophy for years..it makes sense.

However now I realise it's because everyone has got larger and a refresh on sizing has taken place.

It's the same with children's clothing. Honestly get out a school photo from the seventies and compare to your kids school photo🤯 The one fat girl in my class, she would be average now.

I'm a 14 in jeans (following weight loss) and carry some weight on my belly, but I wouldn't describe myself as fat.

When I go up to a size 14 I'm over my healthy bmi, so yes in my case it's fat. I'm sure it's not an overweight size for other people. It's my alarm bell to diet!

5'4," BMI 24, size 12-14 depending on where I'm buying from. I'd say I'm a little overweight, perhaps a kilo or two. It's mainly around the belly but definitely wouldn't say fat and I look fine in swimwear/sportswear and fairly fitted dresses. I often buy 14s because I like a slightly "relaxed fit" on certain items of clothing.

The few clothes I still have from early 1980s belie that. I was a 14 then and am now a 12. The 14 still fits so only one size difference. And sizes in those days varied depending on where you shopped.

Oh my God, THANK YOU.

Sizing, in reality, is largely based on scaling. Your middle size should be your most popular one for the most efficient cutting and patterning. If it's not, you need to recalibrate to the one that is, and everything goes up and down from there. As we are trending up rather than down in size, for various reasons I frankly can't be arsed to write out because it'll take ages and nobody will believe me anyway, it makes more sense to recalibrate around those sizes than just keep going up and up and up.

There honestly isn't this personal, moral, vanity based investment that so many people think there is. It's purely practical.

Nobody thinks beds or sofas have been vanity sized although the same thing happened with them. It clearly has something to do with our very personal investment in clothes. So I'm sorry to everyone who really wants to believe that it's a mass conspiracy to soothe fat women, but it just bloody isn't. Sorry!

I'm 5ft 8 with a bmi of 27 which I'm trying to get down. I'm a Size 14 in some shops and others a 16. I even have a top that's a small. I'm overweight so for me wearing a size 14 is fat. But sizes are so out of wack that in the midsize ranges I don't think dress size it's an indicator of being slim or not.

Did you describe yourself as “a size 14”? In your situation I wouldn’t consider you to be and so the size 14 is fat statement clearly wouldn’t apply.

I knew a guy who once said "Size 14? Isn't that a whale?"

We then pointed out that his size 14 girlfriend was sitting beside him.

She was not skinny- that is for sure, She has a small waist, but a 'soft' belly and rounded thighs. No she was NOT fat. What we have lost in society, as said above, is perspective and the middle road.

Who will contradict me that being stick thin is NOT healthy, for most women. And that the expectation to be, is causing mental health issues which are really unhealthy.

And osteoporosis and brittle bone disease in later years.

I do not understand either extremes.

Focus on gut health. I did and found I’m bloating less and the weight is very slowly going. I can fit a 12 now. It’s more about your health and lifestyle and the much talked about ultra processed foods. It’s a mindset.

I think 14 is fat as I buy a 16 for comfort and I'm obese. I know I'd still be obese putting on a size 14 dress instead of a 16.