# Womens Sizes, how big is 12-14? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 9, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105 "2003-03-09T18:25:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/1 "2003-03-09T18:25:06Z")
Can someone reply and answer this, its been buggin me all day, please help me! ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/2 "2003-03-09T18:30:05Z")
Hm, I’m wondering if clothing sizes are standard between UK and US. I know that shoe sizes aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/3 "2003-03-09T18:33:19Z")
They aren’t. A UK size 12 is about a US size 10, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/4 "2003-03-09T18:35:11Z")
Ok, but is it medium size? ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/5 "2003-03-09T18:40:45Z")
Yeah, I’d say it’s probably pretty close to the average adult woman’s size. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/6 "2003-03-09T18:41:42Z")
How big in relation to what? In terms of actual inches/centimeters measurements, or in terms of “how big is she”? Did you see _Silence of the Lambs_? The girl who’s down in the well? She’s a size 14, as is the corpse on the slab. Fashion models usually wear a size 8. Big Beautiful Women usually wear a size 22. So in terms of “how big is she”, 12- 14 is halfway in between, say, Andie McDowell and Conchata Ferrell. Martha Stewart looks like she probably wears a size 12, or possibly a 14. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/7 "2003-03-09T18:46:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > **Fashion models usually wear a size 8.** Ehhhh, you sure about that? I’m an American size 6 and I definitely would not be skinny enough to be a fashion model. ---
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/8 "2003-03-09T18:49:56Z")
I found this sizing guide [http://www.caunlimited.com/home/sizing.asp](http://www.caunlimited.com/home/sizing.asp) It seems to correspond to other sizing charts I have in catalogs here at home. Oh, these are American, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/9 "2003-03-09T18:59:03Z")
Been in any chat rooms lately Ryan? ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/10 "2003-03-09T19:01:08Z")
Ryan Liam, i guess you want UK sizes. here goes. 6-8 is skinny 10-12 is average 14-16 is on the big side 16+ are plus sizes. your average high street shop (Oasis, River Island, Topshop) will stock sizes 8-14. size 6 and size 16 are available in some shops, but not all. 8 is a 34 bust, 26 waist, 36 hips 10 is 36, 28, 38 12 is 38, 30, 40 14 is 40, 32, 42. i think. ok? but it means very little. i have clothes in 6, 8 and 10, without losing or gaining weight i can wear them all. in US sizes i’m totally confused. i’m a Gap 0, and a Calvin Klein 2… ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/11 "2003-03-09T19:01:17Z")
what ya mean by that? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/12 "2003-03-09T19:14:53Z")
I’m not talking about those supermodel high fashion runway models, I’m talking about the gals in the regular “New For Spring!” etc. fashion spreads in Vogue, Glamour, Cosmo, etc. My understanding is that they all have to be a size 8 because the clothing that the manufacturer sends over for the photo shoot is all size 8, that being deemed by somebody somewhere to be the “average” woman’s dress size, so that’s what the manufacturer sends over. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/13 "2003-03-09T19:29:42Z")
actually, i remember reading somewhere that the average supermodel has the same stats as the average glamour model… 34-26-36. it’s the fact that the models are about 6 inches taller that changes their proportions, to make them less curvy and more gamine. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/14 "2003-03-09T19:30:02Z")
Umm, I’m fairly sure your understanding is incorrect. Most of the people we see on television and in magazines are sizes 2-6. An 8 will get you joked about for packing on the pounds, and plus-size models start at 12-14. Trust me, I have a size 14 friend who was approached to be a plus-size model. ---
**Author:** ![Theobroma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@Theobroma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theobroma)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/15 "2003-03-09T19:37:20Z")
**DDG** – AFAIK, it’s not so much that the “average” woman is size 8, but that size 8 is in the middle of the size range. According to a Glamour mag article I read a couple of years ago, fit models for the standard size range are size 8. That means that the manufacturers use a size 8 woman, cut the patterns to fit her, and then size up or down to create sizes 6-18. The fit models for plus sizes are 20, so the clothes are cut to fit a size 20 fit model, then sized up and down to make 16W-26W (or 1x-4x, whatever they call it where you are). That means that the manufacturer’s samples are in a size 8 (women’s size range) or size 20 (plus size range). Those articles use manufacturer’s samples because they are showing “what’s coming next” rather than “what is actually in stores now”. That said, according to the article, the models used in magazines and ads are usually one size smaller than the samples, which are pinned to fit. So, magazine models are around size six, or size 12-14 for plus size modeling. This is done to visually suggest that the clothes are going to make you look thinner. Of course, this all follows market research, and is intended to sell clothes, not to be realistic or average. I have no quote or cite, but I wouldn’t be surprised if runway models were no shorter than 5’10" and no larger than a size 2. But you were talking about magazines and “Now at Sears” modeling, not runway. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/16 "2003-03-09T21:16:48Z")
[This site](http://www.fordmodels.com/search.cfm?office=1&div=6) showcases some of the Ford agency’s plus size models. There’s a shot of a lovely woman named Tomi, size fourteen, from the waist up. An American size fourteen would be a UK size twelve, according to our Dopers, but keep in mind that the models here are taller than the average woman. Height changes things a lot. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/17 "2003-03-09T22:25:11Z")
size 10-12 (US) is about a 38-40" bust, a 29-32" waist, and about 40-42" hips. about. and it has nothing to do with vertical lengths. and many manufacturers are different by inches from other manufacturers. but those are good guesses. UK is about 2 inches smaller in all dimensions. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/18 "2003-03-09T23:40:48Z")
Let me clarify my comment about height- a 5’9" size 14 may look voluptuously willowly while a 5’1" size 14 (me) may look round. ---
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/19 "2003-03-09T23:52:46Z")
My wife wears size 12-14, and she is most definately NOT ‘on the big side’ by any stretch of the imagination. 12-14 is most definately ‘average’ in the UK, in that it is the most common. Anything below a size 10, and you run the risk of falling through the gaps in the pavement. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105/20 "2003-03-10T01:15:35Z")
I wear sizes 12 to 14, or P14 (petite large–does that sound like an oxymoron), but if you saw me, you wouldn’t believe it, because I am not big. I am muscular, however. I weigh more than I appear to. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-sizes-how-big-is-12-14/160105.md?page=2)