Marilyn Monroe real dress size, measurements, weight? really size 16?

The Marilyn Monroe size 16 myth: What size was she really by today’s standards?

Aug, 10, 2012 | AUTHOR: Lynn Cinnamon; | Related : Body Issues, Health and Beauty, Marilyn Monroe, Style and Fashion

Sure, beauty icon Marilyn Monroe had curves, but there is a pop culture myth, propped up by quotes from Roseanne Barr and Elizabeth Hurley, that she was much larger than she really was. It’s all a complicated misunderstanding.

The claim is that Marilyn was a size 16 (which people think of in today’s size standards.) While sometimes Marilyn did appear to have a fuller figure, she almost always looked tiny.

For instance, Chloe Marshall, who was the first size 16 girl to compete in Miss England, is a lovely representation of what a 16 size is today:

Here’s Marilyn Monroe at what was probably her heaviest:

Possibly a size 10 or 12 by today’s sizing, but the truth is during most of her career, Marilyn was more slim than this.

There’s a lot that goes into the confusion about Marilyn’s size and weight. The argument is that our perception of beauty as a society has changed to prefer waif-thin girls over 1950′s hourglass pinup shapes. What’s odd about that is the fact that our population as a whole has gotten much bigger since the 50s, and clothing manufacturers have actually changed the sizes to be more kind to our egos. Maybe at one point Marilyn did wear a size 16 dress, but it was probably more of what a size 12 is today.

Here are the quotes that really pumped up the Marilyn plump myth:

Roseanne Barr:

“I’m more sexy than Pamela Lee or whoever else they’ve got out there these days. Marilyn Monroe was a size 16. That says it all.”

Elizabeth Hurley:

“I’ve always thought Marilyn Monroe looked fabulous, but I’d kill myself if I was that fat…I went to see her clothes in the exhibition, and I wanted to take a tape measure and measure what her hips were. She was very big.”

That’s strange, because many others have also reported back from actually measuring an owning her clothes, and those reports paint a much different story than what Elizabeth Hurley is speculating about.

There’s are also Marilyn’s measurements from her dressmaker:

Height: 5 feet, 5½ inches

Weight: 118-140 pounds (Hollywood studios listed her between 115-120 lbs.)
Bust: 35-37 inches
Waist: 22-23 inches
Hips: 35-36 inches
Bra size: 36D

Hmm, so her waist never got above 23 inches, and her hips never got beyond 36.

When British Journalist Sara Buys actually tried on Marilyn Monroe’s clothes, here’s what she experienced:

Contrary to received wisdom, she was not a voluptuous size 16 – quite the opposite. While she was undeniably voluptuous – in possession of an ample bosom and a bottom that would look at home gyrating in a J-Lo video – for most of the early part of her career, she was a size 8 and even in her plumper stages, was no more than a 10. I can tell you this from experience because a few weeks ago, I tried to try on her clothes.

British sizes are also different from American sizes, as in they are less forgiving. A British size 8 is actually an American size 4, a 10 is a 6.

Daven Hiskey on the website todayIfoundout.com notes that Marilyn’s infamous Seven Year Itch white dress was too small to fit on a size 2 mannequin. He also noted that many times her clothes were so tight she had to be sewn into them. Often she was wearing what would be considered now to be a size 2, when she probably would be more comfortable with a 4.

So why worry about all this? Because the truth behind myths matter, and in a society that’s full of body conscious young women it’s better to know that if you’re a size 16 you’re not going to look like Marilyn Monroe, because she was a size 4. It’s also important to know that Marilyn Monroe was not overweight in any way, and if your body does resemble hers, neither are you.

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seamstress

Marilyn Monroe was not a size 16 or 14 or 12. she had a smaller upper body and little bit curvier bottom. she was a size 8 in todays standards in the us. so lets say marilyn monroe was alive today and strolled into the bebe store, she would wear small or medium tops and size 8 bottom.
Ashley

Thank you, I don’t know how many women’s bubble I had to pop when they throw out that MM was a size 16 when trying to make them feel better about their size while they were trying to put down mine.. I’m 5’7, 115lbs and size a 2.

Not that being bigger than me is bad but what they were saying was false.
Nathan

I’m tired of obese women trying to call themselves “curvy” and using women like MM who was actually curvy to justify their obesity. I’m also tired of strawman arguments about size 0 models who look like skeletons. Just because a woman who looks like a skeleton isn’t attractive doesn’t mean that being fat is better. There is something in between.
- girl101
  
  I completely agree with you!
  - Alisha
    
    EXACTLY! I’m 5’2 and have always been on the small size… ppl “teased” me for years saying how skinny I was and that I needed to eat.. I put on tons of muscle and hit my highest of 119 lb @ 4’9. That is the biggest I’ve ever been.. now that I’m not very active I stay under 105 lb :/ so the names have returned. Thankfully I am now married and he liked me even when I was toned and saw me change lol. But being FAT is not okay just like starving urself is not okay. I am also top heavy so i don’t get picked on much anymore but I shouldn’t have to be fat to be considered a woman. Puh.. ppl and their excuses to justify being lazy. You either love yourself or don’t.. trying to compare yourself to someone else *especially someone from a much different era* will not validate anything.
Brittany

