What Girls Think Of The New Size 00
Posted by anastasia on 11-17-2006I spotted this article in the Sacramento Bee, which is basically a short round-up of local teen opinions about the new size 00. It's good food for thought and validates the "real girl" trend that's been happening in some media and marketing this year:
…Once people let go of the model image and start finding their own image, the pressure to be thin will decrease. — Rebecca Scolnick, Folsom High School
The pressure for girls to fit into size-zero pants is overwhelming today. A size 5 has become synonymous with "chubby." — Hallie McKnight, Loretto High School
Teenage girls are getting the idea that a normal-size body is one that can fit into a size zero or size 1. They couldn't be more wrong. The average pants size for women is actually a size 14. But so many girls can't accept that. They believe that if you're thin, you're accepted. And after living in this hostile country that tells you that how you look isn't good enough, being thin becomes more then just fitting in. It becomes an obsession. — Marika Hirsch, Franklin High School
Teens are supposed to be thin. That's a fact. It's simply expected of us. You see it in magazines. You see it in stores. Subzero clothing? How sad. People haven't gotten any smaller over the years, yet the clothing keeps getting smaller and smaller. I feel that the numbers on the scale don't really matter as long as you are happy with yourself. You shouldn't have to please your boyfriend or your best friend or the most popular girl at school. You shouldn't have to please anybody except you. — Jennie Larson, Folsom High School
As actress Audrey Hepburn said, "For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry." All of us are pretty in our own way, as long as we appreciate what we truly have right now. — Lexie Tiongson, Loretto High School
I'm 16 and only 4-foot-10. I can tell you that it's not always that great to be skinny. Stores seem to carry more pants in bigger sizes than small sizes like zero or 1. I just can't relate to girls who want to be so skinny — I would rather be able to easily find clothes that fit! — Natalie Offenbecher, Folsom High School
I wish that adults would listen to their kids, especially with girls, and make sure they know they are perfect the way they are and that they shouldn't change for anyone. Really build up their self-confidence, don't break it; they have enough other people and pressures that do that. — Cassie Costantini, Horizon Charter School
December 22nd, 2006 at 7:02 pm
The new size zero is so overrated. Girls these days are starving themselves just to be something they are not. The pressue to be skinny affects both guys and girls today. Everyone should be happy on whats on the outside because it shapes who you are on the inside.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Thanks for posting my article on your website. :D
October 7th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
I believe the clothes really aren't getting smaller. I believe the sizes themselves are getting bigger. Like for example, I used to wear a 1, now I wear a 00 and I haven't lost any weight! Stores want people to buy their clothes and if someone can buy a 4 who regularly wears a 6, they'll want to buy it all the more. And ALL people who wear a 00 aren't anorexic! A lot of them are just petite, like me!
January 23rd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I agree with Liza. 4 years ago, I could wear a 0 or sometimes a 1. Although I've gained 5 or so lbs since then, many 00's are too big for me now. Vanity sizing forces retailers to compensate by making sizes with smaller numbers. These sizes aren't catering to smaller people, in fact, they're used to make bigger people feel better about themselves. I'm not anorexic, I'm almost exactly 5ft tall, and for my height, not ridiculously thin. I don't have a problem with people who are bigger than I am, but I think it's unfair to judge me based on the size of clothing I wear, or complain about the fashion industry without knowing why they do things.
January 23rd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I agree with Liza. 4 years ago, I could wear a 0 or sometimes a 1. Although I've gained 5 or so lbs since then, many 00's are too big for me now. Vanity sizing forces retailers to compensate by making sizes with smaller numbers. These sizes aren't catering to smaller people, in fact, they're used to make bigger people feel better about themselves. I'm not anorexic, I'm almost exactly 5ft tall, and for my height, not ridiculously thin. I don't have a problem with people who are bigger than I am, but I think it's unfair to judge me based on the size of clothing I wear, or complain about the fashion industry without knowing why they do things.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Clothes ARE getting bigger and bigger. 7 years ago, with the same weight and measurements, I was a size 0, 1 or even 2 in some stores. Now in the same stores 00 is too big for me.
July 13th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
All the people talking about "vanity sizing" are all supposedly small girls. How can you even complain about having to find a 00? Thats all thats left in the store. Like go into Abercrombie and try to find a size 8, it doesnt exist cuz thats what a lot of girls are wearing. Whats more ridiculous is if you hold up a 00 to a 8 there is less than an inch more fabric. Im sorry but thats ridiculous. Girls need to just get over the sizes and buy what makes them look hot.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Its just as rotten to not be able to find your size if you're small as if you're large. A lot of stores don't even stock them in equal numbers. It's about defining what's normal. If you used to be a two at The Limited, and now you can't even shop there because the smallest vanity size doesn't fit you, yeah, it sucks. My little sister is that small, and I feel bad for her. I had the same problem finding a bigger size at Victoria's Secret - it just doesn't exist - they'll send you to Lane Bryant (or did before I stopped shopping there).
Stores are artificially defining what's "normal" by the sizes they carry - even more so than pictures and pop culture. It's really easy to make someone feel badly about their size by claiming it's not in the normal range of what's being sold.
allie- it's not about what size the thing is - its about that size even being carried.