The average women’s clothing size is a bit of a moving target.
What’s the reason for the increase in clothing size?
To understand this, you’ll first have to go back in time.
There’s really no denying that Americans have put on some pounds, but why?
No, not even close.
It’s not just men dealing with obesity overseas either.
Women from other countries, too, have surpassed the United States obesity rate.
In Qatar and Libya, among others, more than half of all women are obese.
Surely, obesity is not just of interest to the American people.
Well, there’s more to it than just your genes.
As it turns out, it has a little something to do with yourjeans, too.
When ready-made clothing hit the market, that all changed.
The government, apparently.
Women’s bust sizes are, of course, abitmore variable.
And for very good reasons, it seems.
Not only that but the study also failed to includeanywomen of color.
So, where does that leave American shoppers today?
In a world of vanity dress sizes, it seems.
This has been dubbed vanity sizing, according toCosmopolitan.
Sales go up when dress sizes go down, it appears.
Women feel better, and therefore buy more, when they fit into a size smaller than expected.
This psychological trick may benefit companies but it wreaks havoc on a consumer’s psyche.
“Since size is something we care about deeply, our emotional response overpowers logic.
We are in the dark and detached from our bodies.”
Unfortunately, that is not the case.
Women’s Wear Dailyreported that women’s clothing is a $110 billion business.
Yet, plus size sales only account for around 16 percent of that total.
At the time the article was published, stores likeLululemon, Urban Outfitters, and J.
Crew didn’t even sell sizes above 12 while other stores were choosing to stop at size 10.
Poor fit is still a common problem.
Of course, this isn’t the 1940s anymore so American clothing has somemajorcatching up to do.
Even the term “plus size” itself could be called into question.
What words come to your mind when you think of the word “plus?”
Perhaps “additional” or “more,” maybe “extra” or even “bigger.”
What woman would want her body thought of in those terms?
“Words have power.
Calling women plus size is denigrating,” author and fashion designer Western Bonime wrote forForbes.
It’s a head-scratcher, for sure.
Weight index versus dress size: which to trust?
Many look to theirBody Mass Index(B.M.I.)
for determine whether they are either underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese.
He added, “[B]ut they are far less reliable for determining fatness in individuals.”
Additionally, “a six-foot, 250-pound man will be obese, but if he were an N.F.L.
lineman of 6-foot-3 weighing 280 pounds, he might be solid muscle with only 2 percent body fat.”
Still, your B.M.I.
is more reliable than going by dress size.
Does your dress size even make a difference in your health?
We know dress size doesn’tdefine beauty.
But does your dress size, or even your B.M.I., really matter when it comes to your health?
Both the causes and consequences of obesity have been found to exceed the scientific proof.
That’s not to say being overweight is necessarily healthy.
Heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes have all been definitivelylinked to obesity.
However, it’s more than just your weight that matters.
Exercise, it would appear, makes an even more profound impact on your health than weight.
Women’s Wear Dailyreported that Universal Standard launched an activewear collection in 2018.
It’s not just the end of exclusion for fitness wear either.
The end of “plus size” is, seemingly, nigh.
“Our goal is to double-check that term doesn’t exist anymore.”
Well, it’s about time.
