Average American women’s clothing size: comparing National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (1988–2010) to ASTM International Misses &amp; Women’s Plus Size clothing

Christel, Deborah A.; Dunn, Susan C. Williams Née

doi:10.1080/17543266.2016.1214291

Cited by 32 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Many expressed shock and disbelief that the model's 6‐foot tall, size 12 body is considered plus‐size, with some suggesting she is “hardly closer to a ‘real’ portrayal of women” than traditional models. Although a size 8 and above is considered plus for fashion models, the average American woman is size 16 (Christel and Dunn ). Therefore, it is not necessarily surprising that this sentiment was echoed consistently in the textual comments, with many commenters suggesting that she although she has an attractive figure, it should not be characterized as plus‐size by the modeling industry.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The annoyance of labeling a model “plus” because she is not the standard fashion model size 0–2 was prevalent with a general consensus that the media labels women who are above this idealized size are labeled as “plus” by the media. Frustrations were predominately rooted, partly, by the fact that the average American woman is a size (16) (Christel and Dunn ). Hence, models who are smaller than the average woman are being labeled as “plus” by brands and the media.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although few comments about Graham were identified in the model body size and health themes, comments about Graham were identified in all three themes. The wider variety of comments and reactions toward Graham may be due to the fact that she is more representative of the typical female consumer in the United States, where a women's average size is also 16 (Christel and Dunn ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Consumer Response toward Plus‐Size Models Featured in the Mainstream Media

Pounders¹,

Mabry-Flynn²

2019

Journal of Consumer Affairs

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The rise of the body acceptance movement among consumers has led several brands and media outlets to feature models with diverse body shapes and sizes. However, little research has examined consumer reactions to these nontraditional models. This exploratory study addresses this gap by examining consumer response to three different instances in which a plus‐size model was featured in a popular press magazine. Discourse analysis examined consumer‐generated online comments. Three broad themes were identified that included positive sentiment related to more inclusivity in media representations of women: concern about model body size and health, and questions around how a “plus” size body is defined. This work offers insight into consumer response to plus‐size models, sheds light into how society views the plus‐size body and health, as well as how brands can begin to integrate plus‐size models into marketing and advertising campaigns.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Consumer Response toward Plus‐Size Models Featured in the Mainstream Media

Pounders¹,

Mabry-Flynn²

2019

Journal of Consumer Affairs

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“…According to the National Center for Health Statistics (Fryar et al. ), the average American woman's waist is 38.15 inches in circumference, which roughly equates to a size 18–20 at mainstream plus‐size retailers at the time of this writing (Christel and Dunn ). This, combined with the fact that poorer women are heavier on average than more privileged women in the United States (Hruschka ), made it unsurprising that a large proportion—39%—of SWO clients were plus‐sized.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Making Over” Poor Women: Gender, Race, Class, and Body Size in a Welfare‐to‐Work Nonprofit Organization

Gruys

2018

Sociological Forum

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Drawing on 13 months of participant observation at a welfare-to-work nonprofit that provides unemployed poor women with used business attire, I assess the extent to which-and how-this "objectified cultural capital" is transmitted to clients. I advance prior theorizing in this area by considering whether clients' "bodily capital" impacts the services they receive. I find that despite providing needed services to clients, the organization reifies many of the inequalities it seeks to remedy. When sorting clothing donations, staff and volunteers curate particularly classed embodiments by selecting garments that are work-appropriate yet not luxurious. Also, well-intentioned efforts to provide a luxurious shopping-esque experience for clients ironically produces service scripts that facilitate control over clients' behavior. Finally, service interactions reproduce inequities between different types of clients along the lines of race, class, and body size, such that clients with more privileged bodily capital fare better than those with stigmatized embodiments. I use these findings to caution against romanticized understandings of philanthropic efforts to remedy social inequality, while also underscoring the importance of taking embodiment-particularly the striking social disadvantages of larger body size-into account when examining the intersections of gender, race, and class.

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“…The only two known exceptions to this size range are Olivia Campbell (represented by Bridge Models) and Tess Holliday (represented by MiLK Management), who wear UK sizes 22 and 26 respectively. For the purposes of this study, plus size is considered to be UK sizes 12-32+, which encompasses a broad range of this spectrum within the fashion industry (Christel, 2016). This chapter focuses on those who identify as women because weight bias and stigmatisation are disproportionately targeted at women.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marginalisation and Events

Walters¹,

Jepson²

2019

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Recent cross-disciplinary literature in the social sciences has shown that fat women experience weight bias and marginalisation in nearly all aspects of life, including within the fashion industry. This stigmatisation results in exclusion from brand and designer collections, runway shows, and other fashion events. As research in this area and in particular within an event context is very scarce, this chapter draws upon accessibility research, fat studies, and critical events studies to investigate the physical and psychological barriers to access for plussize women at fashion events along with consumer attitudes with regard to fashion events. Research methods adopt quantitative approaches and include a survey of plus-size women who have attended a fashion event in 2017, which allowed for analysis of their experiences with regard to accessibility obstacles as well as their attitudes regarding fashion events and fashion event managers. Findings reveal plus-size consumers are more likely to attend fashion events if they see their body types represented in promotional event materials. They are also more likely to attend if they believe their needs will be met by the event facilities. Consumer attitudes toward fashion events and fashion event managers were generally negative, but provided several opportunities for growth and improvement.

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Average American women’s clothing size: comparing National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (1988–2010) to ASTM International Misses & Women’s Plus Size clothing

Cited by 32 publications

References 16 publications

Consumer Response toward Plus‐Size Models Featured in the Mainstream Media

Consumer Response toward Plus‐Size Models Featured in the Mainstream Media

“Making Over” Poor Women: Gender, Race, Class, and Body Size in a Welfare‐to‐Work Nonprofit Organization

Marginalisation and Events

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