I think a size 8 for my height/frame is great. I am aiming for a 10 (I do have a booty & hips).

I think that at my size right now I am too big. I can wear 14W - 18. Just depends on who makes it/what store I buy it in.

I have recently started to change my way of thinking. I don't want to be thin. I want to be healthy. I want to fit into my clothes and wear them. Not have them wear me. I don't care what the scale says as long as I feel good and look good. Right now, I don't feel like I look good. That's why I'm trying to change.

I agree with the majority here when they say 14 - 10 is normal, anything below 10 is small. I just tell myself "marilyn monroe was a 14" and look how stunning she was! Back then curves were IN and HOT HOT HOT. Society now tells us we have to be a size 0 with boobs and a butt and that's just not reality.

I think when Marilyn Monroe wore a 14, it was much smaller than a 14 today. I found these stats for her - I don't know how accurate they are, but definitely not a size 14 today! My hips are bigger than that, and my waist much bigger, and I wear a 6.

Height: 5 feet, 5½ inches
Weight: 118-140 pounds
Bust: 35-37 inches
Waist: 22-23 inches
Hips: 35-36 inches
Bra size: 36D

For my body type and frame, a size 6 was big for me. 4 is standard and 2 is skinny, 0 is super skinny . When I wore a size 6, I was about 30 pounds overweight and very unhealthy. I am also 5'2", petite body type (and I'm a meso-endo) and frame. It really depends on your body type.

*FYI: I realize that these sizes are small, but it's because I am a small person!

As everyone else has said - it depends on each person.

My hips are wide compared to my waist. I have big thighs, a big rear, and hips. So my pants are usually perfect around the hips, but so loose around my legs. It's ridiculous.

To me anything 16 and up are big. 12-14 are slightly above average. I guess 8-10 are normal. And 4-6 would be skinny. Anything below would be small.

I am aiming for a 10 right now.

as a formerly plus size person... I consider 18+ to be large.. 8 and under skinny.. and everything inbetween average.

I agree with size 10 being normal.. im shooting for size 10
I started off tight 16.. now im in loose 14..
few more weeks in heading to size 12..
few more months! i will be a 10...
and i still have 35 lbs to lose.. depends on your body, how tall and such..
good luck

My sizes are about the same as musubi. I started at a size 8, but for others that's maybe even below where their goal should be. There are lots of really tall ladies on this board who that might look too thin at that size.

Also I've found that once you get closer to the end of the size ranges things get even more wacky than they normally are. Simply because some places stop at 2, some at 0, some at 00 and some places even do negatives.

Well reading through these posts it seems everyone has a different view. But really all that matters is how you see it yourself. What size do you think you would feel most comfortable and happy in? Maybe for you anything above that is uncomfortable or "Big" as you put it. To each his own!!
For me the perfect size is a 7-9, thats healthy and with some curves left and for me thats all I need know! =)

I think a size 2 for me fits well. I have been struggling SO hard to fit into a size zero just for vanity sake... I was smart enough to realize how stupid this was - that extra pant size is definitely not worth my sanity!

Yeah, I guess I would pretty much agree with that. However, sizes vary so greatly it really doesn't matter. I'm currently wearing 16's (sorta..they need altered for a second time but whatever), 14's and 10's. I guess in my head 8's are normal, 10's are pushing it and above that is big. I'm big. I know I could easily wear a size 6. I'm a little person so that would be perfectly normal. A size 4 could be doable too. I don't see me going any lower than that because I've got a big butt and I plan to keep it.

It just depends so much on height and body type. I look pretty normal when I'm a size 12 because A. I'm tall enough to pull it off and B. I carry my weight in my stomach, so when I'm a size 12 I have skinny legs and arms.

However, when my best friend got up to a size 12 she looked obese because she's six inches shorter than I am and carries a lot of weight in her legs and arms.

Objectively, we look about the same level of skinnyness/fatness when I'm a 12 and she's an 8.

Anyway, when I went from size 16 to 14 I felt like that was the shift for me from fat to overweight, and all of a sudden I could see the difference in the mirror (which I hadn't seen before even though I'd lost 30 lbs). Also, when I moved to a size 14 shopping was fun again for the first time in three years. It was a glorious time.

For me, I can see and feel the shift between a 12 and a 14. The only time I was ever a size 10 was when I was 17 and prom dress shopping - I can be a 10 in dresses b/c they tend to be looser on my hips/thighs/butt. Big thighs run in my family and even though my legs can be toned, they'll always be a bit bigger.

My view of what's "normal" is what's normal for me. I'm only 5'3 but I'm currently a 14/16. I have freakin huge hips and know that I will probably never be in the single digits, and honestly feel I would look terrible in an 8. The last time I was in an 8 I was in 7th grade and I was 4'11 and didn't look overweight (just slightly chubby). I remember my freshman year of high school I got a "plus-sized" catalogue in the mail from a company associated with one I had ordered clothes from. Their plus sizes ran from 8-16 in juniors. I remember crying for hours because I realized I would never be a "normal" size by their standards. I've since realized that normal is all relative.

This is a great point. My BFF is a 10/12 and she is about 5' taller than me and looks amazing. I'm that same size and look quite overweight. Strange.