I know I'm a bit late weighing in but just a short additional comment...

I read somewhere (sorry I can't come up with the attribution) that it was
common to refer to the garment as the 'waist' so an 14 inch measurement
could well mean the measurement of the fabric of the garment, edge to edge
with no lacing gap, as opposed to the measurement of the body.  Did I
remember this correctly?

Also note that although the height of people may not have differed as much
as many think (see bed length discussion) the average body size has
increased greatly in just the past 20 or thirty years.  According to the
women's retail industry, the average woman's size in America is 12to14.
This makes a great difference in our conception of what is 'small'.

Sarah Andrews
Wilson House

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