- Size zero
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 unhealthily 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.US catalog size
Petite sizes 0 and 00 come close to catalog sizing, sometimes measuring 31.5-24-33.Fact|date=August 2008 However, these clothes are cut short, as they are designed for women 5'4" and under.Fact|date=August 2008
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.fact|date=September 2008 In short - the average mid-century American woman would be a 'size 0' in pants today.fact|date=September 2008
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.fact|date=September 2008
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 aBody Mass Index below 18 — classified as unhealthy by theWorld Health Organization — from participating in the event.cite web| date =October 5 ,2006 | url =http://www.theage.com.au/news/eating-disorder/survival-of-the-thinnest/2006/10/05/1159641434825.html| title = Survival of the thinnest| publisher =The Age| accessdate =2008-02-09] International debate followed concerning the purported effects upon impressionable people of the fashion industry's continued use of underweight models.ee also
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EN 13402 References
[http://www.hot-wild-and-free.co.uk/fzh HWFMAG asks London designer Gavin Pierre Medford to comment on the Size Zero Debate]
External links
* [http://www.surgicare.co.uk/news-and-press/22-03-2007/size-0-the-uk-would-prefer-a-size-12 National UK survery on weight loss surgery]
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