Kirstie Alley is Not a Size 4

September 25, 2011

Oh friends.

I saw a story this week that said “Tim Gunn Says Kirstie Alley is Not a Size 4.” 

I love Project Runway and Tim Gunn, who always seems to be extremely supportive of plus size fashion both on the show and off. I also think Kirstie Alley is beautiful, and have always sympathized with her receiving all kinds of flack for decades about her weight.

Here are the quotes from Gunn:

“There is a phenomenon out there right now that I call the lying deceptive shell game of vanity sizing. In fact a 4 is really a 6 or an 8. We took a size 8 dress from 1980 one from 1990 and one from 2000 and compared them — the difference between them was two and a half inches in the waist alone!”

“But she looks fabulous. People are too size conscious.”

image via Getty and Huffington Post

Sometimes, I just get so tired of thinking about weights and sizes and scrutiny and fitting in. Could you imagine being a celebrity and having everyone analyze the daylights out of you and your body? Goodness gracious, I talk enough crap to myself!

I think my whole little rant here goes back to people always needing to have a weight goal and a size goal. Makes me tired to think about, because I feel like in order to get to those, we’re always chasing. Chasing for more, chasing for better, chasing for a vision in our heads.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like chasing myself. Seems like a dog chasing its tail.

Anyway, random for a Sunday night. How was your weekend?

  • Lisa Eirene

    She looks fabulous. People shouldn’t care what the label says!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michelle-Johnson/1408817233 Michelle Johnson

    I’m glad Tim had the guts to say it! She looks great, she doesn’t need to go overboard stating she’s a teeny size that she is very obviously not. 

  • AJ

    I gave up on sizes a long time ago. Right now I have pants from size 8-14 hanging in my closet. They all fit. What size are they really? Who knows! (But admittedly thinking I’m a size 8 makes me feel pretty good hah!)

  • jess

    I once heard somewhere on TV that Kim Kardashian is a size two…errr?
    ….We can’t listen to what society and hollywood says about sizes etc, because it isn’t real. In the end people let numbers determine their self worth…and that is sad! Rock what you got!

  • http://www.melgetsfit.com Mel (@MelGetsFit)

    Being in my 40′s, I’ve definitely noticed the arrival of vanity sizing.  Tim is absolutely right about what is a size 4 today was probably a size 8 back in the 80′s.  I definitely get your point though.  I honestly don’t know how celebrities do it.  I can’t imagine having someone scrutinize every little detail of my life.  Like you, I’m hard enough on myself without anyone else’s help. LOL

  • Misugrrl

    For being in her 60′s, she looks amazing. And she lost over 100 pounds IN HER 60′s!!  Aren’t we always told “oh it gets impossible to lose weight as you age”…. Well, Kristie disproved that. She’s human. And to me, she looks absolutely amazing. She and my mom are pretty much the same age, and my mom has convinced herself she’s “old” – so much so that she now walks hunched over, and experiences body pain all over, and has gained a huge amount of weight. Why? Because “this is what happens when you get old”.  Kristie shattered that BS lie. Good for her.  

    And vanity sizing is just that – sizing for vanity. So if it makes people happy they just bought a pair of size 6 jeans, then great. Size is a number, there is no real set standard. As long as you feel great and view yourself as the gorgeous woman you are, WHO CARES. 

    I go with weight goal – I want to lose X number of pounds, to reach the magical weight of Y in my head. What size that is, honestly, doesn’t matter – I’ll re-evaluate if and when I ever get there.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=602380801 Jacki Andre

    She looks fabulous (as always)!  Who cares about her size; she’s 60 years old!  May I look half as beautiful as she does at that age, please and thank you.  I’ve never understood the fixtation on numbers – sizes, measurements, pounds.  I know people who will try on something that looks fabulous on them, and refuse to buy it because the wrong size is on the label.  Who freakin’ cares??  Maybe she isn’t really a size 4, but I don’t get the point of a comparison between the sizes in the ’80s and now.  In the ’50s, a size 14 had a 36″ bust.  Does that mean I’m not really a size 14 now? :P

  • http://www.running-on-coffee.blogspot.com Amanda

    She does look good!  But size goals are silly… Just across the few brands I buy the most, I’m 3 different # sizes. 

