I've recently dropped to a UK size 14 i.e. a US size 10, on top. Sadly I'm still a UK 16/ US 12 on the bottom - I'm sure I'll be eternally pear-shaped. Anyway, my question is to do with waist size/general measurements. According to most things I've read online, the waist is above the belly button by at least an inch or two (i.e. the smallest part between your navel and rib cage.) With this in mind my waist measures at about 32 inches (with the tape stretched) and 33 1/2 (with the tape pulled, not too loose, but not stretched either.)

However, I recently read that the waist (for clothes) is in fact your navel/belly button, which measures 3-4 inches more than my "other" waist. So this has got me questioning a few things:

1) According to almost all size charts online a US 10 is 30-31 inch waist. Thus if I TRULY had a 37 inch waist (as the navel/belly-button idea indicates) then surely there's no way I would fit into a US 10 as comfortably as I do. I know clothes vary from shop to shop, and I do still have to buy 12s in some things, but for the most part I buy 10s and they are not tight at all. Can anyone confirm/deny the idea that the belly button area is the actual waist?

2) Does this apply to all clothes? Jeans, for example? Most clothes people wear are not very high waisted, so how does that work in terms of waist size? Since you'd think that clothes which fall lower (around belly button area) would use that area as the waist measurement.

3) When measuring the waist how tight should one pull the measuring tape - very tight? - or should it be kept loose to get an accurate measurement?

4) I’m never exactly sure where the smallest part of my waist is! The smallest part, technically, looks to be about 3 ½ inches or more above my belly button. If I look in a mirror, that is the bit that dips “inwards” more prominently than anywhere else, but does this sound too high to be the actual waist?

Sorry if these seem like weird questions, but I want to make sure I’m doing this accurately.

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I'm not sure what to tell you, but I can tell you my waist is 30 inches at the belly button with the tape pulled somewhat tight. I'm wearing a US size 10's in the waist but not in the thighs. So I guess I'm a 10/12 at the moment.

I've often been puzzled by waist measurements. My waist right now (I measure at belly button level) is 34" and I easily fit into a misses 10 jeans and they are getting loose. However, most size charts would put me into about two sizes larger jeans, which would be huge in the hips for me.

Now my bust measurement of 39 seems to be accurately reflectected in top sizes (medium or 12). Not too much of a problem there.

It can be tricky to not try something on if you are ordering online but I have found that I can usually rely on size 10 for jeans and pants and size medium for tops at this point. So I basically ignore the charts for jeans.

My waist is honest-to-god 5 inches above my navel: I'm very short-waisted and seems to also have a low navel. My waist is about 32 inches: I have no idea what my navel is because the skin is loose and I have these weird indentations on either side that the tape measure kinda stretches over. If I don't pull it tight at all, my navel is 42, but I can pull it in a good 4 inches without really getting tight. Everything just shifts.

I can fit into any 12 comfortably, and a few 10s.

My impression is that for lower-rise pants, the waist band is larger than it would be in higher rise pants of the same size: after all, if you look at a pair of higher rise pants, they widen out a little under the waistband. That wider point is the new waistband, so it's bigger.

I feel like my "natural waist" is right where my hands are when I rest them on top of my hip bones...you know, hands-on-the-hips pose. For me, that just happens to be right where my belly button is also. I have no trouble defining my waist. Now my hips on the other hand...where exactly are those? LOL!

I think for us hourglass/pear shaped ladies its obvious where the natural waistline is as it is the smallest part around our middle. For me this is about 3 inches above my belly button - its where I like my skirts to sit. Most trousers I find do not reach my natural waistline but I still buy the same sizes (or sometimes a size bigger to accommodate my behind) even though these rest at my belly button where I measure 3" bigger than I do at my natural waistline. However I think such pants are cut to accommodate this.

Kitty

I've often wondered about this too! My "natural waist" measures at 28" but I wear low rise jeans, which hit at a point where I measure at 30-31" (my hips are 38). I am short waisted as well. But the size 8's fit a bit loose for the most part at the waist (not in the legs, unfortunately ) when the chart says they measure at 28.5" in the waist. Which would make sense, if they actually fit at my natural waistline?
Ahhh I hate women's clothing sizes, haha.