Is size 12 seen as "big" generally?

[piperoo1095]

Hi all,

Not trying to cause controversy here as I am genuinely interested. But do most people consider a UK size 12 to be "big"? I only ask because I see a lot of posts online at people "horrified" that they reached a size 12 and to me it's never seemed bad at all. Perhaps I've been living under my nice little rock of ignorance. Of course I'm sure height and build plays a massive role too!

I wouldn't call a 12 'big' no. It's clearly medium.
Everyones body is different and clothing sizes vary wildly.

I would just think that people should wear clothes that fit and suit them.

If the size is 'wrong/big/embarrassing' cut out the labels.

I wear jackets, cardigans, hoodies in upto a 16. Though measurement wise I'm usually an 8.
As long as it looks good, who cares what size the garment or person is?

It also depends how tall a person is. A size 12 who is 4'11" would be stockier than someone who is size 12 and 5'8"

But generally I think size 12 would be seen as a healthy size.

It definitely depends on height. I’m almost 6ft and a size 10 generally, I would consider myself slim and have always had the beanpole etc comments since I was a teenager. I went up to a size 12 for a while after pregnancy. I didn’t look any different with clothes on! I definitely wasn’t mid sized.

I think that people being shocked that they’ve gone up a couple of dress sizes is understandable if they didn’t clock earlier.

With vanity sizes, size 12 today is probably something like a 16/18 of the past. If the people measured their body and came up with size 12 based on that then they aren’t massive but I suspect that there’s no standard sizing so it’s more likely about shop sizing or not realising that they’d gone up a size or two

All very valid points, very true about vanity sizing/ variation between brands too. At this point in time it definitely feels like there's been a shift of UK 6-8 being ideal, maybe from the take-off of mounjaro and other such medications perhaps. So perhaps that's why UK size 12 seems so big to some

I'm 5'8 and a size 12. To other people I'm not big at all. To me I feel a bit 'chubby' but that is probably because I spent most of my teens/adult life anywhere between a size 6 and 10 but my shape has changed after kids. I may get back into a 10 at some point but I think my hips/thighs have definitely outgrown anything smaller than that.
I definitely wouldn't look at another woman wearing a 12 and think she's big though, only on myself.

MN is the home of much body dysmorphia and fat phobia. Please don't take anything you read to heart.

Depends on height, item of clothing, and where it's from. I'm 5 ft 3 and my BMI is 32 so obese. I can comfortably fit into a size 12 loose summer dress from Next or M&S etc. There was a stretchy knitted skirt in the New Look sale and only size 12 left so I tried it on just in case...fits beautifully. I don't buy things I bulge out of. So yeah, vanity sizing.

When I were a lass, a size 12 was 36-24-36. As in bust, waist, hips, in inches

I was overweight at a size 10 (according to BMI). Sizes are very different now to how they used to be.

I'm pretty sure the average dress size in the U.K. is actually more like a 16.

I was in a Reiss in LA last summer and asked the assistant if they had a dress in an 8 (which is a UK 12). She could barely conceal her disdain and made a big performance of looking, but ‘not hopeful’ in the stock room (and they didn’t have one).

I’d walked in feeling slim and walked out feeling porky.

I'd say its average, not big.

Depends on your shape really. I don't think even my skeleton is size 10. When I once dieted down to 9 stone, I'm 5 foot 5 my top half was size 10 but my bottom half was a 12.
I have dieted down to 8 and a half stone but looked anorexic so I went back up.

I'm a 12 in jeans and usually wear a medium so I'd assume it's medium / mid size. My BMI is at the top end of healthy.

It depends massively on how tall you are. Assuming it's a UK size, I wouldn't say it's 'big' as such, but most of the women I am close to are 5'2 - 5'6 and sizes 6-10.

I would say 8 - 10 small, 12-14 middle and 16-18 big, 20+ really big

It depends how tall you are.
5'2" - probably on the bigger side.
5'8" - probably slim looking.
What are sizes nowadays, anyway?

I’m 5 11” so 12 is quite slim on me. I’m a 14 and genuinely I’m one of the fatter parents in the playground. I’d reckon most people are 8-12.

Its all a matter of perspective if you are a 10 going up a size can be gutting. If I dropped a size back to a 12 I’d be ecstatic.

I'm not big at size 12 personally. I'm 5ft 6. Size 12 I'm a healthy BMI.

This!

For me yea, but im only 5’4 and size 6 atm

You are ,what you are. The number on the label means nothing and sizing differs between shops so its meaningless.
I'm overweight so squeezing into a size 12 doesn't mean I'm not!

I don’t think it’s anything to do with the jabs, there was a move back to using universally thin models for the major fashion weeks a couple of years ago and that has taken a while to trickle down. We are back to not seeing “real bodies” in fashion images. A lot of current fashion trends work best on a flat stomach.

I remember reading this article a couple of years ago thinking “well, body positivity had a good run, should have known it wouldn’t last.” https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/nov/16/it-feels-like-the-progress-is-getting-reversed-how-fashion-fell-out-of-love-with-curves?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Body shape comes into it too. Even at a teenage 8 stone, a significant part of that was my chest. If I wanted to wear a fitted shirt or dress it had to be a 14 to have any chance of doing the buttons up! But the rest of my frame was a 10/12 (80's sizing). So I was very slim, but 12 was routinely too small.