to think I ought to be able to buy trousers that fit me

[snooter]

I have been the same size & shape all my adult life, give or take half an inch. Size 10 trousers fitted me perfectly 25 years ago but now are far too big on the waist (like about 4" too big) - I seem to need a 6-8 for the waist & a 12 for the hips. I trawl round the shops in a grump, trying on every possible pair, ending up buying trousers that fit on the hips & then taking in the waist at the back & wearing long tops to hide the joins. It's not me - I haven't changed. I did discover Not Your Daughter's Jeans jeans which are great & fit me (just as well as they cost a fortune), but that doesn't solve the problem with smart trousers for work. I could have trousers made I suppose but that seems ridiculous. Same problem with straight skirts - they just don't bloody fit, yet I still have an ancient short denim skirt that fits perfectly. Why is everything now cut for women with no waist & no bottom? Is it that the modern shape is a sort of shapeless tube? I can't be the only one left with a 1980s shape.

I find I have the opposite problem. As an apple shape I find the trousers that fit my waist are miles to loose and baggy on my hips/thighs. Sigh.

Wow... and I thought it was just me. I'm 26 waist and 38 hips and I can rarely find trousers which fit at both waist and hip either - though I agree that Gap and M&S are usually OKish.

Hester - maybe you could link me some research. Again, everything I've read suggests that people are getting fatter in general due to increased consumption of sugar, but I've never found anything that suggests that more refined sugar = visceral fat rather than subcutaneous fat. Whether a person stores visceral or subcutaneous fat seems to be genetically determined according to everything I've read. I'd like to see evidence to the contrary.

I accept that trousers sit below the actual waist these days so I accept I have an enormous amount of extra fabric flapping around below my actual waist - aargh!

It's not US. It's the TROUSERS. They are gas lighting us. They lull you into thinking you have a fairly good fit, then wait till past noon and manage to simultaneously fall down whilst feeling uncomfortably snug.

Smug people tell me to wear skirts, but where do I put my phone then?

I have this problem too. I have a 31" waist and 42"hip and I struggle to find anything to fit. Even bloody skirts. I'm in my 20's.

I also want trousers to sit just below the waist, not below the pelvis.

Snooter, if the 'loose fabric' is 'below your actual waist' then what are you using as a measurement when you pick your trousers. In you OP you gave your 'waist' size as a 6-8 - is that your 'actual' waist? Or the waistline above your hips? Where are the trousers sitting on you? When you say they 'fit on your hips' where exactly on your body do you mean?

If it's only gaping at the back, the 'problem' is a big bum rather than a small waist?

Have you tried Monsoon for trousers? They are quite generous at the back.

People without this problem just won't understand. Its to do with the shape of the trousers. Whether they are very low rise or waist height is irrelevant - all jeans I try on that fit around my hips at the widest point will gape at the back.

Tinbox - The problem is the difference between my waist & my hips (or rather bottom, which sticks out behind rather than sideways). It doesn't matter where I measure myself, on or below the waist - the fact remains that a smaller size fits me at the waist - or the top of the trousers if you like - than fits me across the hips / round the buttocks. I do not fit in one size for both waist (top of garment) & hips (widest part of garment) so struggle to find trousers to fit. I don't mind a lower waist (not pube-skimming but below natural waist) as long as the fabric sits next to my flesh without extra yards of it flapping about.

Perhaps I am just a really weird shape.

alien - yes exactly - the NYDJ jeans that actually do fit me have an extra panel of fabric above the buttocks to accommodate the curve back into the waist. A flat garment will not fit a curved body.

My problems stem from my 'saddlebag' thighs, my bum is also generous in comparison to my waist :( I just tried some of the Asda bum and tum jeans as an hourglass friend recommended them.

They're ok but still a bit of back gape (and no belt loops to rectify it). Clearly I am destined to spend my life hitching up jeans that have slid (slided) under my baby belly apron...

Ah TinBox, I don't know anything about different TYPES of fat, but have simply read news articles and the like on where it's being stored. Round the middle = increasingly common = more risky, round the hips and bum I.e a classic pear shape = increasingly uncommon = not as unhealthy. Sorry, can't link to research. I also read an article recently about clothing shapes having to change to reflect this, hence the women who still have waists having trouble with baggy waistlines.

You can discount this if you like seeing as it's merely my anedoctes :)

I have a size 10 waist but have to get a 12 for my thighs and bum.
The Levi curves are good for me but trying to get a "normal" pair of trousers is a nightmare.
My uniform trousers make me look like a clown...

Does anybody else with this waist hip ratio issue have huge camel toe problems?

As far as trousers go i can only wear leggings !
Jeans dont fit size 10 fall down and size 8 too tite

I have found phase eight jeans ..? Alexa from memory are higher waisted and solve the 'gape at the back/ sliding down' of size 10s vs 'can't even get over thighs and zip too short' size 8s. They are generous and are the first size 8 I have ever worn.

Also loved NYDJ but can't justify cost.

Find a local tailor you like, buy stuff to fit you on the hips and get them to take in the waist. That way you'll get a perfect fit. It's not expensive and the results are good.

"Does anybody else with this waist hip ratio issue have huge camel toe problems?"

No, never. All my trousers slip down because they are too big on the waist.

I tried on the M and S Eva jeans today. They fit perfectly

I don't have problems with my huge camel toe either!

Arf.. just me then

What Bunbaker said about CamelToe - although today's linen mix trousers seem to fall in such a way as to give the impression of gentelman's tackle being stored down there. Which at 5ft10 does make me feel that i look a little like a transvestite...

It's not just you. Although I'm coming at this from the other side of the fence.

Years ago I had terrible problems buying clothes, as if it fitted around the waist it would be too large on the hips. If it fitted on the hips I would find it too tight on the waist. I am very straight up and down. Jeans were a particular nightmare and I would usually end up buying men's as they were straighter cut.

These days I have far less trouble and can usually buy something off the peg quite easily. In today's sizing I am an 8 in most stores, or a 6 in stores where vanity sizing has gone a bit mad.

Are you any good with a sewing machine? One solution would be to buy the larger size and take it in where it's too big.

I can't find any that are short enough in the leg. The short fitting ones always used to fit me, but they are all too long now. Either they have changed the lengths or I am shrinking. Hope it's the former I don't want to get any shorter!

If it's any consolation (it is to me) you are much healthier with a hip to waist ratio like yours. Here.

It is also interesting that over the years the overall size of 'attractive' women has shrunk but the desired hip to waist ratio has remained the same. They looked at things like Miss World and the like in the study.