Why is 5'4 considered small for a woman online

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 5'9" and I'm not an extreme outlier in my workplace or social groups - lots of women are around my height, though rarely taller. My sister is an outlier at 5'11".

I don't know who is included in the CDC average but I wonder if it's skewed by an older population (prior generations not as tall + older individuals shrinking).

"For a U.S. female adult population, the mean height is approximately 64.5 inches with a standard deviation of 2.5 inches, meaning that about 68% of women are within this range, 95% fall within two standard deviations (60-70 inches), and 99.7% are within three standard deviations (57.5-72.5 inches). This follows a normal distribution (bell curve) where the most frequent height is the average, with fewer women at shorter or taller heights."

You don't feel like an "extreme outlier" because you aren't. 5'9" is less than two standard deviations from the mean.

[Anonymous]

5'4" and under is considered petite for women who are shopping for clothes. Fewer clothes are made for petite sizes. This doesn't make sense when the average height for women in this country is actually under 5'4". Why are more clothes made for fewer people?

[Anonymous]

Why is the typical fashion model so tall when most women aren't that tall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5'4" and under is considered petite for women who are shopping for clothes. Fewer clothes are made for petite sizes. This doesn't make sense when the average height for women in this country is actually under 5'4". Why are more clothes made for fewer people?

Petite is a proportional body shape. It's not just about height. It means thinner, shorter torso, narrower shoulders etc. Most Americans are overweight and unlikely to be petite even if they are shorter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is the typical fashion model so tall when most women aren't that tall?

Because weird, unusual things can read as beautiful. Look up hot, rodent boyfriend

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is the typical fashion model so tall when most women aren't that tall?

There oughta be a law!

BTW, the OP is probably the height troll that this forum sees.

[Anonymous]

I'm 5' 8.5 and consider myself tall. But when I walk around I'm sure no one's thinking, "now there's a really tall woman" the way they would if a woman who is 6' or taller walks by. That's an outlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is the typical fashion model so tall when most women aren't that tall?

Because tall, thin women create appealing lines in photographs and can act as a better "hanger" for designer clothes. Clothes look more elegant on longer frames.

Even as the fashion industry has diversified model body types some, especially in catalogue modeling (which should be called website modeling now since those photos mostly wind up on store websites), they still use tall models. Like if you go to Target or Everlane online and they have a size 12 model in the clothes, she's usually still at least 5'9". Because the clothes will just drape and hang better on a taller frame regardless of body type.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 5' 8.5 and consider myself tall. But when I walk around I'm sure no one's thinking, "now there's a really tall woman" the way they would if a woman who is 6' or taller walks by. That's an outlier.

As someone explained up thread: you are taller than the median but only a couple standard deviations taller, so you are not an outlier but you are still on the taller side of the bell curve. Most women are shorter than you and only a very small number of women (who are outliers) are taller.

Likewise, a woman who is 5'0" isn't going to catch stares for being super short but she's still shorter than most women and only a small number of women are shorter than she is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5'4" and under is considered petite for women who are shopping for clothes. Fewer clothes are made for petite sizes. This doesn't make sense when the average height for women in this country is actually under 5'4". Why are more clothes made for fewer people?

Petite is a proportional body shape. It's not just about height. It means thinner, shorter torso, narrower shoulders etc. Most Americans are overweight and unlikely to be petite even if they are shorter

You’re not wrong, but PP is talking about how clothing brands use the term, and at many stores the “petite” sizes are just shorter. It’s weird to have to shop in “petites” (which usually has fewer options) when you’re average height.

[Anonymous]

5'8" is average

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5'4" and under is considered petite for women who are shopping for clothes. Fewer clothes are made for petite sizes. This doesn't make sense when the average height for women in this country is actually under 5'4". Why are more clothes made for fewer people?

Petite is a proportional body shape. It's not just about height. It means thinner, shorter torso, narrower shoulders etc. Most Americans are overweight and unlikely to be petite even if they are shorter

This is true, though also petite seems to mean something different depending on the brand. I am 5'5" and will shop petites in some brands because they fit more narrowly and I have very narrow shoulders and hips and a flat chest. But it only works in some brands. Or in some brands jackets and tops fit me well but I'd never try the petite pants. If you look at their sizing descriptions, you'll see this range -- some brands list 5'4" and below as petite but others will go shorter than that, like 5'2" and below, which will be too short for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5'8" is average

This is only true if you are talking about a range. 5'1" - 5'8" is average for women -- something like 98% of all women fall in this range. But 5'8" is not average in the sense that half of women are taller and half of women are shorter -- a 5'8" woman is taller than most women with only a few outliers who are taller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5'5-5'8 is generally considered "Average"
so taller is tall and shorter is short. Sorry.

For a woman?! No. 5’8 is very very tall for a woman. Average for a man (or very close to it).

Only a short person would think that 5'8 is very, very tall for a woman. 5'8 is rather short for a man.

Well, 5’8 is 95% for women so not sure what you would call it other than very tall? You don’t sound very smart.

You seem triggered by a relatively silly thread. What's your angle? Do you want to be seen as tall or short? Let us know so we can address you as such and move on to actual important thing. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5'4" and under is considered petite for women who are shopping for clothes. Fewer clothes are made for petite sizes. This doesn't make sense when the average height for women in this country is actually under 5'4". Why are more clothes made for fewer people?

Petite is a proportional body shape. It's not just about height. It means thinner, shorter torso, narrower shoulders etc. Most Americans are overweight and unlikely to be petite even if they are shorter

You’re not wrong, but PP is talking about how clothing brands use the term, and at many stores the “petite” sizes are just shorter. It’s weird to have to shop in “petites” (which usually has fewer options) when you’re average height.

I'm 5'6 and not petite by height standards, but I have a short waist. Petite blouses fit my short waist better than regular ones. In contrast, my long legs could never pull off petite pants. Most of my height is comprised of my legs.