What size is the average UK bride?

WOW.... !!! what has happened to Hitched lately..?? where's the love gone??

Why does everyone care what size they are? It should be about what's inside that counts. If you're confident your man will love you.

Before anyone assumes it was me that emailed.. it wasn't! I was busy eating mince pies and drinking 300 cups of tea.

Sorry you had a sh*tty day made even sh*tter, CB.

Why is it that people pick on you (or CB) in this case when they are down... does it make them feel better kicking someone when they are feeling low anyway.... GOD it makes me angry!

CB is a classy lady, she will rise above such pettiness

Nor me, in case I am labelled resident witch. I'll only say things to people's (virtual) faces in a public forum.

Gosh, that's totally unecessary, sorry you had to deal with that on top of a cr*ppy day CB - only just seen your post in OT, how horrible.

*caaaaaaaaaaan you feeeeeeeeeeel the looooooooooooove tonight this afternooooooooooooooooooon*

No Laura, I completely agree with you. If someone has something to say, they should say it in a thread, and try to in a non-personal way. I also agree that it's a cowardly way to go about things - if you're prepared to say something you should do it in open air and face the consequences! I don't know what's happenned to this place - agressive messages and horrible threads started about people? I've never seen anything like it whilst I've been here. People just seem to be getting overly personally involved in threads - I don't understand why people aren't able to think "okay, I disagree with that post" rather than "that poster is a bad person". I also don't think it's particularly valuable for people to speculate on who messaged CB. It's her choice as to whether to name the person, and imo idle speculation will just fuel further discord.

Just seen your thread on O/T CB, that's a terrible thing to have happenned. I experienced a similar situation, which I don't really want to go into on detail here, but things will ease, for both of you, although it will take time. I know that sounds like a cliche, but there is another side to get through, and to be happy.

I know this thread is getting a bit long winded now but just wanted to say something

Why do people feel its ok to say that a size zero woman looks disgusting/unapealing yet if you say the same about a size 20 woman you get slated!

MrsBarnett2b, there was a thread about that a couple of months ago - I'm not sure it may have been before you joined, and I think the overall concensus was that people aspire to being slim, so don't recognise that criticism will be genuinely hurtful. The problem with size 0 mannequins for me is that they will give no indication of what a dress will look like on me, who isn't, so I'd rather see a range of sized models used.

I don't think anyone has said that size 0 is disgusting or unappealing.

Lots of people have said it is unhealthy- which it is. I don't know anyone this size (uk 4), the slimmest people I know are 6, and they are this size because they are slight build and are not unhealthy looking.

To get to size 0 (unless any of you here know otherwise) one would have to be dieting when no necessary (i.e. someone who is an 8/10 on a diet) and therefore becoming malnourished.

I think that it is wrong to use models that are so obviously ill in this way. I can see why slim models are used and don't object, I just think that size 0 is taking it too far.

For the record, I don't think that obese women should be models either, as this is also not healthy. I would avoid saying something like this for fear of causing offence to anyone, but I would not mind saying what I did about size 0 as I don't know if any such ladies exist in the real world.

People have said that a size zero is unattractive, on this post and many others. Im not having a go at these people as they a entilted to these opinions, and to be honest i agree with them. It just seems that if i was to say 'a size 18 is unattractive' people would think i was being unacceptable (this isnt what i think by the way, just using it as an example).

A lot of people do think it's acceptable though...

CB, I hope you have forwarded the email on to a mod?

I think that "unattractive" is a different word altogether than "unappealing" and I would stand by what I said.

People don't like to cause offence. I know many size 18s but no size 4s, therefore I would not slate size 18 but may slate size 4!

Not that I am saying I want to slate size 18, I think attractiveness depends on the person (hair, face, personality etc).

But a size 18 isn't completely out of the norm is it? If it was a size 30 you were talking about then yes, that would be unhealthy. As it is I have friends who are size 16/18 and are in really great health.

I have a friend in the US who is the equivalent of a uk size 34, and yes she's heavy but she has perfect blood pressure, cholestorol and everything - she's just big and always has been. The fact she's 5ft 9 is also relevant.

So if to you a 16/18 is healthy but a 30 isn't you still have a point where you think size switches from "ok" to "not ok" (or "attractive/not attractive) - and that's no different from saying a size zero is or isn't ok.

At the end of it, we're all human, so yes we may have our preferences but that's all they are - simple as that.

I know what your trying to say, i dont think i have worded things very well. There are plenty of people in the world that are a size zero (Uk 4) alot through no fault of their own. I know somebody personally and maybe there are'nt any on hitched but that doesnt mean they dont exist in real life, and although they are unhealthy, so are some obese people and i dont think we have a right to say either are unattractive.

