Somehow, I didn’t realize that I was the norm. As of 2012, it is estimated that 67% of American women are plus-size — size 14 or larger. The CDC currently reports the average American woman’s measurements equate to a size 14 (though other studies put her between a 16 and 18). Yet, plus-size women account for, on average, 1 to 2% of the bodies represented in mainstream media.
http://www.refinery29.com/2016/09/123687/plus-size-american-women-67-percent-essay
Here are some numbers that illustrate the insanity of women's clothing sizes: A size 8 dress today is nearly the equivalent of a size 16 dress in 1958. And a size 8 dress of 1958 doesn't even have a modern-day equivalent — the waist and bust measurements of a Mad Men-era 8 come in smaller than today's size 00.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/11/the-absurdity-of-womens-clothing-sizes-in-one-chart/
And yes, it was those average American women, the size 14s, who seemed to ignore style the most often, at least in my informal survey. In the past, I assumed this was because the majority of people simply aren't all that interested in fashion.
http://www.cleveland.com/style/index.ssf/2010/08/size_14_is_average_american_wo.html
The authors found that the average American woman's waist circumference has increased 2.6 (from 34.9 to 37.5) over the last 21 years, which accounts for the increase in clothing size. While 16-18 was the average size for all women, the study found that Black women in particular currently wear a size 18-20 on average.
http://www.revelist.com/body-positive/average-american-woman-size/4727
The standard included the first modern women's clothing size charts, and it provides the first data points in the charts above. Women's sizes ranged from 8 to 42. A size 8 woman had a bust of 31 inches, a 23.5 inch waist, and a weight of 98 pounds. The government updated these standards again in 1970.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/11/the-absurdity-of-womens-clothing-sizes-in-one-chart/
Many people still present the average American woman size 14 as ‘fact,' the authors write in the study, when it's no longer true. It could be said that the size 14 fact was used so frequently and with little fact checking because it was, and still is, a critical reference point..
http://www.revelist.com/body-positive/average-american-woman-size/4727
The average American woman now weighs 166.2 pounds - just a fraction less than the 166.3 pounds that the average American man weighed in the Swinging Sixties. The new study contributes the dramatic weight gain to three factors: that Americans are eating less healthy food, more of it and not exercising as much.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3124838/The-average-American-woman-weight-average-1960s-man.html
Men put on an average of 30 pounds in the same period, going from 166.3 pounds in the 1960s to 195.5 today. That's the weight of nearly one-and-a-half American women in the Sixties.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3124838/The-average-American-woman-weight-average-1960s-man.html
Modern American women are an average 166.2 pounds, while the typical man in the 1960s was 166.3 pounds. The weight gain has been blamed on Americans overeating unhealthy foods and scaling back on exercise. During the same period, men put on an average of 30 pounds.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3124838/The-average-American-woman-weight-average-1960s-man.html
Size 14 is average American woman's size, but not the average shopper's: Kim Crow. If the average American woman is a size 14, wouldn't it stand to reason that a size 14 would be the most common size sold in the United States? Nope. In fact, size 14 is among the least purchased sizes out there for many manufacturers.
http://www.cleveland.com/style/index.ssf/2010/08/size_14_is_average_american_wo.html
average size of an american woman
The average size of an American woman is 14.