If you're a size 12, what size is your waist (vintage clothes shock)

[careerchangeperhaps]

I wear a size 12. I came across an eBay listing for a vintage C&A skirt. Unsure of year but it was made in UK so likely to be 80s or earlier.
It's a size 12 but on the label says will fit waist 24". It's been a long time since someone wearing a size 12 would have had a 24" waist my thighs aren't far off that.
Vanity sizing really is hiding how fat we all are, isn't it?

I can get into a Size 8 Next dress

I used to be a 12 back in the day, with a 24 inch waist which was standard for a 12 then.

I'm a 10 now, with a 28 waist (and struggling to stay at that size). I've noticed that in non-stretchy jeans I can't always get into a 10.

I went through some old clothes in the loft and found a dress I remember liking. Tried it on and it's gorgeous - fits beautifully ,is really flattering/slimming and made me feel lovely. It's a size 14 from Monsoon from 17 years ago.

I've recently lost a bit of weight ( 1.5 stone in total) and my size 12 Next dresses are all too big now. Recent Next dress purchase was also a bit too roomy in a size 10. Madness.

I don't get how an average 12 could have been a 27" waist in 1951 and then a 24" waist in the 70s. I suspect the answer to that is that difference in sizing for younger and older stores has always been a thing (because increase in waist size after childbirth is a fact not an excuse). So while vanity sizing does exist it is not to the extent we think because we are comparing our very young selves waist measurements to our more mature selves now (I realise this will not be universally the case on the thread but surely is for those speaking with actual experience of past sizing).
I can still wear the same clothes (not sizes - actual items) now that I wore 20 yrs ago but my waist is considerably bigger now post 4dc. Overall weight is the same now if not less but distributed a bit differently since I'm older.

In 1990 I was 14 with a 23.5 inch waist, a ten was snug more often a 12. Now 30 years later 26-27 inch waist and can nearly always get into a ten.

I still have my wedding dress from 1987. It is size 14 and the waist measures 26 inches.

Well i must be enourmous because i used to wear a size 8 in next twenty years ago and now i am 2 stone heaver and wear a 14. So presumably if this is twenty years on Im an 18 from my youth? . So i have found as ive got bigger, ive had to get bigger clothes

MildredPuppy maybe you're wore different styles or your proportions are different on other parts of your body (hips, boobs, rib cage). A lot of people posting seem to be pear shaped as they're saying that they are bigger on the bottom than top - I'm the opposite and have always needed at least one, sometimes two sizes bigger in tops than jeans/ trousers at every weight I've been (and my weight has varied more than average). Pear shaped women do tend to have small waists and upper bodies but big hips and thighs obviously.

I wonder if UK clothing manufacturers have actually altered the proportions of their clothes in some cases, so that they fit pear shaped women better (more room in the hipsand thighs) meaning pear shaped women have seen a more dramatic change in clothes size than women with other body shapes. Pear is meant to be the most common in the UK specifically, but not internationally.

Also "I'm a size 6/8/10/12/14" or "I have an x inch waist" is largely meaningless out of context - few people are giving their heights or their other measurements and aside from the people talking about Next most aren't saying in which shop. I'm completely sure that the little country boutique shops my mum shopped in had what we call vanity sizing even 30 years ago... The size 12s she bought were definitely not the same size as Topshop 12s then either...

Yes, vanity sizing is real. I have a dress from New Look, late '90s. It's labelled a size 10. It's equivalent to a small size 6 in current sizing, if I were to get a dress in a similar cut & fabric. It's not even stretch fabric. On a side note... New Look didn't always just sell cheap crap, it's 50% linen!

I also have an unused vintage 1960s sewing pattern, like this one but it's not exactly the same, I got it for a couple of pounds at a sewing event. The size difference compared to modern day is quite shocking.

Aren't a lot of UK women pear shaped? Plus the general population is older, median age 40.

Im not pear shaped & always struggled with trousers as they would fit the waist but too big on the hips. Agree about size & " being meaningless without context. I'm 5ft 10.

I'm not pear shaped. I'm pretty much a 10-8-6 for chest-waist-hips. I wear a 6 on bottom or they are too big on the hips, 8 in stretchy tops or they are too big on the waist, 10 or sometimes 8 for jackets and coats.

My size 10 DD found an old skirt of mine from the early 80s which was a size 14. It fits her perfectly. And I thought I was fat back then.

I was reading something about Victorian corsets when my DS was 18 months - he, like the Victorian ladies, had an 18" waist.

It's weird because my mum says she used to feel fat & some of her skirts & dresses are tight on me. But I am much taller than her with longer thinner limbs.

I agree height it a key factor. A friend and I both wear size 14 from Phase Eight. She is 4 inches taller than me, maybe 5 and looks very lean and small waisted.

@drspouse

I was reading something about Victorian corsets when my DS was 18 months - he, like the Victorian ladies, had an 18" waist.

They sized their waist by corset size, rather than actual waist size. Corset size is four inches bigger. So someone with a 22” waist would wear an 18” corset. My dd is this size now, at 16. She is just under five foot seven, but has a very slight frame, particularly her ribcage.

*should read corset size is four inches SMALLER .

I was a size 8 as a teenager and I'm still a size 8, despite weighing a little more. I bought some vintage Laura Ashely a couple of years ago and a 10 fit nicely.

Ashley

I thought you should aim to have a waist size half your height.

I’m not sure the “I can get into…” comments are helpful. You might be in there but does it fit as it should? Does it look like it’s a size too small?

properg what's that got to do with what waist size a size 12 is? It'd mean a size 12 woman should be at least 5 feet tall if a12 is a 30 inch waist...

Its a heart health guide but its unisex which generally actually means its calculated for men.

Women are actually recommend to have a waist under 31 inches regardless of height, which doesn't make sense for a 4 ft 11 woman surely... but other sources say waist divided by hips should equal less than 0.8... which is "unfair" for those of us who don't carry a lot of weight on our hips but despite being unfair is probably a better indication of heart disease risk...

PurpleDaisies its a turn of phrase rather than literal I think/ hope!

I can get into my wedding dress in the literal sense - I can step into it and put it in the right place, but I can't do it up to the top. I therefore say I can't get into it...

It's a reason why height should be considered. Because size is meaningless without.

There are ABSI calculators that account for sex