Plus sized?! Who says?

As "plus sized" models are "breaking molds" and appearing in more and more mainstream media, I had to do some research and that research shows that based on industry standards and the state of women's clothing stores, these beautiful women are not plus sized. With the exception of Tess Holliday, these are the measurements for the most recent "plus sized" models in the news.

36-32-42	42-30-46	38-33-43.5″	41-32-45.5″
6'2"	5'9"	5'11"	5'9"
163	170		200

When you take this data and compare it to the averages of the more common women's clothing stores in America,  (I included in my research: Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, Anthropology, Limited, Neiman Marcus, Forever 21, Ann Taylor, New York and Company, and Victoria's Secret.) you will find that these women are far from plus sized and, like most American women, cannot just walk into any store and find an item of clothing that fits. With street averages being a size 12 top and size 14 bottom, I will begin my comparison of these beautiful, but not "plus sized" models based on the data. 

Let my rant begin!

Model 1: Bust she falls into a 10 in most stores, while her waist and hips are a 14 based on averages. This means that model 1 is below average in tops and just at average in bottoms. 

Model 2: Bust average places her in a size 16, while her waist places her in a 12, and hips place her in an 18! This poor girl need a great tailor to buy any clothing off of the rack. Though she may be edging closer to plus sized in general, her waist measurement shows that perhaps that is a fallacy. 

Model 3: Bust average places her in a 12, and her hip and waist are a 14/16 based on averages. Making this model almost the epitome of an average American woman today.  

Model 4: Bust averages place her in a 14/16, waist is a 14, while her hips are at a 16/18. Again, edging closer to plus sized, she stays closely within the confines of an average American woman. 

What I can conclude from these breakthrough models is that we as a society are just getting used to the idea that women on the street are not the women we see on runways, and I think that is phenomenal, but to call these women "plus sized" is ludicrous. I understand that body size and clothing measurements have changed drastically since the 1950's (I use this time period since the Marilyn Monroe comparison is always evidenced but that dear friends is another story altogether), but we live in the standards of today - good, bad, or indifferent. We define plus size as adjective - (of clothing or people) of a size larger than the normal range. -"a new line of plus-size bathing suits". These women, by no means, are of size larger than the normal range if we define normal based on averages as we do in testing, bell curves, grading, IQ, etc... We must stop shaming women (and men) into believing that their body is worse than someone else's because of unreachable norms. If at the present moment the average is 12/14 for women, then let it be, do not represent it as "plus sized" - it isn't. If having a thigh gap isn't physically possible for women nor a measure of health - don't hype it as one. 

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a reminder, that you are beautiful and a tag on your clothes doesn't mean anything (because in the store three slots down it won't be the same) nor does the number on the scale. We need to realize that the unrealistic norms set forth in our extremely vain society are just that - unrealistic norms made worse thanks to airbrushing, photoshopping, plastic surgery, celebrities, social media, and the like. Real humans have flaws - gray hair, cellulite, wrinkles at 30, stretch marks from a variety of sources, laugh lines, scars, and more. Stop measuring your worth based on what your body looks like and by standards that aren't actually standard (as evidenced below) and begin by being the best you that you can be every day and improve every chance that you get. 

The data that is shown represents bust-waist-hip measurements as represented on the respective stores websites. Additionally included are the differences seen in the "same sized" clothing from store to store on average. This is where my information for each model and my conclusions came from. All stores should come with a buyer beware tag! 

12/On	38.5	30.5	41.5
12/Gap	39.5	30.75	41.75
12/BR	38.5	31.5	41.5
12/Anth	39.5	31.5	41.5
12/Limited	39.25	32	42
12/Neiman	38	29.5	40.5
12/F21	38	30.5	39.5
12/AT	38.5	31	41
12/NYCO	39	31	41
12/VS	39	30.5	41
Averages	38.775	30.875	41.125
Difference	1.25	2	2.5
14/On	40.5	32.5	43.5
14/Gap	40.5	32	43
14/BR	40	33	43
14/Anth	41	33	43
14/Limited	40.75	33.5	43.5
14/Neiman	39.5	31	42
14/AT	40	32.5	42.5
14/NYCO	40.5	32.5	42.5
14/VS	40.5	32	42.5
Averages	40.36111111	32.44444444	42.83333333
Differences	1.25	2.5	1.5
16/ON	42.5	34.5	45.5
16/Gap	43	33.75	44.75
16/BR	41.5	34.5	44.5
16/Anth	42.5	34.5	44.5
16/Limited	42.75	35.5	45.5
16/Neiman	41	32.5	43.5
16/AT	43.5	34	44
16/NYCO	42	34	44
16/VS	42.5	34	44.5
Averages	42.36111111	34.13888889	44.52777778
Differences	2.5	3	2
18/ON	45	37	48
18/Gap	44	35.75	46.75
18/AT	45.5	36	46
18/NYCO	43.5	35.5	45.5
Averages	42.375	36.0625	46.5625
Differences	2	1.5	2.5