Wednesday, July 1, 2009

US Standard Sizes vs. Today's Sizes

To follow up the earlier post about larger sizes, if you go toward the bottom of this page, headed "US Standard Sizes: (sort of a rant.)," there is a comparison of US standard sizes and today's (2004) catalog or "real" sizes for women (misses) that Robert sent me.

There is a chart showing standard sizes (which used to cover both clothes bought in stores as well as pattern sizes but is now only seen on patterns) and what that size would be today. So we can see that the old "Marilyn Monroe wore a size 12" story is actually saying that if M. M. were alive today, she would wear a size 6. OK, that's not an ultra-tiny size, but it's small. As anyone would be able to tell from looking at the damn photos of her, M. M. was not a fat woman by the standards of the 1960's or the 2000's.

Sorry, I feel the need to emphatically reject that idiotic chestnut about M. M.'s size at every available opportunity.

Pursuant to Jen's observation, this means that the "size 16" that Ann Taylor is eliminating from stores is a standard size 18-20.

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