Surely I’m allowed to decide what body type I have ??!

[JustLeaveMeAlonePlease]

I was reading something about midsize fashion yesterday at lunch, mentioned it to a friend and said about how I struggle to find things that fit well and suit me (I’m a pear shape 5’10 and 9.5-10 stone my weight fluctuates within the size I wear depending on time of month etc- size 10) and she had a go at me ! Said that I’m too thin and calling myself midsize is not ok ?

But I’m very disproportionate and feel heavy ? Midsize clothing ideas suit me. She was then saying maybe I even have an eating disorder if I see myself that way.
Surely this is fine for me to see myself as midsize due to my shape/proportions and what suits me ? She was actually fuming though

That sounds like a very low weight for someone your height...

I'm 5"3, and the lowest weight I've ever been as an adult is 9 stone 3. And that was because I had an eating disorder.

I'm now about 12 stone and a size 14-16. I'd describe myself as "midsized". By no means slim, but not obviously fat. I know I'm a bit chubby these days, but I carry my weight quite well.

A size 10 just isn't midsize. It's just not. But fair enough if you want to say you use midsize instas or whatever for ideas on dressing because you feel it suits you. But don't go around saying a size 10 is midsize or we'll be back in the noughties size zero era.

I said medium on clothes labels. It's accurate to say that someone wearing an item labelled S–M is wearing midsize.

Good point. And pear-shaped doesn't equal mid-size.

This.

Your friend is right- you are not midsize. If the average woman is size 14-16 then by definition, that is midsized. Most people wouldn’t have commented on what you said but they’d definitely think it.

You have a point about feeling mid sized but many women feel “bigger” than they are because of their own personal history, societal pressure etc I understand why the different clothes sizes for top and bottom can eventually lead to your brain thinking that there’s something wrong with your body but shop sizing is randomly decided by manufacturers so it’s common to have a variety of sizes in your drawers.

i am 9.5 stone and 5'6 and also consider myself midsize. I know i am not overweight and am happy with my body, but I am definitely not skinny, nor am i overweight or obese. I am somewhere in the middle which to me would be midsize, and midsize clothing ideas also suit me!

I think the problem in our society is that we dont like to be honest about weight and so have to pretend everyone is thinner than they are.

Not really. This is why the new Vinted sizes are such an inaccurate nightmare. The size the garment claims to be is clearly unrelated to its actual size, as is obvious from the pictures.

You are four inches shorter than the OP! You are also not really midsize, though closer to it than OP.

It's not a very low weight, it's within the healthy BMI range, just at the lighter end.

If the OP is at all like me (and we have very similar measurements/weight), she will look slim and light on the top half, yes, and probably have long and slim-looking legs, but NOT skinny and certainly not 'low weight' in an unhealthy way. I have long limbs and am not 'curvy' but am well-covered, not skinny in the slightest.

Honestly, why do posters feel so confident that they know better than the individual whose body they're talking about? I'm quite alarmed at the number of people immediately jumping in to throw around phrases like 'disordered eating' and express concerns about her health.

We're not in denial, 10st at 5ft10 is not midsize. Stop patronising us. Just say you are slim but you aspire for vanity weightloss or to look skinny and still self conscious with your body shape. Leave the term midsize for actual midsize people, words matter.

I don't mean its actual size, I mean the size on the label ie M for medium or 'midsize'.

Clothing labels like small, extra-large etc are a joke, I don't disagree. Different for every brand and often even within a brand. It'd be much more straightforward if we ditched the idea of small, extra small etc and clothes were actually measured, and marketed and sold by their measurements.

Not sure I would have corrected you but as a 29 waist size 10/12 who considers herself quite toned and fit and not "midsize", I would have rolled my eyes.

"Midsize" per influencers/Pinterest is around a 14-16, so not plus-size but a bit larger than your average influencer.

But my point is, I wear size 10 clothes which is the equivalent of 'medium'. I consider myself 'midsize' because thats how I see my body - neither skinny, overweight, obese, etc. If 'medium' isnt midsize then ... Why?

There is a difference between a size ten at five six and a size ten at five ten, no matter what the labels on the clothes say.

Absolutely nobody here really thinks that that size M equates to 'midsize' in reality. Fuck off 😂

Because it's only "medium" in a clothing shop where they sell 8-16. It's the middle of a very limited range of high-street-friendly sizes.

A properly inclusive brand would sell say 6-32 but stocking that range of sizes is very expensive.

Good example - Snag tights. They do A-G, G being a 32. You would be a size B.

Am I going mad here? This model's measurements are 36-26-39, she's 5'10 and a UK size 10. She just doesn't look mid-size to me. She doesn't look underweight either though. Just... slender. Slim.

Ugh. Image didn't upload.

When you are thin people love to call you out on it - tell you you have an issue. But if you are fat they don't say a word... because that's 'body positivity'.
Body positivity only applies to fat people...

You're a NORMAL healthy weight. Be happy.

Being over weight is normalised these days which is not ok... but you can't say that remember!

Exactly. A size 10 on a very tall person - they’ll look extremely slim.
A size 10 on someone 5’0 and they might actually look a bit chubby to some people.

You're smaller than you think you are. I'm also a pear with similar dimensions to you, but I'm shorter. Are you comparing yourself to 15 year olds?

I'd say you're hips are midsize but the rest of you isn't, your height will also give the illusion your frame is slimmer than clothes sizing suggests.

I think your friend is concerned you're overly critical about your body, especially if you buy a size up. Thinspiration is back, big time.

@JustLeaveMeAlonePlease you're eating may not be disordered but it seems that you are very self-conscious and insecure about your lower body.

So much so that you are trying to "hide" your shape by choosing baggy/oversized clothing?

In reality, emphasising the top half of your slim figure would be a better solution for you.

This site may give you ideas, you could try some of the suggestions?

The beauty of online shopping is that we can try at home and if it doesn't suit then nae bother, back it goes.

I suspect your friend's reaction is purely because her perception is that, in her eyes, you are a tall, slim woman.

"Could" it be that in your conversations with her, you are so hyper-critical of your body that she has become frustrated because, to her, you have a somewhat distorted view of how you look?

Obviously, you are absolutely entitled to decide your own body type, if she is a good friend and you have heard her type of comments from other people close to you, it could be worth some introspection, don't you think @JustLeaveMeAlonePlease 🌻

I have to agree that you have a disordered view of your body. If you can wear size 10 trousers, then even if your hips are significantly broader than your upper body, you are still very slim.

I would personally recommend that rather than following influencers who are mid sized, you look for influencers who actually have a similar body shape - tall, slim, pear shaped women. I cannot imagine for a second that you wearing size 14 on top when that's your smaller half makes you look good or balanced at all.

Rather, I have always understood that bottom half items that skim are the way forwrd, perhaps with striaght or flared bottoms (if trousers) or softer/flared skirts, with slim fitting tops to emphasise the slim top.

Basically, you need better style advice.

Yes, this. I cannot count the number of times people have expressed 'concern' about my weight and health, and yet I eat more than many people I know (albeit well, with lots of veg and wholemeal grains etc), exercise several times a week and am healthy and strong.
No medical professional, I'll say it agin, has ever expressed concern about my weight.

I am 2 inches shorter than you and solidly 10 stone, I haven’t seen a 9 on the scales in a long time. I am also pear ish in shape ie more of my weight concentrated at thigh level. I am not midsize, I am lean/slim although not skinny. I suspect you have some body dysmorphia going on because you are not midsize, or anywhere near.