So much size 12 shaming around and it saddens me

[Littlemeadow123]

Seriously, what is wrong with being a size 12 or 14? Read an article in a heauty column the other day where the journalist claims that she flung a jumper down and stormed out of the shop in tears because it was a size 10 and didn't fit. Is the idea of trying on a size 12 really that horrendous? Does she not realize that sizes differ between shops anyway?

I'm a size 12, which according to a lot of people would put me in the overweight category. They dont seem to consider different body shapes at all.

There is nothing wrong with being bigger than a size 16 or 18 either but when they see size 12s and 14s being shamed they must feel awful about themselves at times as well.

I’m an a size 10/12 and never ever think anything bad if i need the 12 instead! Marilyn Monroe was a size 14! Any shape is beautiful and a number on a label means nothing, as long as you are healthy then embrace your body type and ignore the stupid media

They’re obviously all short, for my height I can wear a size 12 for most of the healthy bmi range - maybe size 10 at the very bottom end and size 14 towards BMI of 24/25.

I'm an average height at 5ft 5. I'm currently underweight and a size 6 bottom and 8 on top. I was a size 10 at a BMI of 24. I'd have to be overweight to wear a 12.

Marilyn Monroe was not a modern size 14. That's been debunked a zillion times. According to this site (which gives the issue far too much thought!) she'd apparently be a size 6-8:

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

I had to have a strict fitness schedule and ration all my meals/food to get to 8st to be a size 8! My body does NOT like that weight and I felt knackered and moody constantly.

Now I treat myself to wine and sweets a few times a month and I walk around 5 miles a day (school run I have to do & doggy walks I do for fun). I'm a 10-12 and I look ''cuddly' and I feel great .

I don’t really get the old size 14 is actually size 6 thing. Size 6 today is tiny. How many women are actually a size 6 or even a size 8?

Size 6 today is tiny. Depends where you shop. It's apparently a 31-23-34 in FatFace, and my Levi's are a 24 and a slightly smaller fit.

When I had a 26" waist I was very thin with an underweight BMI (I ate loads but did lots of sport). Any body looks best with a 29" waist, anything under and the rest of me looks too lanky.

my body not any body

Oh & I used to do modelling & 6ft ladies with 24" waists are pretty rare. I used to feel so short besides most of them.

Based on the vintage clothes I own, and what I buy today, a modern day 12 is the same size as a 1950s size 16. My vintage stuff was inherited from a great aunt who was the same shape as me, at 43, and at 63. I'm not big, nor tiny, and I've never been significantly over or underweight. Now, I prioritise not looking gaunt and old over being very slender because there is truth in the old proverb that post-meno, you have to make a choice. I can stay a slimmish size 12 without effort, eat healthily and have energy to enjoy exercise.

My tops are 14/16, not because I am very fat but because I am broad-shouldered with long arms! No amount of losing weight will get me in a size 12. Same with hips and legs.

Judging size based a number without seeing the woman in question is just stupid.

I'm really a size 13 on the bottom due to my excess skin post weight loss. But 14's are huge on me. If they are stretchy trousers then usually it's ok in a 12.

I'm a 32 bra strap wise but a FF. so somethings do not fit me over my boobs but would fit the rest of me perfectly.

And I'm fed up of trying on clothes to discover I need a much smaller size than measurements say I should.

That's absolutely shocking! I'm a size 16, down from 22 and I'm very happy. I'm quite tall and yes, I'm overweight, but I don't look gross, like certain groups or people might think. We need a societal change when it comes to thinking about women's bodies. Sadly, I don't think that will ever happen.

I'm a 12 bottom and 16 top and a healthy BMI

@ArfArfBarf Are you 5'11/6' ish? Sound the same as me with those sizes

I'm currently a 14-16 and want to be 12 again. That's my happy place.

what I don't understand is as other posters mention is why some ladies don't realise that height, build, shape does make a difference. Do they have friends & family who look exactly the same? I have friends who have borrowed clothes from me who are the same size but with B cup boobs or friends who have bigger but much firmer thighs than me. My sister who is about 5ft 10 could starve herself but won't be smaller than a 12 on her bottom half due to her hips,

Vintage clothing needed sturdy underwear it was all girdles and long line bras to pull it all in and up clothes these days are a different shape isn't it?

Totally agree with the sizing changing over the years. I’m a size 8, 5’6’’ usually around 9 stone. I bought a vintage 60s dress which was a 12 and it fits like my modern 8s

The thing is, a size 12 can be overweight. I’m 5ft 5, currently a size 12 and am overweight (by BMI and also by appearance). I have a very small build which means I currently have far too much fat for my frame.
I have a friend who is 5ft 7 and is a size 12 and she is very slim.

I am a 12 and I am overweight. And this is a 12 in more generously sized places like M&S or White Stuff. I haven't been in Topshop or Zara for years and I'm sure I'd be a bigger size in there.

I am 5 foot 1, of small build and have a BMI of about 27. And proper folds of flesh. Lovely.

It's not 'shaming'. If someone is used to wearing 10s and has to go into a 12 then it's understandable that they might be upset (though storming out of the shop is pathetic and childish). It's just an individual thing. I remember being a teenager (many years ago) and only being able to buy size 10, 12 and 14, I was mortified when I had to buy size 14s.

I'm 5' 6" and used to being a 10. I've put on a bit of weight recently due to injury (couldn't run for several months and didn't reduce food intake accordingly) and I'm now going into a 12 in trousers and I don't feel good, I feel a bit chubby. It's not my happy size. I need to lose about 10lbs to be comfortable (which I will, now I've recovered). Mind you I certainly wouldn't throw a strop if I had to size up in a shop, and it does vary wildly from shop to shop.

Surely everyone has a size they're happy at? It's not shaming anyone else to say you're not happy at a particular size.

I suppose because I am smallish I always notice the comments which imply smaller sizes are unusual past the age of 40. As if it’s suspect to be in a small size. And yeh I blame the culture which shames any woman for carrying regular adult weight on her, but a side effect of this is a somewhat snidey attitude about ‘skinniness’. I do notice this a lotion Mumsnet.
I get it, but it’s shit.

True that a modern 6 is bigger, possibly like a 90’s size8 - or in places like gap, M&S, more like a 90’s size 10.

I’m 5’4 and a small build but I can still grab ‘fat’ / flab on myself in a few places. Bodies are varied and weird at the best of times but clothes sizing just adds a whole new layer of bollox into the mix🤪

A 26 waist isn’t unusual either.
And to what extent does having children alter a shape/frame? (i don’t know so cant guess), but considering all of this we have to accept a wide range of ‘normal’ and just own it, collectively, as females, and send a giant FU to the cultural/media interference.

Somehow culture has insinuated this idea that a woman’s body shape has moral implications. To be the wrong size, whatever that is, is self inflicted and somehow reprehensible. Screw that.

And as women I feel we judge and devour each other. Uplholding this system, sadly.

And to be over 45 and small does not mean a person is a’bag Of wrinkles’ neither. It’s about as offensive as mummy and mutton in my eyes.

Mumsy, not mummy