Was Marilyn Monroe REALLY a size 12? (or 16)

[Vintage Suits by Mary]

Yes she was! However, sizing in the garment industry has changed radically since the 1950s. Marilyn Monroe's measurements were:

Height: 5 feet, 5½ inches
Weight: 118 pounds
Bust: 35inches
Waist: 22inches
Hips: 35inches

That is similar to about a size 4 today. Even near the end of her career, when she was "fat", her measurements were

Bust:37 inches
Waist: 23 inches
Hips: 36 inches

Still pretty tiny!

Even Lucille Ball was a "perfect size 12" according to her studio publicity department. Her measurements were even smaller than Marilyn's.

So, when you are out shopping for vintage, don't be horrified that you can only fit into a 14 or 16. It doesn't mean you are fat, it only means that sizes are different than they were back in the day.

Also, one of the reasons that there is almost no plus size vintage is that there were almost no plus size people back then. Widespread obesity is a very recent phenomenon and was practically unheard of until the late 70s.

[Roxy Tart {PL Team / Comm. Mgr}]

Since I have recently been giving a lot of thought to measurements, and this discussion, I thought it would be fun to look up the measurements of some of my other favorite bombshells. Honestly, I wanted to see how I measured up... no pun intended. I thought you ladies might be interested as well. 

 

Mae West
Measurements: 5' 1" 36-26-36 (in 1933), 38-24-38 (fitting by designer Edith Head), 39-27-39 (self-described in 1956),

Jayne Mansfield
Known for having one of the most sensational hourglass figures ever. 5' 6¼"  40D-17-36.

Jane Russell
With measurements of 38D-24-36 and standing 5'7"

Rita Hayworth
5' 6" Measurements: 36.5-C-24-36 (at peak of WW-II pin-up fame), 35-25-35 (in 1953 at 120 lbs.)

Sophia Loren
Measurements: 38C-24-38 (self-described - 1955, and from Edith Head- 1957), 36D-24-37 3/4 (at age 50 - 1985)

 

I also found this neat site celebrating hourglass figures: http://www.listal.com/list/the-hourglass-figure

 

 

[Kendra Spring Adams]

NolaChick™ {Madam} said:

I love Marilyn, but she doesn't look "tiny" or "fit" here...

 

I believe she was pregnant at the time this was taken.  Like most women, her weight fluctuated back and forth.  Naturally, though, she was on the skinny side.

[Kendra Spring Adams]

Marilyn, at her heaviest, was a current US size 10, maybe.

[LakersRockMe]

Totally not of the subject but thought I'd share this..I just read the book "Hollywood Blondes" and i was extremely suprised of all the abortions and miscarriages from back in the days w/all these women!! I took the olden days to be very discreet guess it wasn't wow!!

VERY interesting book i recommend you get pick up a copy and check it out from their young days till their death days!!

[Dottie's Delights]

Dita isn't exactly naturally that curvy, she is very open about having breast implants and regularly wears corsets.

A quote from Dita: "I'm more attracted to glamour than natural beauty. The young Marilyn Monroe was a pretty girl in a sea of pretty girls. Then she had her hair bleached, fake eyelashes, and that's when she became extraordinary. It's that idea of what you're not born with, you can create."  

If the measurements that are regularly quoted of Marilyn are based off of garments she wore, that waist measurement may be based on foundation manipulation as well. 

 

Delyssia LaBelle {Madam} said:

i used to take comfort in the fact that me and marilyn were the same size, thanks for ruining my dream...lol, JK.

im working my way down in inches now, not sure i will reach 22! but the goal is 25inches. its so hard for me to believe such tall girls, i guess being 5feet 4inches, i think one more inch and a half is tall...but that a girl of that height was only 118lbs and still had curves. when i get under 130 i start loosing all my coke bottle shape. i guess there just gifted. same with Dita! hard to believe at 5 feet 6 inches shes only 114!!!! 

[Red Head Love]

Who cares!!

