The concept of beauty is changing. Thanks to social media’s ability to present oneself to the world, women no longer have to rely on “ad men” to tell them who is or is not beautiful. As an alternative, women can value beauty in all its shapes and sizes by using social media posts that garner tens of thousands of likes to highlight their natural attractiveness.
There is data that suggests the way that people in America and throughout the world view beauty is changing. The average woman is changing. A recent study that was published in the International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology, and Education claims that the average woman is no longer a size fourteen. What does that mean? To learn more, keep reading!
For the study, more than 5,500 American women were evaluated. The study indicates that during the previous 20 years, women’s average body sizes have grown. At the beginning of the new century, the average waist size for American women was a trim 34.9 inches. It has increased by 2.6 inches to an average of 37.5 inches. This growth is explained by “greater distinctions” that are “found when considering race and ethnicity.”
“We hope that this information will be useful to the industry as well as consumers.” One of the main experts on the study, Susan Dunn, claims that “many women find that just knowing where the average is can help them with their self-image.”
She went on, “And we hope that the apparel industry will see the numbers and realize that these women are here to stay, that they won’t go, and that they deserve to be clothed. Whether or not clothes should fit well—both in terms of style and measurements—and be available somewhere other than thrift shops and the internet is still up for debate. Why not?
The average American woman wears a size sixteen to eighteen these days. These are the smallest end of the plus-size spectrum. Perhaps it’s time for the fashion industry to start creating clothing for real women instead of stick-figure models who have to starve themselves to fit into tight clothes.
The research calls on clothing designers to reinterpret what constitutes regular and plus-size clothing. Clothes must be altered to take into account the larger average size of American women. The modern American woman requires clothing that is tailored to her body type rather than expecting them to fit into something they are not.
Dunn and the study’s co-author, Deborah Christel, are textiles, design, and retail clothes professors at Washington State University. They carried out the study and were able to prove that the average American woman is no longer a size 2. Instead, the average woman purchases in sizes 16 and 18. Professionals in the fashion industry will need to modify their clothing choices to better suit the modern woman or else they run the risk of falling behind.
What are your thoughts on this change in style?
