“Americans are getting bigger. Nearly one in three Americans meets the American Medical Association’s classification of “obese.” In 1962, a woman weighing 199 pounds ranked in the 95th percentile for weight and had an average hip width of 17.1 inches. By 2000, women in the 95th percentile weighed 27 pounds more — 226 pounds — and their hip width grew 2.6 inches. During that same period, 95th-percentile females grew an inch taller.
A man in 1962 weighing 217 pounds ranked in the 95th percentile for weight and had an average hip width of 15.9 inches. By 2000, men in the 95th percentile were 27 pounds heavier — 244 pounds — and their hip width grew 1.3 inches. During that same period, 95th-percentile males grew 1.2 inches taller.”
I read these statistics on a website dealing with car design. I thought that this was odd that this type of information was being gathered for cars then I thought that if clothing manufacturers use the same type information to design mannequins then why not for cars. The whole point saying this is to say that somewhere outside of the plus size community there are those that are realizing that people are bigger.
The data used was compiled by Ford Motor Company and the Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry Resource (CAESAR) to design a CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) program that would help Ford to build vehicle with all size ranges in mind. Though it was not designed specifically for plus sizes, the fact that it includes plus sizes in the measurements means that a major company has noticed that its customers are bigger today than they were in years past and they are using today’s technology to help them meet a need.
“Ford has developed an industry-first set of nine human computer-aided design (CAD) virtual mannequins aimed at representing the population’s more extreme body dimensions. The company is using the CAD models to ensure its vehicles meet customer wants, such as unprecedented amounts of storage space in front-seat consoles, while accommodating the greatest range of body types.”
I know this has nothing to do with the fashion industry at least at this point but if a car manufacturer can design a computer program to help them build vehicles to me larger body types then this same model can be used in the clothing industry. There would for the first time actually be regulation in clothes so that a size 18 will be true to size no matter what designer label is put on the clothing.
The ripple effect is far reaching in my opinion because going shopping for plus size ladies will not be a stressful experience with there being across the board standardization of sizes. Maybe once Ford gets done designing vehicles they will be nice enough to share there cutting edge technology with the fashion industry.
