While the rest of the world is getting heavier, Hollywood’s elite are downing horse steroids and Adderall in an endless race to be ever-thinner. It’s not surprising, then, that designers are now offering “sub-zero” sizing for the waif that needs to take in her size zero jeans.
While this may seem disturbing, designers claim that sizes are arbitrary anyway, and that almost no one is following guidelines for the waist and hip measurements for sizing. Indeed, a size 6 of today was once a 14 of yesterday. The average US woman is 5 feet 4 and weighs 155 pounds, which is 20 pounds heavier than 40 years ago.
If you’re having trouble picturing a minus-size woman, think of the waifish Spice Girl turned soccer wife Victoria Beckham who is reputed to be small enough to fit into a subzero. One newspaper compared her waist to the circumference of a soccer ball, but it might be even tinier than that—23 1/2 inches is closer to the size of the smaller soccer balls recommended for kids.
But mini-celebs aside, does the debut of the less-than-zeros mean that a sliver of America is shrinking while the rest of our obesity-challenged country grows in girth and clothing size? Yes and no. American women are definitely getting bigger as a group. The average woman is about 155 pounds and 5 foot 4 according to SizeUSA, a 2003 survey by the industry research group. That’s about 20 pounds heavier than the average woman of 40 years ago.
But don’t assume that the contemporary woman is wearing a bigger size than her grandmother might have. “According to standard size measurements, that average 155 pound woman should be wearing a size 16, but thanks to vanity-sizing, she’s probably buying a size 10 or 12,” says Jim Lovejoy, the industry director for the SizeUSA survey. “Most companies aren’t using the standard ASTM [American Society for Testing and Materials] sizes any more. Sizes have been creeping up a half inch at a time so that women can fit into smaller sizes and feel good about it.”
Think of vanity-sizing as self-delusion on a mass scale. Anyone over the age of 40 knows that something isn’t quite right if she can wear a smaller size now than she wore 20 years and 10 pounds ago. Yet many of us slip gratefully into a size 6 pair of Old Navy jeans even though we’re pretty sure we wouldn’t be able to squeeze into our size 10 Calvin Kleins from circa 1980. Call it faith-based sizing. We want to believe—hell, we really do believe—we’re a size 6 or 8 because the label says so even when the scale disagrees.
[Thanks to Fark for linking this]
There is the worry that a double-0 or sub-zero size will become the new benchmark for anorexic pride. Nicole Miller is justifying the new sizing, saying that there’s a call for it in Asia, where women are generally smaller.
A zero of today may be a four of yesterday. Author Pam Danziger claims that she uses old Vogue sewing patterns in a size 14 when she regularly buys a size 6 at the store. That doesn’t make me feel depressed or anything.
Here’s Nicole Richie with what looks like her butt hanging out, but it’s hard to tell. [via]
Forgive me for link dropping in your comments, Celebitchy, but this double-zero trend just infuriates me to no end. This post talks in terms of Victoria Beckham as a double-zero “Thinspirational” model in various anorexic forums.
this does not suprise me after having an anerxic sister working at bergdorf’s
living on the UES
No one has to be anorexic but the women of the united states could use a good workout and diet. what infuriates me is that the majority of women are joining together to justify the fact that they are overweight and NOT healthy.
sizes are so arbitrary. I’m tiny and I remember a few years ago trying on a pair of pants that were 00s and they were huge on me. I then tried on a different brand that was a size 4 and they were so tiny that I couldn’t zip them up.
size 00 has been around in juniors clothes FOREVER. and apparently its really not that small if a zero used to be a size 4. if they went back to old school sizings a size 0 would be smaller than a 00 with todays sizings.
Wow, Seriously, sterotype much?
I think this is just sick. Yes, American women need to drop some weight (myself included), but we also need to remember that the other extreme is not the answer…who wants to hump a bone?
Size 00 is a new thing? They’ve been here in Vancouver forever. Tons of stores have 00’s on the rack here. Huh.
well as for nicole she is goin 2 b hospitalized for that anorexia she has its a matter of time, but all this talk about sizes its really silly , who cares as long as u r healthy and happy with ur self image that what it all comes 2, some people r happy with their overweight bodies, while a lot of those anorexics r not :-).and i think everyone knows the healthy way 2 lose weight if they want 2
What’s next? Designer barf bags for bullemics?
The clothing stores up here have had 0 and 00 for some time. In fact, that’s often all that’s left on the racks because no one fits them. It’s impossible to find pants in a size 9.
I’ve always found that sizes are stupid and it’s no surprise that designers are changing sizes to make people feel smaller. If someone’s a size 4 in one brand and a ten in another, which one is she going to buy? I know that I felt pretty good when I bought a pair of size 5 capris this summer, considering my regular size is almost double that!
I wear a 00 in juniors, and I am so glad they have them. Zeros usually hang off of me. I am not anorexic by any stretch of the imagination. I am just 5’1”!
I’m in the same situation as blahblah. I remeber going to banana republic last year and couldn’t buy these corduroys I wanted because the size 0 was almost falling off of me. I’m not anorexic either; I’m five-foot one and weigh 105 pounds which is 20 pounds heavier than Nicole Richie.
Designers call it ‘vanity sizing’
All those rich cosseted types are not going to fork out if when they walk into a swanky shop they only fit into a size fourteen, and what the rich cosseted types lead, the hoi polloi follow.
The beauty industry is and will always be controversial; a hundred years ago the big scare was ‘tight lacing’, girls were told trying for a fashionable 20 inch waist would send them insane and ruin their health: The more things change the more they stay the same
I think that these “celebrities” are disgustingly thin, which some people find hard to believe coming from someone who is as tiny as me. However, I don’t starve myself. I’m naturally thin and wish people could focus on being healthy and not just thin. It’s setting a terrible example for young girls and doing an enormous amount of damage to the health of these women.
There’s a call for it in Asia? They wouldn’t buy that overpriced crap there… those are the people that are making clothes and shipping it HERE. So great, when I have a disease that is going to kill me, I’ll just say, I’m Chinese.
Why don’t we make all pants sized by inches and short/tall? I know I shop by waist size alone since those sizes are whack; when I resell my jeans, I never know how to relist them.
since when are 35 inch hips considered anorexic? i’m 5’5″ and wear a size 2 with 34 inch hips. 35 sounds normal to me, just because America is becoming overweight/obese is no reason to label normal sizes as anorexic.