candis report


proportions from Tall to Petite. Their UK public relations manager Susan Millard says, “Lands’ End has strict quality control to ensure consistency of size in all our clothes, which is vital with mail order, but also offers choices in the way those clothes fit.” However, there are changes afoot


that could mean the demise of our familiar if inconsistent sizes. The EU


has devised a new labelling system that would do away with the size 12 forever. Instead, labels would show, in centimetres, the actual body sizes the garment is designed to fit, which would include the height. It sounds eminently sensible, particularly if traditional dress sizes are going to become even more inconsistent. But not only are EU committee members


HAVE CHANGED WITH TIME HOW WOMEN’S BODY SHAPES


Average statistics:


20 32


1920s 31


1940s 33


Average statistics:


21 33


unable to come to an agreement on what exactly should be on the label, British retailers are sceptical that we will know our measurements in centimetres or that we are ready to give up our familiar sizing system just yet. Says Tarbard, “I’m not sure the UK customer really wants this change. We get very few complaints here at M&S about fit. We don’t see any reason to change.” But I’m not so sure the woman in the changing room, clutching her five ill-fitting frocks, would agree.


1960s 34


Average statistics:


24 35


Before the welfare state came into being, and in a time when convenience food did not exist and people burned up calories with physical activity from dawn till dusk, the average women had no problem keeping slim.


1980s


Now, the average British woman’s hips measured two inches more than her bust. Eating at a desk, in front of the television and snacking on high calorie, low-energy foods became common while computer games meant an even more sedentary lifestyle.


Average statistics:


35 26


37


Rationing in the 40s meant the diet was spartan yet healthy and so women became larger as they were better nourished. From here on they also became taller as every child was given one third of a pint of milk each day.


The 60s brought big changes as diets became higher in fat, more families owned cars, TVs and vacuum cleaners and so the pear shape was born as the bottom part of the hourglass figure became bigger than the top.


2000s


The pear shape has now become even more marked, with the average waist size ballooning in 20 years as fat accumulates at the waist. This shape reflects a lifestyle that is increasingly inactive and self-indulgent.


54 OCTOBER 2011 | WWW.CANDIS.CO.UK


Average statistics:


38


32 40


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