| content |
 |
This article or section is written like a personal reflection or essay and may require cleanup. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (August 2008) |
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008) |
 |
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2008) |
Size 0 is a women's clothing size in the US catalog sizes system, believed to be equivalent to a UK size 4 or a Europe size 30. It is also a concept within the fashion media relating to models with low body mass. Due to the current vogue for super-slim actresses and models, and a public awareness of eating disorders and celebrities with dramatically fluctuating weights, it's often incorrectly assumed that size 0 and 00 were invented to fit a new class of dangerously thin women.
In reality, a size 0 (or 00) is the smallest size many stores carry. In the USA sizing is not standardized or monitored, resulting in a size inflation (vanity sizing). This is commonly believed to be a sales strategy designed to make women feel better about fitting into a smaller size, and therefore prompting them to buy more. It is however, extremely dangerous, and contributes to creating eating disorders like Anorexia Nervosa. To fit a size 0, a woman would have to have a 23/24 inch waist, which is the same as an average seven year old. Many have tried to ban size 0, with some success.
Contents |
US catalog size
|
|
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008) |
|
|
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2008) |
Petite sizes 0 and 00 come close to catalog sizing, sometimes measuring 31.5-24-33.citation needed However, these clothes are cut short, as they are designed for women 5'4" and under.citation needed
Sizing has been changing in the US for the last 50 years, but the pace has accelerated recently - along with the increasing amount of people who are overweight or obese. In the 1950s the average women was 5'3" and had 34-35" hips, compared to 5'4.5" and 42-43" hips today.citation needed In short - the average mid-century American woman would be a 'size 0' in pants today.citation needed
The biggest repercussion of the vanity size inflation is that women who are slim or petite, wearing a 2/4 until a few years ago, are no longer able to find clothing which fits.citation needed
Size 0 is the equivalent to a UK size 4.
Fashion concept
In European fashion circles, the concept of 'size zero' models has gained recent notoriety in the media when the organizers of Madrid Fashion Week 2006 prohibited models with a Body Mass Index below 18.5 — classified as unhealthy by the World Health Organization — from participating in the event.1 International debate followed concerning the purported effects upon impressionable people of the fashion industry's continued use of underweight models.
See also
References
- ^ "Survival of the thinnest". The Age (October 5, 2006). Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
HWFMAG asks London designer Gavin Pierre Medford to comment on the Size Zero Debate
External links
 |
This fashion-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
