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Original poster

If you're 5'7 with a 26" waist...

135 replies

waistchallenge · 17/03/2024 10:01

Would you mind telling me how much you weigh, please? My waist is 27" but I'm thinking of trying to get it down to 26" because it opens up more possibilities with vintage clothes: 26" seems vastly more common than 27" when it comes to vintage, for some reason.

I'm just wondering how much I might have to lose to get down to 26". If it's too much I might not bother 😅😬

( I was going to post this on Weight Loss chat but then I realised there's probably more people who can answer the question on here).

OP posts:
Rainydayinlondon · 18/03/2024 00:19

waistchallenge · 17/03/2024 10:18

It is absolutely fascinating how fashion norms change! My friend who is older than me told me that everyone used to wear an underskirt/slip (not sure what is the right name here) when they wore a skirt. Wonder what happened to that and why?

I do otherwise unless they're lined, skirts stick by static to one's tights

IsadoraQuagmire · 18/03/2024 07:27

candyisdandybutliquorisquicker · 17/03/2024 22:13

It wasn't unsolicited, it was a response to a public post in which a clinically underweight person stated that they feel they are carrying too much fat (or words to that effect.)

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And as I've said (repeatedly) the post was deleted so I didn't see it. 🙄

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 18/03/2024 07:54

My nana and step grandmother never wore girdles (latter woman I think she didn't but can’t be sure) but my nana was under 5ft, something like 4ft 12 or something and a size 6-8 so she didn’t need a girdle. She also wore trousers mostly and the occasional dress/skirt with a slip and tights or stockings. My step grandmother did wear slips but she was about 5 ft 9/10 and a size 12/14.

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 18/03/2024 07:58

IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle · 17/03/2024 16:27

In my teens to around mid 20s I was around waist 22" and around 7st. No dieting or cutting back on food.Size 8 or 10 fitted me. Size 8 wasn't that common.

I have kept a few Laura Ashley vintage pieces from mid 1990s. They say 10 on the label but by modern sizing they're size 6 or even 4. A 6 didn't even exist in the 1970s or 1980s and 8s weren't common. As you say a 10 was the smallest size.

I was born in 1959 in a well off family, living on a farm. We grew our own fruit and vegetables but cakes, biscuits, sweets, cans of coke were treats , not everyday. People are getting fatter. We're not bigger now because of a better diet now, as a PP suggested; we're bigger because of a poorer diet.

Show quote history

I was a similar size but in 80s. The skinniest girl in my class in secondary school and I just couldn’t put on weight. I don’t think there were even size 8 clothes then or rarely. I recall going with my mum clothes shopping and we could get clothes for me but they were tiny. I also had a fairly big bust (not sure what cup but 26-28 band) but again bras weren’t made in that size then. Or rarely.

In my case we did have biscuits etc to help yourself to but I was very active even as a teenager (stopped horse riding and ballet at 11/12) but did modern dance, ice skating, tennis, dog walking and swimming a lot. We walked everywhere.

ManchesterBeatrice · 18/03/2024 08:01

25 inch waist here, but honestly think it's partly my natural shape if that makes sense. I'm a classic hourglass. Even if I gain weight the waist stays small!

ManchesterBeatrice · 18/03/2024 08:02

Sorry! Weigh 59kg currently!

GettingStuffed · 18/03/2024 08:14

I used to have a 24" waist and weighed around 9 stone but I had an hourglass figure so my weight was in my boobs and arse.
I hate to tell you that I wore a vintage size 14 at that size.

mondaytosunday · 18/03/2024 08:47

My DD is 5'6.5" and has a 26-28 inch waist depending on the time of the month I reckon! She is an avid charity shopper and finds loads - but she tries everything on and her size ranges from 6-14! Her target is 70s style.
She would not think of losing weight though - she weighs just over 10 stone (64kg) and looks great (mind you, she's 18).

woahhhh · 18/03/2024 17:39

mondaytosunday · 18/03/2024 08:47

My DD is 5'6.5" and has a 26-28 inch waist depending on the time of the month I reckon! She is an avid charity shopper and finds loads - but she tries everything on and her size ranges from 6-14! Her target is 70s style.
She would not think of losing weight though - she weighs just over 10 stone (64kg) and looks great (mind you, she's 18).

I'm not sure why we get so much bigger in the waist with age. I used to have a teeny waist. I see it now in my teen dd. I now have a much thicker. I've not got much bigger overall. It's like pregnancy pushed everything out and it never went back. You can see it when you look at pictures of Cindy Crawford next to her dd or other still slim celebrities.
Women thicken with age and it's not always fat gain related

Octopus45 · 18/03/2024 18:32

@woahhhh that's very true, my waist was about 25 when I was 18 and is now 29ish, my overall weight gain has been just over a stone.

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