For the gals - how do YOU measure your waist?

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  • foxyglove6
    foxyglove6 Posts: 1 Member
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    Anyone who sews or takes regular measurements of the human body knows that the actual waist is above the belly button. Another test is to bend sideways, reaching your arm down as if to touch the same foot. Where you have the deepest or first skin crease is your actual waist. Modern clothing sits mostly on the hips. What we now call high waisted clothing often sits on the actual waist.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,949 Member
    edited April 2017
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    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    Your natural waist is basically the narrowest point between your ribs and hips, wherever it happens to fall, but not usually at the belly button.

    Yes, that point was already made in the links I posted. But I personally have never measured that point, as MY waist measurement. It doesn't *feel" like my waist at all. Way too high. I don't wear any clothes that have a waistband that fits there. That was my point. :)

    No, pants don't usually fall AT the waist. But they are still measured there, then virtually cropped to where they should start. So I also use my natural waist when ordering pants, even if the pants fall many inches below. Say I order a 29" waisted pant (my waist at the narrowest point), if you actually measure the "waist" of the pants, it'll be bigger than that (as it's actually hip).

    That's why a 29" waist pant is the same 29" whether it is high waisted or super low waisted. They're all based off an assumed placement for a natural waist.

    Of course it also depends if that brand uses vanity sizing... because they don't only play with the "size 8 size 10 etc" sizes, but also the inch measurement sometimes.
  • iamangrydoug
    iamangrydoug Posts: 1,020 Member
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    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    Your natural waist is basically the narrowest point between your ribs and hips, wherever it happens to fall, but not usually at the belly button.

    This. And I always track two separate measurements as I tend to carry some fat in my lower stomach. I measure my waist and at my belly button as well.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    At the tiniest/smallest part of my mid section - just above the belly button.
  • bizgirl26
    bizgirl26 Posts: 1,808 Member
    edited April 2017
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    I am long waisted with booty . my pants tend to sit at belly button . I measure the smallest part and at belly button for sizing . My narrow part is several inches about that . Its frustrating, I always have a gap in my waist band
  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
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    I measure where my doctor did...the narrowest point, slightly above my belly button. I wear my pants hanging on my pelvic bones, so my waist measurement and my pants aren't super relevant to each other.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
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    foxyglove6 wrote: »
    Anyone who sews or takes regular measurements of the human body knows that the actual waist is above the belly button. Another test is to bend sideways, reaching your arm down as if to touch the same foot. Where you have the deepest or first skin crease is your actual waist. Modern clothing sits mostly on the hips. What we now call high waisted clothing often sits on the actual waist.

    Exactly. I had not thought of it that way, but that is absolutely the case.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
    edited May 2017
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    VeryKatie wrote: »
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    Your natural waist is basically the narrowest point between your ribs and hips, wherever it happens to fall, but not usually at the belly button.

    Yes, that point was already made in the links I posted. But I personally have never measured that point, as MY waist measurement. It doesn't *feel" like my waist at all. Way too high. I don't wear any clothes that have a waistband that fits there. That was my point. :)

    No, pants don't usually fall AT the waist. But they are still measured there, then virtually cropped to where they should start. So I also use my natural waist when ordering pants, even if the pants fall many inches below. Say I order a 29" waisted pant (my waist at the narrowest point), if you actually measure the "waist" of the pants, it'll be bigger than that (as it's actually hip).

    That's why a 29" waist pant is the same 29" whether it is high waisted or super low waisted. They're all based off an assumed placement for a natural waist.

    That makes perfect sense. But if I use my natural waist size, the pants are definitely too big. So that may work for some, but it does not for me. I guess it just depends on our individual shape.
  • Debmal77
    Debmal77 Posts: 4,770 Member
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    I always measure right at the belly button. It is usually in the same place all the time, right?

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