Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Clothes and Movie Magic

The character of Phoebe is supposed to be 12-year-old. Her brother Trevor is supposed to be 15. I know more about being a 12-year-old girl in terms of clothes than the average 12-year-old girl and most adults, and I can tell you that during “Ghostbusters:Afterlife” that the new generation of ghostbusters put on the uniforms of the old ones, that they will not magically fit. Especially for Phoebe, the fit will not even be close.

Let me explain why. Bill Murray is about six-foot-2 and about 180 lbs. Harold Ramis was about the same height and weight. Ernie Hudson is about six-foot. Dan Aykroyd is about six-foot-a and 180 lbs.

Finn Wolfhard is 18 and five-foot-10 inches and a lanky 130 lbs. He’s taller than either my husband or my brother so I don’t have anything to go by here except common sense. Something that fits someone who was about two inches taller and 50 lbs. heavier is not going to fit probably.

McKenna Grace is 15. She is, according to IMDb, only 4-foot-11 and about 99 lbs. That would be on the large size for a size 12 and may be closer to a size 14 girls. I am the same height, but lighter. A person who is 6-foot-2 and 180 lbs. would be a large (L) size in men’s. Someone at 99 lbs. or even 100 lbs, wouldn’t even be an extra small (five-foot-five to five-foot-nine at 130-150 lbs. Wolfhard would be between a size XS and a size S.

This is me in a men’s size XXXL. A men’s large is also a dress. I have many t-shirts in the L size. The standard back length for a children’s size 12 is 13.5 inches (base of neck to waistline). The length for a men’s large is about 28 inches. For XXXL it is 29 inches.

The chest size for a children’s size 12 is 30 inches. The chest size for a men’s large is 42-44 inches. For a men’s XXXL it is 50-52.

While loose clothes are easier to pretend that magic fit works, the bikini solution in “Old” was so egregious and ridiculous (and possibly sexist) that it took me out of the film.

Similarly, you’ll see the clothing magic in “Hawkeye,” but this is a loose-fitting kimono style outfit. The outfit supposedly fits Jeremy Renner who is about 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds and the 5-foot-8 Hailee Steinfeld (a reported 130 lbs). That’s reasonable. Clayton English (as Grills) is also about that height (5-foot-8). That’s what is great about the design of the kimono.

‘Hawkeye’ Has Major Misses in First Two Episodes

In the case of “Ghostbusters:Afterlife,” the potential comedy of over-sized Ghostbuster uniforms is lost. Think super-sized cuffs. Double belting. There’s enough room for an invasion of Stay Puft minions.

My husband and I weren’t the only ones to notice this.