I am confused. I measure my waist and it is around 44 inches. According to all the charts I can find on line I should be wearing a 22W. However, I have never worn a 22W. Right now I am in both 18W and 20W very comfortably. The 20W is starting to get lose. I wear 1X in things that are sized in that manner and many things are lose in the pants as a 1X. I am 5 foot 5. Am I measuring my waist wrong. I measure just above the belly button area all the way around. The measuring tape is not tight but snug.

I don't understand. I was trying to determine what size waist I needed to get into a size 16. According to the charts I need to lose about 10 inches to go down 1 size. Is that right since I am already at an 18W rather than a 22W?


A few years ago when I started a diet I got down to about 204 pounds and was able to fit into a 16. It was tight that is only about 10 pounds from where I am now so I don't see 1 inch per pound.

Thanks for any insight.

Lynn160

I can't help you on the woman's clothes sizing since I'm a guy but I did notice with men's pants that sizes have actually gotten larger over time. Maybe same thing is happening to women's clothes.

Even though my waist measures 38 inches, I actually fit into 34 waist pants. Maybe the clothing manufacturers are trying to make everyone feel better about themselves by allowing them to buy smaller size pants. . .

I was wondering this also...My waist is a 36, but right now I can wear a 14W (supposedly a 33.5"-35" waist) or a regular 16 (anywhere from a 33" to a 37") waist. I guess it depends on the manufacturer. I'm also noticing that the 16s are starting to become too big.

I measure my waist at the smallest point in my abdomen which for me is about 3" above my belly button. I'm 32.5" at this point and generally wearing 12/14s in pants. However although my waist measures about the right for these sizes nearly all my pants are at least 3" too big at the waist as I have to get pants to fit my hips which are 43".

Although my shape is obviously different to yours what I am saying is that there seems to be alot of 'ease' built into clothes measurements.

Kitty

No, you're measuring correctly ~ it's just that we are all different. Last time I measured, a couple weeks ago, I was 48.5/38/50. For clothing sizes, you're fitted at a combination of all three measurements (bust-waist-hip), not just waist. I'm an 18W pant/14-16-0X top at Catherine's/Lane Bryant and an 18 top/20 pant in misses stuff. I'm on the tall side of average but I am also very big-boned, with a lot of muscle tone, so clothes fit accordingly. I can't order clothes online ~ I have to try everything on.

I agree. Everything must be tried on. My waist is 33" and my hips are 41.5" right now. I didn't even measure at my highest weight, but my 16s were tight and I was looking at buying 18s. Right now, I'm a comfortable 12. I think the cut of the pants is important too. I have a thicker waist. Sometimes if the pants have a lower rise I can wear a smaller size. My chest size, but not the cup size, has gotten smaller, but I still wear a L or 14-16 on top.

I have very little luck with sizing charts. Some put me into too large a size, some into too small a size. Doesn't help much.

If I would try to figure out sizing from the different stores and manufacturers I would go crazy. I try everything on. I have a general idea of what sizeI should be getting so I just take an assortment into the dressing room.