We're all big and fat

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-07-26 04:33pm

Average Clothing Size Is WHAT?

Despite what the fashion industry thinks, the average clothing size in the United States is not a svelte 8 for women and a 40 regular for men. The average women's size is 14, the size at which "plus-sized" clothing begins. And the average size for men is 44.

We're bigger not only in weight and height, but also just about every measurement in between, according to the new SizeUSA survey, a first-of-its-kind look at our measurements that has been taken since World War II, reports The New York Times, which published the results. Sponsored by various clothing and textile companies, the Army, the Navy, and several universities, the survey of 10,000 people in 13 cities nationwide used a light-pulsing 3-D scanner to take 240 body measurements from tip to toe. (No fudging in this survey!)

Let's size up some fascinating facts as reported by The New York Times:

The Ladies:

64 percent of women are pear-shaped, while 30 percent are "straight," which means they have little perceptible waist.

Black women have larger measurements than other women, but they are most likely to have the classic hourglass shape.

Women over 36 are the most likely to have bigger hips.

Black women older than 55 have smaller hips than those ages 45 to 55.

The fashion industry assumes these standard measurements for a woman: 35-inch bust, a 27-inch waist, and 37.5-inch hip. In the real world, women ages 36 to 45 actually average:
White: 41-34-43

Black: 43-37-46

Hispanic: 42.5-36-44

Asian: 41-35-43
The Gentlemen:
Older men have trimmer thighs than younger men.

19 percent of men are considered portly.

An additional 19 percent of men have "lower front waists." (That means they have to look under their belly to find their waist.)

Men who are over 45 are the most likely to have bellies.
The fashion industry assumes the average man is a traditional 40 regular, which means 40-inch chest, 34-inch waist, and 40-inch hip, with a 15.5-inch collar. In the real world, men ages 36 to 45 actually average:
White: 44-38-42

Black: 43-37-42

Hispanic: 44-38-42

Asian: 42-37-41
About 51 percent of men and 38 percent of women said they were "about the right weight" when asked their perception of how much they weighed. Meanwhile, 10 percent of men and 21 percent of women faced the truth and acknowledged they were "quite a bit overweight."

It's just unbelievable how fat we're getting as a society. When the average waist size is around 38 inches and 19% of men are so fat that they can't see their own waists over their drooping bellies, yet only 10% of men will admit they're overweight, we have a society in denial.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-07-26 04:38pm

Holy Jeebus...and I thought I should lose a bit of flab because I was a size 33...or at least change the flab around a buit(did so over the summer for Korea...hoping to retain the shape though)

Yeech.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-07-26 04:45pm

Add a survival instinct to feed our big-assed brains with (thankfully) easily accessed food, and tah-dah.

Ever notice how people (in America at least) eat constantly? Always a snack in hand even while they're on the job or driving home...
People 100 years ago didn't, and couldn't, eat like that.

His Divine Shadow · Post by **His Divine Shadow** » 2004-07-26 04:57pm

Atleast I'm pretty, only a little jiggly-wiggly around my waist area...

Tribun · Post by **Tribun** » 2004-07-26 05:00pm

Good that I only weigh 90 kilograms at a body height of 1.93 meters.

1337n1nj4 · Post by **1337n1nj4** » 2004-07-26 05:04pm

Not surprising, really. Just go outside-- obese people are way too common. Too much food, bad food at that, and too little exercise, combined with absolutely no desire or discipline to do what's needed to change it.

The bad part is that I beat those average measurements by quite a bit, except for the waist.

Spice Runner · Post by **Spice Runner** » 2004-07-26 05:07pm

When I go shopping for clothes, It always takes more effort to find my size. Almost half of the clothes are sized XL or larger.

It's damned annoying to find the clothes I like and then find that they only have XXL sizes available.

1337n1nj4 · Post by **1337n1nj4** » 2004-07-26 05:10pm

It could be worse. Try finding things to fit you when you're 55-34-45.

At least the fat people have things that fit them.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-07-26 05:44pm

Darth Wong wrote:the survey of 10,000 people in 13 cities nationwide used a light-pulsing 3-D scanner to take 240 body measurements from tip to toe. (No fudging in this survey!)

Interesting that they only measured city-dwellers in this study. I'd be curious to see the results from a more even population sample.

Spice Runner · Post by **Spice Runner** » 2004-07-26 05:52pm

If you're extremely fat it would be hard to find clothes that fit. Using pants sizes as an example, it seems to be easier to find waist sizes of 38+ than to find my own size of 32.

1337n1nj4 · Post by **1337n1nj4** » 2004-07-26 06:00pm

Yeah, that is true if you're *really* big.

Then again, I have to buy 36 pants just to fit on my legs and ass, and I have a choice of t-shirts that either fit up top and go to my knees, or are the right length but make me look like it took a shoe horn and a gallon of Crisco to put on. Don't even get me started on shopping for dress shirts or jackets.

I guess any "abnormal" body type is going to be hard to work with, clothing wise.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-07-26 06:03pm

as a society we are also quite taller, but bit THAT much taller. My 36 inch waistline is fine for my 6 foot 4 inch body, still, i could loose 15 lbs i suppose.

