Akademik

n.

A dress size smaller than size 0. —adj. Also: 00.

She's known for her beautiful curves but this picture shows Catherine Zeta-Jones looking gaunt as a size 00.

The picture was created for a documentary which examines the growing number of skinny celebrities and worrying trend for sub-zero sizes.

As well as Zeta-Jones's, pictures of Beyonce and Kelly Osbourne were doctored to show what the celebrities would look like if they dropped to dress size 00 (UK size two) for the LIVINGtv show Extreme: Skinny Celebrities 2.

—Molly Watson, "Zeta picture highlights the scourge of size 00," The Western Mail, December 7, 2006

Banana Republic, which is owned by Gap, is already advertising 00 clothes on its website.

Another company, Nicole Miller, is planning to introduce "sub-zero".

It said customers were complaining they had to take in the existing Size 0 clothes.

Nicole Miller spokeswoman Alison Hodge said, "We've introduced this new size for naturally petite women, not for models who have dieted themselves down to a dangerously low height- to-weight ratio."

—Martin Hickman, "Designers drop dress size to sub-zero," Canberra Times, October 23, 2006

At a party for designer Zac Posen in New York City on Sept. 14, the scene was fashion meets young Hollywood. There was Kate Bosworth looking whisper-thin in a black dress, dancing to Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" and smoking cigarettes. There was the always minuscule Mary-Kate Olsen, who stopped by just long enough to puff a cigarette and pose for a few photos. At the center was Posen, 25, a current red-carpet favorite who has dressed a range of young actresses, from the plus-size Marissa Jaret Winokur to the sub-zero Bosworth.

—Michelle Tauber et al., "Extreme Measures," People, October 9, 2006

Here's the earliest citation I could find for 00:

When American brand Abercrombie & Fitch arrives in Britain later this year, it will be selling clothes in size 00, which is equivalent to a UK size 2 — in other words, doll-sized. It is difficult to imagine anyone so tiny trying to pass herself off as adult and healthy. Ally McBeal star Calista Flockhart, whose lollipop-on-a-stick frame has spawned acres of print, wears size 00; so does Victoria Beckham.

—Anna Pukas, "Tyranny of the size 0," The Express, January 23, 2006

its so stuped how ppl judge naturally thin ppl . just becuz size 10 makes us look unheathy doesnt mean we are . i know tons of naturally thin ppl size 00 to size 2 .we all come in all shapes and sizes and the model industry should except us all . thell acept size 10 but zero is unheathy since when oh i know since size 10 models dieted to be very thin but then again naturally waif like ppl get offended cuz were thin and we make them look fat