  • Teresa B.

    She looks freaking FABULOUS!!!

  • Anonymous

    I’ve decided that being a size 4 isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. LOL :) I have friends that are a size 4 and they actually refuse to buy clothes that are a size 6 (even if they look amazing) because they aren’t a size 4. That’s way too much pressure for me.

  • Rachel

    1) Kirstie looks GORGEOUS!
    2) Tm Gunn is right. People are too size conscious and today’s size whatever is much larger than 20 hrs ago because American women are bigger but don’t want to admit it.
    My suggested fix: end all the ridiculous 0-2-4-6… Xx-small, x-small, small, medium… And go with TRUE measurements! Why don’t women get the same respect men get?

    • Rachel

      *20 yrs ago

  • http://meexactly.blogspot.com Erin

    They really do need to at least standardize sizes. It’s freaking annoying trying to go clothes shopping and deal with 2-3 different clothes sizes because the clothes companies like to put a lower number on the items to make them sell to the vain. If the piece looks great on us why should it matter what size it is?

  • http://dietschmiet.wordpress.com/ Deb (Schmiet)

    I’m amazed at how great Kirsty looks in that photo and she must’ve worked damned hard to ge there.

    I’ve written a couple of posts ranting about my obsession with ‘the numbers’, particularly those on the scale, but clothes sizes are just as bad.

    I have a friend who used to shop around to find something in a certain size that fitted her and she’d squeeze herself into it. The result was often quite uncomplimentary, whereas had she gone up a size it would have looked SO much better… but… she was obsessed with the numbers on the tags.

    I know we need them to give us some sense of direction once we walk into a store, but perhaps we should then rip or cut the bloody things off and forget about them.
    Deb

  • http://treslala.wordpress.com Lara @TresLaLa

    Clearly, normal sizing and I aren’t on speaking terms.  That said, I’d rather that I be measured based on my wit and intelligence.  Until that happens, I’ll be over in this corner…  eating some bread & butter, with ice cream.  wishing that I were a size 4.

  • Mizfit

    for me it is so so so so an energy goal. I need to be healthy enough to feel VIBRANT enough to chase.my.girl.

  • Michelle

    The real issue is why so many seemingly otherwise intelligent women believe that the photos and claims they see about celebrities are genuine.  Vanity sizing is, however, a baffling phenomenon that we (I) allow ourselves to be sucked in by.  It is true that if you compare size 6 dresses from 1960, 1980, 2000 and today they will be progressively and noticeably larger the more recent they are.  There is no way I am a size TWO (at 5’5″, a muscular 140 lbs. with shoulders like a linebacker and a massive ribcage…) *but* Ann Taylor says I am so where do you think I spend my $$$?  What the hell size do my truly petite friends wear there, then? How do you go lower than zero?  For the record, when I was this same weight/less muscular build in 1995, I wore an EIGHT at Ann Taylor…

  • http://runsqrlrun.com Sarah @ Run Sqrl, Run

    ARGH! Vanity sizing makes me want to throw things at walls and break stuff! Even in maintenance, at goal, clothing is still frustrating. I can fit approximately three different sizes, depending on the store. I have no idea what size I really am, I just look for the clothes that actually fit now. Usually that requires enlisting the aid of the salespeople.

    I prefer to set a body fat percentage goal because I personally believe body fat percentage is really more important than the number on the scale.

  • http://www.londonsfog.com Karen

    I think Kirstie is gorgeous and has always been regardless of what size she is.   I’ve always said I don’t care about the number on the scale  -  its how I feel about the size I am and how I fit in my clothes.  There’s no dream number for me, on the scale or on the clothes rack.  Women’s clothing sizes seem purposefully designed for us to make us feel insecure about ourselves.  I especially love that I’m now seeing “extra smalls” sitting beside the “extra larges” when I go shopping.  Thanks manufacturers, kick a big girl when she’s down.  Why can’t our clothes be more like men’s in terms of sizing – oh, and also in terms of durability. 