Spice Runner · Post by **Spice Runner** » 2004-07-26 06:03pm

Yup. Dress shirts are a bitch to find. I always end up with shirts that are to loose or too big. Maybe I should gain some weight.

1337n1nj4 · Post by **1337n1nj4** » 2004-07-26 06:05pm

heh, gaining weight was what *caused* all mine...believe me, it doesn't make it any easier.

Post by **Colonel Olrik** » 2004-07-26 06:07pm

When buying European clothes, my size is around L-XL.

When buying american, my size is usually S-M. The XL size seems made for elephants, the XXL is just.. ridiculous.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-07-26 06:15pm

You must be an itty bitty chap, then. I'm as thin as people my age get and I can't wear anything less than a large T-shirt without being uncomfortable.

TempestMagister · Post by **TempestMagister** » 2004-07-26 06:26pm

I have around a 30 waist, and I do find it really hard to find things that fit me. I usually buy medium sized T-Shirts, but they are hardly in stock in the adult sections of clothing departments. I'm only 5'8", but I see guys all the time who are my height.

When I went down to the beach, I realized how disturbing this gut thing is. I also noticed how much some people eat. I saw someone eating full bags of chips in two days, and at it drinking 4-6 bottles of beer a day, and those are just the snacks. It usually will take me 5 days to finish a bag of pretzel nibblets, that is if someone else doesn't finish it in one day. When at the beach, I see people getting huge breakfasts from the restaurants there, and then ordering a sub for lunch, eating chips, pretzels, and peanuts for snack, with beer, and then eating bread, pasta, and plenty of meat for dinner.

Alot of people don't think their heavy, but they're lying to themselves. The thing is, when guys get old, it seems that they perceive their increased weight and bigger belly as normal because they eat the same as when they were teenagers, so they instead don't do anything and start controlling themselves, and they just keep on eating.

1337n1nj4 · Post by **1337n1nj4** » 2004-07-26 06:38pm

You're dead on about the snacking and otherwise poor food choices. The diet is the worst part of it.

People always say I eat a lot (because I do), but the stuff I eat is generally "healthy" for one, and for two, I have the activity level and body to handle the calories.

It's amazingly easy to cause pretty drastic changes with just a few simple changes in daily eating habits, even without exercise (though that will always help out). Ditch the soft drinks, eat a piece of fruit instead of a candy bar, order off the lean menu if you *must* eat fast food, etc etc. It'll add up quick.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2004-07-26 06:45pm

Hmm.

I'm somewhat lightweight for someone my height (I weight 68kgs and is 183cm tall), but my body is very ordinary of volume if not of weight. That's right - I look heavier than I am. (you could call me an inverse H.P. Lovecraft if you like, HPL looked thinner than he actually was)

Anyway.

Darth Wong wrote:In the real world, women ages 36 to 45 actually average:

White: 41-34-43

Black: 43-37-46

Hispanic: 42.5-36-44

Asian: 41-35-43

Emphasis mine.

I am personally a bit surprised by this, as I always thought that hispanics on average were smaller than "Nordics" like me. Then again, I have always been aware that prejudices are never guaranteed to be accurate.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-07-26 06:54pm

Ah, good old heart disease, kidney failure and other dietary ailments. Get used to them, the way we're going, they'll be the biggest threat to our society bar none.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-07-26 07:01pm

Finding things that fit like I want is a fucking bear because of this bias to wider and fatter clothes. I.E. I want something relatively inexpensive that fits me like a second skin but doesn't look like a fucking half-shirt or high-waters from Hell.

I'm 5'8" and 150 lbs (used to be 110 till I stopped excercising; 150 is where I stabilized at).

1337n1nj4 · Post by **1337n1nj4** » 2004-07-26 07:03pm

5'9 220 with an athletic build is next to impossible. Between the fatties and you normals, there's no room left on the racks

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-07-26 07:05pm

1337n1nj4 wrote:5'9 220 with an athletic build is next to impossible. Between the fatties and you normals, there's no room left on the racks

Holy shit you're built like a birich shithouse! I don't think I've ever seen that high a density before...

1337n1nj4 · Post by **1337n1nj4** » 2004-07-26 07:12pm

Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:
1337n1nj4 wrote:5'9 220 with an athletic build is next to impossible. Between the fatties and you normals, there's no room left on the racks
Holy shit you're built like a birich shithouse! I don't think I've ever seen that high a density before...

heh, thanks. That's what happens when you cross a nerd with geeky tendencies and powerlifting.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2004-07-26 07:34pm

SizeUSA wrote: The fashion industry assumes the average man is a traditional 40 regular, which means 40-inch chest, 34-inch waist, and 40-inch hip, with a 15.5-inch collar. In the real world, men ages 36 to 45 actually average:
White: 44-38-42

Black: 43-37-42

Hispanic: 44-38-42

Asian: 42-37-41

What am I, some kind of skinny freak? Thanks DW for shattering my previously held body acceptance.

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