Of course Elizabeth Hurley thinks MM was huge, she is super skinny!
I have never heard of MM being a size 16, only an 8. I have no clue how anyone could ever think she was a size 16. She has always looked thin to me.
Heather

I’m 5’7 and 180 pounds, I am a size 14. I don’t see where they think being a size 16,18,22, or whatever is bad. who are we to judge anyone? Size doesn’t matter, the person inside is what matters.
whoa

Elizabeth Hurley should feel ashamed of herself for saying what she did. To come out and say “i’d kill myself…” in a time where there are people killing themselves for not fitting in to the “norms” that people put out there is awful. She is a prime example of what is wrong with many women today.
I think Marilyn was gorgeous and had a great figure, but people like Roseanne need to stop using her as an example because they aren’t curvy they are overweight or obese. There is a huge difference and it seems that too many girls use it as an excuse these days.
- uh
  
  umm how is it an excuse? what does it matter to you if they’re overweight or obese? i’m tired of people saying others can’t label their body as they wish. there is a huge difference between caring about their health (obesity can cause other problems) and just being a judgmental ahole.
  - whoa
    
    there is a huge difference in being curvy and healthy as someone who is obese and not healthy. When you seem women who are just overall large using the term “curvy” to make their size acceptable then it is too much. I am not saying acceptable as in for vanity purposes I mean the fact that it is unhealthy. Attaching curvy to your description isn’t going to make all the extra weight any healthier, but there are women out there that believe saying they are curvy makes their size perfectly fine.
Dre

Sizes have grown commercially over the years. I wear a size 8 if I go shopping at, say, GAP. But if I get measured and get something tailored? I’m a 12. There’s a difference.
Courtney

Elizabeth Hurley’s comments DISGUSTED me! What a bitchy back handed compliment! Just because she started her comment saying she thinks MM “looked fabulous” but then says she’d “kill herself if she was ever that fat”!?! Elizabeth Hurley is piece of shhhhh! I’m seriously PISSED at Hurley!
- Jo
  
  stay jealous, fatty. Liz has more talent and beauty in her whole (fit) body than the most overrated attention whoring homewrecker of all time had in her whole body.
  - Serena
    
    You are a bitch. What are you like a size 2? Marilyn Monroe was a great woman of all time, hence the fact that she is famous and your not. No one is jealous of a skinny, rude woman like Elizabeth. Get over yourself hun!!!
Serena

I love Marilyn Monroe’s body and whatever her size is she is still curvy not skinny. I hate that models today represent and practically promote anorexia. I mean who’s idea of beauty was it to make a size 0,2 or 4 the best size. I rather be curvy and have a body. We as women are suppose to be curvy!!! Not skinny sticks. So to people who hate on bigger women and think bad things of Marilyn Monroe go screw yourselves!!!!!!!
- Alisha
  
  It’s easier to carry tons of clothes for shows if the models are roughly the same body type. If they have to switch or replace ladies it’s easier too. Ditto for photo shoots etc, if you go higher in size the body types vary much more… And not all 0-4 are sticks… some of us have natural D’s.
- Kathy
  
  not all women are the same so not all women are supposed to be curvy like you say. i’m naturally a size two and don’t starve myself i sometimes eat more than some people. I’ve been skinny all of my life and it’s just the way i am. the only way i can look bigger is by gaining muscle because food doesn’t really make me gain fat, it actually speeds up my metabolism making maintaining my weight at 98-105. i have a curvy body everything proportionate. c cup, medium size panties so not all women have to be curvy. some are thin, some are curvy, and some are big. that’s how God made us, you know.
  - kathy
    
    * moderately curvy
- obviously
  
  Marilyn Monroe was skinny and curvy, and not all 0s to 4 are just sticks, to have curves depends on your waist, bust and hip measurements. Most women aren’t curvy today as waist lines are bigger, making women look square, not curvy. Models do not promote anorexia, it’s your own view of it all that can make you think such, I grew up with the mags too and not once did I feel I had to be skinnier, its how your parents raise you too, people can stop blaming naturally skinny women for anorexia. I have binge eating disorder, now do i blame every thing that has food in it for my disorder?
Lolli Hara

I dislike it when obese , overweight woman call themselves “curvy”. I thought that term was reserved for people like MM and Beyonce etc . MM is “curvy” – not weighing 190 while being 5’5. After the hijacked term curvy where does that leave hourglass girls like me who aren’t fat but aren’t “willowy”.

I mean girls who shape relatively close to MM’s size. Small waist, wide hips and a sizable chest. I’m a size 3-4 with natural very high C’s. I ain’t skinny. I’m no where near fat. I’m curvy……………

.Plus I’m a photographer and the photo of beautiful of MM in her white one piece is taken very low and close to her legs with the lense. The perspective will make the closest thing to the camera large, like her legs and hips. So even in that photo, her hips are much tinier than that.
alex

Im only 7 lbs overweight and losing. I have a great and rarely seen hourglass figure. I measure 37-27.5-39.5. Ive already had quite a few men tell me id be their dream girl. Im a size 8 on top 10 on bottom. If i went down one more size my body would be just like marylins.