She looks absolutly beautiful with no flaws.

NolaChick™ {Madam} said:

I love Marilyn, but she doesn't look "tiny" or "fit" here...

 

[Samantha Grace]

I am always disproving that Miss Monroe and other actress's from the 50's where plus size. I am glad to see other people are trying to disprove the plus size myth today. I often explain Marilyn was actually, very much into fitness and often work out and lifted weights. I've even seen images of her working out. She had some really nicely toned arms, from her working out. She also followed a pretty strict diet too.

 

I have no problem with larger people. I just find it odd, a lot of heavy women always pull the Marilyn was a size 12 card. I often explain, I am a size 12 in vintage and Marilyn would have been closer to my size. I've had friends over the years, claim I am wrong. I think it is pretty obvious Marilyn was on the thin, but hour glass shaped size.

[Lilly F Elliott]

Yeah this is a really common myth. Its strange because you just have to look at her to see she is not a modern size 16 or whatever. I have a whole page on my vintage style website just explaining the differences between vintage and modern sizes to help girls when shopping, especially online. I use Marilyn as an example.

[Buttercup Clothing]

I'm glad to see others posting about this! EVERY time someone says she was a 12 and so that means they are like her I want to say NO! I have a dress in my closet that belonged to my gramma, it's from the 1950s and the tag says "13". I wore it in a school play (dare I say) 25 years ago, and at that time i wore a size 5 or 6. Today I am a modern 12 and there's no way in the world I could get my but into that dress if my life depended on it!

[RoPo]

Marilyn Monroe was not a modern sized 12, but I think the assumptions that she wouldn't be plus sized by today's standards are false. Anything as small as a size 6 today can be considered "plus", unfortunately, though most plus designs start at an 8 or 10. My measurements are generally 36D-25-39 and i have personally been encouraged to go into plus size modeling. Obviously, Marilyn had more extraordinary measurements, but based on those pictures, in the fashion industry, I do believe there's a good chance some would consider her "plus sized" as insane and unfortunate as it is. I think most plus sized models today don't look like what most peoples' idea of plus is anyway, and they're always super gorgeous even when they do.

But I don't think you or anyone should really worry about comparing themselves to 50s Hollywood standards. As others mentioned before, they all wore gurdles and corsets a lot of the time, which can change your shape surprisingly quickly if you wear them for enough consecutive hours. I had a series of shoots I was doing in corsets for a few weeks straight, and I was probably wearing steel boned corsets anywhere from 4-10 hours a day at least 3 days a week, and I actually noticed a slight difference in that time. 

Corsetting is fine if you do it safely and correctly, but honestly, corsetting for real seems like a HUGE comittment and it might not be worth the discomfort. You can always just wear a corset and tons of boob padding for a shoot. Since I started modeling more, I've come to realize just how fake most of it is. It's all fake hair, fake boobs, fake lips, fake eyelashes, fake waistline--you can often drastically change the shape of someone's facial features and body with just the right makeup and posing. But I don't think there's anything wrong with that in pinup. Pinup is about having fun and creating a fun, flirty, glamorous image, so it doesn't matter if it's all fake and temporary as long as the shot comes out how you want it. And after it's all done, you can take all that stuff off and be your gorgeous self :)

[Shar]

I'm a student of Marilyn :) and I tackled this subject on my website http://www.lovingmarilyn.com/beauty.html Marilyn's weight like most women - fluctuated throughout her life - between 115 & 140lb (117lbs at the time of her death) - whilst she herself also perpetuated the myth that she didn't wear underwear - she did - she also used bust enhancements - as you can see from Tom Kelley's nude calendar shots & Stern's so called 'last sitting' her breasts were not huge - I get quite steamed up over the size 16 fallacy!

[Persphone120]

Heres what i dont get? Why does it matter if she was a 16 or a 12 or any other size? My issue is that people tend to compare her to their own selves. Whether or not she was plus size or not she was beautiful cause well she just was.