February 11th, 2008
Vanity Sizing
“As a teenager, I squeezed into size-12 jeans. Over the last three
decades, I’ve put on about 20 pounds, mostly below the waist.
I now wear a size 6. People in the garment business call that bit
of flattery “vanity sizing.” Sizes aren’t what they used to be.”
Quotation from Virginia Postrel, “Rightsize Me” in The Atlantic magazine
Saturday’s Love Me or Love Me Knot: A Valentine Fashion Show was perfect,
except for a blown fuse which put everything in darkness for about five minutes
after the second set.
Mandy, my backstage manager retired. We dedicated the show to her. It was her last show.
The power failure had nothing to do with it…
February 11th, 2008 at 5:06 am
Damn I missed it…
My RL got in the way and I totally forgot about that…
Well, it’s good to have a RL from time to time… But not during a Sera’s fashion show!!!
February 11th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Sera- If you are truly a size zero, I implore you to drink a truckload of milkshakes. IMPLORE YOU. And don’t think for a second I’m an idiot male and don’t know what I’m talking about in regards to US sizing. Actually, I think you would be amused how much what you do in SL overlaps with what I do to fund PPP and TWE. Seriously, it has to do with clothing. Betcha didn’t know that.
February 11th, 2008 at 7:44 am
I have the *opposite* problem it seems…non-vanity sizing. I have jeans I wear all the time from about 3 years ago that are size 5 (mind you…I *still wear these without a problem*) but lately the only jeans I can fit in are sizes 8-10. I don’t get it at all. Sure, my old jeans may have stretched, but 3 sizes?? I don’t think so.
And Sera doesn’t need a milkshake (unless she wants one).
February 11th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
sizing isn’t what it use to be, times change eh?
February 11th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Jen- Yeah, they do. I think less of it is about sizing, though. I mean, the sizes have changed pretty significantly over the last fifty years in both the men and ladies apparel market (mostly in the casual sector, really good dress clothing bounces back and forth according to the runway).
The most important thing that has changed, especially in ladies clothing, is body image.
The easiest way to put that into perspective is like this: Marilyn Monroe, at one point considered the most desirable and beautiful woman in America, wore a size 14US (18UK).
Interestingly enough, as I battle the self image of women on a daily basis, the Madrid fashion show banned waif models. I think (I haven’t had my eyes on the article for awhile) that any model below a US size 4 (8UK) aren’t allowed. That’s still pretty ridiculously small (unless you’re a dwarf), especially by professional model standards, who are pretty goddamn tall.
Progress is progress though, so I won’t complain.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/13/spain.models/index.html
February 11th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Makes me want to go to get a sizing….oh, wait, i’m a boy!
February 12th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Too funny. My mom visits and just has to do laundry while she is here..(laundry queen) She sees I am a size 4 and thinks I am way skinny…I tell her the brands run big…which they do…only flattering myself with that size 4!
February 12th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Very true! Both you and the textballoon are right!
February 15th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Is there a thing as a healthy normal figure? I guess not. Either (I mean people when you look around) are unruly chubby or even obese, or they become an image of a dried out wooden stick.
Slender and lush combined, trim and still sensual, tone but not over muscular.
Whenever I visit NYC I get a more varied picture, maybe because it’s just a bigger crowd.
I don’t know what I should think about the ban in Spain for featherweights though. I don’t like bans in general.
But when I can take both of my hands and circumcise a womans waist, I feel a bit uneasy.