The standard of beauty is shifting. As social media allows people to showcase themselves to the world, women no longer have to rely on “ad men” to tell them who is and is not beautiful. Instead, women can flaunt their natural beauty through social media posts that receive tens of thousands of likes, celebrating beauty in all of its forms and sizes.
While there is a shift in how people see beauty in America and around the world, there is statistics to back it up. The normal woman is evolving. According to a recent survey published in the International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology, and Education, the average woman no longer wears size fourteen. What does this mean? Continue reading to find out!
“We hope that this knowledge is distributed and used by both industry and consumers. “Just knowing where the average is can help a lot of women with their self-esteem,” said Susan Dunn, one of the study’s primary scientists.
She went on to say, “And we hope that the apparel industry will see the figures and understand that these people are not going away, they are not going to disappear, and they deserve to be clothed. It is still debatable if clothing should fit well, both in terms of style and proportions, and be offered anywhere other than back corners or only online. Why?”
The average American lady now wears between sizes sixteen and eighteen. These are at the lower end of plus sizes. Perhaps it’s time for the fashion industry to face reality and design their garments with real women in mind, rather than stick-figure models who have to starve themselves to fit into the tight clothes.
The study recommends garment designers to alter their definitions of regular and plus-size apparel. Because the average woman’s size has increased in the United States, clothes must be changed to reflect this development. Rather than expecting women to fit into something they just do not fit into, clothing must be changed to reflect the modern American woman.
