Marilyn Monroe's 'plus size' story that never was
Marilyn Monroe was neither 'curvy' nor 'plus size'. When was the false inspiring myth born?
The debate about the change of the canons of beauty over time can be dangerous, especially when you do not have all the information about the old models, as is the case of the 'plus size' story of Marilyn Monroe. For a long time, the actress has become the protagonist of the 'curvy' or 'plus size' movement, as an inspiring body but Marilyn was never 'chubby'.
There are many Monroe quotes in which she supposedly mentions her weight and the importance of loving oneself, but nothing is further from the truth, of many of those quotes there is no audiovisual or written document that proves these statements. As explained by the digital magazine PlayGround, phrases like: "To all the girls who think you are fat because you are not a size zero, you are pretty, it is society that is ugly", they are practically impossible, since at that time there was no such thing as a size zero.
On the other hand, it is true that photographs of the actress with a curvy body have emerged, but what they do not count is that these images were from when the Hollywood blonde was pregnant. In fact, the actress was characterized by having one of her smallest waists, and this is demonstrated by the exhibitions on her suits. Most likely, currently her dresses will be cut below 34 or 36. Even her tailor revealed the measurements of the actress 88.9 – 55.8 – 88.9 and according to her study 93.9–58.4–91.4. Something that shocks, since the perfect measurements of a top model today are 90-60-90.
If you see the films that the Hollywood blonde shot in most of them, the actress is far from being curvy and less than being a plus size model as some claim. As we mentioned, it is true that in some images she appears with a few extra kilos, and in most of them they are caused by her pregnancies. The actress suffered from a strong endiometrosis that caused the natural abortion of up to twelve pregnancies. The physical and emotional pain caused by the disease and its consequences led her to a life of excesses and, as a consequence, to die of a drug overdose.
Others also claim that the years in which the actress gained weight were due to the depression that she suffered after the loss of babies. Of the 53 kg that she weighed, Marilyn reached 63 kg at some point due to said depression. A weight that, despite being ten kilos above normal, is far from being a 'plus size' pattern.
THE ORIGIN OF THE CONFUSION
The size of clothing has been changing over time. In the 1950s, size 12 (Marilyn's) was equivalent to a 16 today, and size 12 in Europe is a 42, so if the 12 before was the 16 today, the latter is equivalent to a 46.
Far from reality, after the 50s came the marketing of the 80s and the brands realized that increasing the sizes would increase their sales, since the clients would feel thinner. So, if the actress was a size 12, she would actually fit an S. Although, as her personal tailor explains, Marilyn's measurements were so exceptional that she had to have her clothes altered in most occasions. Hence part of her fame, for having an exceptional body that did not follow any size.
