Marilyn Monroe was thinner than most people believe she was. Somehow, a rumor got started that her figure was closer to that of the typical american woman of today. But looking at her dresses, that’s not true.

According to Things I Found Out, Monroe had a 22″ waist – about two to three inches less than the typical woman of her day and about 12″ (yes, twelve) less than the average woman of today. Her shape was still atypical and she often wore custom clothes that, arguably, were too tight. The dress she wore on the movie The Seven Year Itch couldn’t zip up on a size 2 mannequin. But according to the post, a 22″ waist would be less than a size zero today.

I’ve seen some images posted to my Facebook wall comparing Monroe to skinny models of today and horribly disfigured celebrities who are rail thin. But Monroe’s measurements are mostly in line with the typical model. The exception is her height: she was about 5′ 5″ tall where as most models are a good 3″ (or more) taller making the proportions different.

Check out Things I Found out for more interesting facts that I didn’t know. For example, Marilyn Monroe’s IQ was 163 but lacked a good education.