Blogged, not bogged …
In my very first blog post as President of CWA I talked about being blogged or bogged and what our predecessors would have thought about terminologies used today. I’m only re-visiting this because I needed to use the term blogged. As in I’m blogged out. Too many other things going on! Including some rain. Nowhere near enough to get seriously bogged though!
I have found for your entertainment, a very interesting article from one of our old Journals that I hope you will enjoy and I will endeavour to have some remarkably intelligent and witty dialogue for you by next week … well maybe only witty … or not? I’ll think of something …
THE COUNTRY WOMAN, MAY 1974
So, What’s New?
A Sydney television channel recently despatched a woman reporter, armed with a bra of truly gargantuan proportions, to a department store, where she accosted a number of shoppers. Having told them that, when metric sizes are applied to bras, a bust measurement of 34in will become 87 cm*, she held out her “prop” – presumably an 87in bra – and asked them what they thought of ‘an 87″.
The reaction to this light-hearted gag was fairly predictable. Some women giggled, others doubted that they would “ever understand it”, one young woman seemed favourably disposed to the idea of being “an 87”, and one man said with considerable, if perhaps unconscious, acumen that it didn’t matter – “it will be just the same, won’t it?”
It will, indeed, be “just the same”. Women will not change; they will continue to select a bra that fits, just as we all will continue to “try on” most things before buying them.
The Metric Conversion Board’s discussion with manufacturers of bras began back in 1972. The task was to decide on a range of sizes to replace 34in, 36in, etc (A, B and C cups) – increments of 2in. Incidentally, it is quite obvious that women’s bust measurements do not vary in increments and, therefore, it is equally obvious that some women find it easier to obtain bras that fit comfortably than do other women. The eventual decision to introduce a range of sizes in 5 cm increments – 85 cm, 90 cm, 95 cm, etc (A, B and C cups) – meant that certainly no fewer women would be able to find a bra that fitted almost perfectly, as the metric increments are slightly less 5 cm = 1.968in.
The metric range is now progressively replacing imperial sizes. It is expected that 12 months from now Australian women will “have gone metric” in this important area.
It is not only bras that are appearing in metric sizes. Women’s, children’s and infants’ metric sized clothing is becoming increasingly available. Men’s metric sizes will become prevalent a little later. It should be emphasised that the women’s clothing code is unaffected. For example, the woman who is a size 12 will continue to be a size 12 – unless, of course, she herself “puts on” a few additional kilograms!
Nor are shoe sizes affected. Socks and hose sized to fit shoe sizes remain unchanged, too, although inch sizes will be converted to centimetres.
For the woman who makes some of her own, or her children’s clothes, 4 March was an important date. From that date all piece goods – dress materials, curtain materials, furnishing fabrics, etc was sold by the metre and tenth of a metre (10 cm).
“Going metric” in the apparel sector will cause scarcely a ripple. The best advice to a customer in doubt is the same as it has always been: “Try it on, or ask an assistant”.
* NOTE: No woman will be “an 87”. The “34” will be an “85”, the “36” will be a “90”.
Courtesy MBC Newsletter
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