Did Marilyn Monroe really wear a size 14?
I was idly paging through this interesting collection of images purporting to show the evolution of the beauty standard for women (worth a visit) and came across the often-repeated claim that Marilyn Monroe wore a size 14, along with this rebuttal:
I’ve read in a couple very reliable sources (women’s fitness magazines) that Monroe’s “size 14″ is comparable to a size 8 today, due to vanity sizing and such.
I became curious, so I looked into it further. Ever-reliable snopes.com has a good discussion of the Marilyn-wore-14 issue (a claim they present as “Marilyn Monroe wore a size 16 dress”)
So, what can we say with any certainty? We can at least establish a range of measurements for Marilyn Monroe based on the available sources:
Height: 5 feet, 5½ inches Weight: 118-140 pounds Bust: 35-37 inches Waist: 22-23 inches Hips: 35-36 inches Bra size: 36D
A woman of Marilyn’s height, at the extreme of Marilyn’s weight range (140 lbs), would probably wear a size 12 dress today (which is the same dress size listed for Marilyn in the book The Unabridged Marilyn). Perhaps at one time she did wear dresses that might have been considered size 16 (or even 18) back in the 1950s, but she almost certainly did not wear dresses equivalent to today’s size 16.
Snopes has a newspaper citation indicating that a Monroe dress that was sold at auction was found to be a British size 16, which is apparently the equivalent of an American size 12.
Nothing in the above should be taken to mean that I think it’s better for women to wear smaller dress sizes.
Mark Bellinghaus wrote:
Just FYI, Marilyn Monroe had more of a 26 inch waist, which is still amazingly tiny for todays standard. I am not talking about the norexic models who should be in the hospital and care instead being shown off at a catwalk runway at some thin is in supporting fashion show.
I just posted some important news about fakes on the internet on OUR MARILYN BLOG. You’re welcome to read this.
Strangely enough the fake belt is a Size “14″ even though MM’s real orange Pucci belt was only a “10.”
I know those are different sizes…
Cheers to England and all the wonderful Marilyn Monroe fans and collectors.
Friends Through Marilyn~Marilyn’s Friends!
http://blog.ourmarilyn.com/
Posted on 10-Jan-07 at 5:43 pm | Permalink
Lorraine wrote:
It’s true— she wore a size 14. A VINTAGE size 14, that is. I collect vintage clothing, and I, too, wear a vintage size 14. But I wear a size 6-8 in modern clothing. It’s a different sizing scale, one that is still used by sewing pattern makers.
Posted on 09-May-07 at 9:35 am | Permalink