A strange mythology has sprung up over actress and model Marilyn Monroe's dress size. For decades people have said Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 back in the 1950s. However, in more recent years, Elizabeth Hurley (2000) and Roseanne Barr (1996) have claimed Monroe was a size 16. (snopes.com)
This notion has become popular with overweight women who justify their size 12s, 14s and 16s as making them the same size as Marilyn Monroe. One only has to look at old newspaper photos to question the "plus-size Marilyn myth." We've all seen Monroe in movies and photos with her voluptuous chest and hips... and slender, even delicate, arms, legs, neck and waist. Although her weight fluctuated slightly over the years, is it possible her dainty hour-glass figure was ever a size 16?
Google offers a page of links to this same quote: "Her measurements were recorded by her dressmaker as 36-23-37 and sometimes fluctuated between that and 36-24-37." (the-lovely-marilyn-monroe) None of the websites had an official reference for this fact, but old photos of Monroe back this up. In addition, those measurements would probably have been a voluptuous size 12 fifty years ago before the current chronic obesity of America caused the phenomena known as vanity sizing -- changing smaller sizes to fit larger women.
Snopes.com deflates the idea Marilyn Monroe was ever a 16 by pointing out "today's size 10 dress is smaller than the size 10 dress of 50 years ago" (vanity sizing). The same report goes on to say fashion editor Sara Buys had the opportunity to try on some of Marilyn Monroe's clothes in 2009 and reported they were predominantly size 8s with some dresses from Monroe's "plumper stages" a size 10.
According to available data including movies and photos of the iconic actress, it is possible Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 in the 1950s. Today's vanity sizing would probably make Monroe a healthy size 8 or 10 now. Her photos show a trim waist in relation to her height -- an indication that her body mass index was well within appropriate limits.
Don't let myths about Marilyn Monroe's size stop you from being a healthy weight. More important that what size dress Marilyn wore is your own body mass index. Stay tuned for how to determine your own body mass index.
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