  • Anonymous

    Vanity sizing is so out of control.  I have a pair of old school 26 jeans with no give or stretch that I can barely zip, certainly couldn’t wear in public without shooting someone eye out with the button when I sit down and yet I fit into 22′s or 24′s in jeans depending on the cut and material.  Or I can wear a few “18′s” now in tops but when I hold them up to the 22/24 I still have from 15 years ago, it’s at least 2 sizes bigger.  So those size victories don’t really feel like the victories they should.  I don’t think the fashion industry is doing women any favors.  I’ll be thankful for going down a size but I’m a big girl, I can take the number on the tag.
     
    I would love to be at the point where numbers don’t matter but fact is, as long as there are weight limits to things I want to do like zipline or paraglide or have a “suggested” size/weight to ride a roller coaster, numbers are still going to be an issue for me. 

  • Gwen

    I think what is happening is that there is an entrenched idea that if you look good you must be a small size. 

    Since Kirstie looks amazing (her smile has always been a little mischievous which I think is one of the main things that knocks her sex-appeal out of the park compared to more generic actresses), she must thus be a small size.  But I think what should be taken away from Tom Gunn’s comment is that looking amazing does not necessarily mean that you are a small size, and that sizes don’t really mean anything consistent  or useful.

    That said, on the fitting into a bunch of different sizes things, it is frustrating, but in addition to some vanity sizing (a marketing tool for sure) I think that has to do a lot with cut which is totally not standardized.  For example, most women with the same waist size as me have a much smaller hip measurement than I do.

  • Rebecca Bond

    I HATE the obsession with celebrity weight, it is awful in the UK too. We’ve just had a whole TV series about the effect it’s had on one particular celebrity and she’s yo yo’d all over the place. It’s sad that the person isn’t considered, just their size.

  • http://twitter.com/christieinge Christie Inge

    love.

    That is all.

  • findaisy

    Kirstie looks great.

    It’s interesting that Tim Gunn decides to take a stand on the vanity issue size with Kirstie Alley rather than some other celebrity.

  • http://samanthasday.wordpress.com/ erinsgobragh

    I’m happy as long as I fit into the pants I have. As long as I am happy with myself there is no need to change.
    On the Kirstie Alley issue I think she looks amazing!

  • Katdoesdiets

    I’ve pretty much abandoned my weigh and size goals, been meaning to post about that for a while.

  • Shrinkella

    Seriously, who cares what the actual number is?  I am glad that she got healthy, and she looks great.  I have noticed the vanity sizing.  I also have noticed that lately, the plus size clothes are Size 1, 2, 3, etc., instead of 1X, 2X, 3X, or even 18, 20, 22.  I’m sure that change was made for vanity purposes too.

  • Mom-nom

    Bless that poor girls heart.  She has been getting it since the 80′s!  I actually bloggd today about this being nationl Weight Stigma Awareness Week, I’d love to hear your thoughts!  It speaks to the heart of this post…

  • Birddogs

    There was an article in Men’s Health a while ago showing how men are getting the “size flattery” too.  If you have a guy in your house, measure his waist and then go look at his jeans or slacks that are sized by inches.  It will probably NOT be the same.  And that is scary, because men all assume they are that size they see.

    I find it frustrating that I can buy 3 different sizes on the same shopping trip.  While some of it is the cut, one Large sweater will make me look like a sausage while the next one looks like I borrowed it from a sumo wrestler.  Good grief.  No wonder we have to take our friends shopping with us to make it bearable.

  • http://twitter.com/jm474 Inspiration

    Whatever size she is, she looks fantastic. 

  • http://hungrypumpkin.blogspot.com/ creatress

    GREAT post and I couldn’t agree with you more. I honestly don’t care what size I am. I care about how I feel in my own body and how my body makes me feel back. Does it bring pleasure to myself and those I love? Is it strong, or does it let me down? Your body isn’t this season’s latest must have bag, it’s your sacred vessel. I don’t have a “goal weight” or “target size.” Like you I’m working on implementing more exercise into my day and eating whole, healthy foods. I’m trying to make a lifestyle change for the better, not force my body to conform to someone else’s expectations. You can’t please all people all of the time anyway! You go girl!!!

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