I think being a size 34 and healthy is going to be out of the norm, yes?

I am basing all of my medical facts on the qualiiiiity telly vision programme "Fat Families" btw.

And yes, I do think that the more overweight you get the less attractive you get. I'm not talking about a few pounds overweight (extremely thin men do nothing for me for example) but morbid obesity is hardly sexy is it? I put on loads and loads of weight in my early 20s when I was in a terrible relationship and gah, I can hardly look at pictures of myself I look so gross.

Above average? Certainly.

Abnormal? Probably not the best word to use, would you consider a disabled person "abnormal"? There is no such thing as a 'normal' human

I think most people were saying that because they are unhealthy then they shouldn't be used as models. I myself said the same thing. You have also agreed that this is not healthy! I don't think that people with eating disorders (starving or binging) should be used as examples of what a perfect person should look like.

I was answering your question about why people say X is attractive yet Y isn't, the perception is that no-one really is a size 4 yet there are plenty of size 18s so it's therefore OK to say whatever about size 0s. I am not saying that this is a good or bad thing, just explaining the behaviour.

Err steady on with the disabled talk there, that wasn't a subject I was discussing and I am not even going there.

"Above average" is putting it lightly. At UK size 34 a person is going to be super morbidly obese. That will involve a much higher risk of heart and liver problems and I would imagine a much tougher life to lead.

That's purely your personal opinion and not something you can put down as a generalisation for everyone. I certainly disagree, that's for sure.

We've already been through the "its fine to say fat people are unattractive but thin people by their very nature of being thin are attractive". It's actually a modern invention - go back a few years and a woman with 'good child bearing hips' were definitely something to aim for. Go back a few centuries too and being of a more fuller figure was a sign of wealth. Henry 8th was a great example!

Some people do find the larger woman far more attractive, and the larger the better, although that's starting to stray into the fetish territory which is probably not appropriate to discuss in any great depth on here.

and some people have a thing for toasters, now that is extreme fetishism ;-)

Definitely tougher, but in most cases down to fat prejudice from people that have absolutely no clue making a judgement on that person that their weight must be because they sit in front of the telly all day stuffing double cheeseburgers and drinking 20 litres of coke.

It's wrong to make fun of people because of their sexuality, their religion, their disability, their lifestyle choices, their racial identity - but "pick on the fattie" is very much still fair game to most people.

I hate the media perception that thinner is better just as much as you, AJ. But that is never going to get me to agree that overweight is healthier. Or for me more attractive. Some model with tin ribs does nothing for me. Extremes of both sides of the spectrum are horrible. Give me a woman with more to her anyday, Liza Tarbuck phwooooooar. She is gorgeous. Kate Moss, for me, does nothing.

I have fabulous child bearing hips myself and would never aim to be the 8 stone anorexic looking waif I was when I was 18.

And I would never make fun of someone for their size. I have fat friends, thin friends, tall friends, short friends, friends into classical music, friends into punk. Life's rich tapestry is amazing

That's not what I'm saying though - although there is of course a point where weight/size below a certain point is unhealthy just as much as over a certain point is - but the simple truth is that we don't know why someone is overweight, it isn't always down to a sedentary lifestyle and bad diet (and I'm not just talking the size 34's here) so we aren't really in a position to pass judgement.

As long as you're healthy it doesn't matter what size you are.

The only reason I worry is because of health. One of my friend's is very slim, and the only reason I take any notice is because I worry about him! He eats, I think, it's just his metabolism, but I can't help worry about him. Similarly, my best friend is a size 22 and very unhappy with her weight. I think she's beautiful but it's how she feels in herself. Plus her mum, who is around the same size, is a recently diagnosed Type 2 diabetic, which I think worries her a lot.

We're not going to all agree on this issue, that's clear, but I think whoever emailed CB is taking it waaaay too far! x

Yes i have agreed that size 0 is unhealthy , my original point wasn't about people saying it was unhealthy, it was about people saying it was unattractive, which again i peronally agree with and have no problems with people saying. My point was why aren't we aloud to say a size 20 is unattractive. I know there are more size 20's on here than 4's but as i said this doesn't mean they dont exist and doesnt always mean they are anorexic/bulimic. A friend of my sisters is a size 4 and she is neither of these, just naturaly very very slim, as are many other women.

If someone is naturally a size 4 (and I do know someone who is, she eats like a horse but stays the same) then that's how they are. But if someone forces their body to slim down that much, in an unhealthy way, that's when it becomes scary I think x