Waist line on dresses seems to always be high nowadays?

[Clotheswoe]

Have others noticed that the waist lines on most dresses at the moment are really high? They seem to be just below the bra, rather than at the actual waist.

I think this has been becoming more and more common over the last few years?

It does suit lots of women.... But not me!

Is it unfashionable for the waist line to be at the actual waist or something? I can't find this anywhere.

I’ve been complaining about this for years. It’s a flattering cut for a lot of women - fitted on the bust and skimming the problematic tummy area.

I’m tall with no boobs. I can’t wear this cut at all.

Trinny uses belts to lower the waist line.

I have a short waist. I find trousers and jeans ridiculous now. Simon Cowell style. And sometimes they are painful because of it.

I’m delighted to see them!

I’m tall and slim with long legs, boobs and a short torso (and very short hip to waist ratio). I’m very happy to have some bias cut, empire line dresses. Dresses with the waist / seam just above the hip do me no favours at all.

High waisted jeans can, however, get in the bin. They sit under my boobs / across my ribs. Uncomfortable and ugly.

At 5foot1 and curvy I like an entire line, I'm sick of maxi dresses or some midi that are ridiculously long
High waist trousers do nothing for me however

M&S dresses are nice but all sit under my boobs and not my waist. Sigh. I though just that I have bigger boobs?
high waist jeans are just awful as all get baggy and drop down.

I love it. I have kypho-scoliosis with a curve corrected to just under 100 degrees, it hides a multitude of deformities!

I've always had this problem and rarely wear dresses as a result. I suit shirt dress or wrap shapes which give me shape, but it invariably falls too high and gives me a waist around my rib cage which isn't my narrowest bit.

Personally I think dresses are designed for women with apple shaped bodies ie. longer thinner legs and shorter torsos: I'm not really pear-shaped - more up and down with a bit of a waist - but have a long body in comparison to legs, so not only are dresses a problem, but I never seem to get other proportions right either, and most tops are too short.

This seems to have been the way dresses have been designed for several years now. I hate it and rarely buy dresses as a result. I imagine it has a lot to do with designing for people who are larger than in previous decades.

That's just nonsense. When brands get clothes made in China they create the pattern for the garment. They don't just get the Chinese factories to make up old Chinese styles. They don't just describe what they want and let the factories make it up

Isn't this just empire line? It's to elongate the leg length and pick the smallest part of the waist to accentuate - generally one of the most flattering cuts.

I'm wondering if it's because whilst sizes have got bigger, manufacturers haven't taken into account the massive increase in bust size. Bigger bust will pull the dress up higher

Yessssss this is so frustrating. Waists always sit too high on me and it renders the dresses totally unflattering!

It drives me mad, I don’t want a waist band sitting practically where my bra sits it’s so uncomfortable and feels completely wrong.

Ive just looked at the new dresses with Me and Em ( only buy in sale) and there is a variety of high , middle and dropped waistlines. I like high or dropped as my weight is in my stomach but it is easy to disguise with these.
Just went on to M and S to contrast - oh no saw a few things for my warm break in May. Just when I said I had enough dresses.

It's interesting how different everyone is! - some love them, some hate them!

It’s above the smallest part of the waist though, as it’s on the ribs, so it makes a lot of women actually look fatter, as it hides their actual waist!

I had wondered that, but I’ve lost a tonne of weight, and dropped to smaller than a AA bra size as a result, and it’s still happening! (Was a happy D cup before the weight loss)

I find the same thing, and I'm short waisted!! It's really annoying, so I just don't buy dresses with waistbands any more, sticking to dresses without them, or separates.

I've put it down to manufacturers not allowing sufficient material for the bust. Most clothing is manufactured in parts of the world where people quite simply are smaller, supposedly sizes are scaled up for bigger sizes but they never add enough material on short skirts to accommodate our rears and never enough material for busts ... I'm a 16. Even British brands but it's even more apparent on the fast fashion ones. Clothes fit my size 6 dd perfectly

I had a personal shopping session recently and complained that none of the dresses fitted because the waist is too high. She said that to make your legs look longer. Nonodea if that's a deliberate light or sales nonsense, but I'd didn't buy them, it's uncomfortable.

Is the waist on dresses riding up because your boobs are big or at least bigger than what the brand base their sizing on?

I love my high waisted jeans, holds in the old jelly belly. If i had a toned stomach with no muffin spillages I can see myself in low rise. I don't tuck tops in and my torso vs legs length are proportional so I don't get the astrix effect thankfully.

@Soreteatowel Higher waist makes the legs longer visually but not everyone looks good with or needs legs lengthened.

Isn't it because the trend has been for cropped tops and high waisted jeans? So the trend is to put the waistline higher than in the 00's.

My body is long and actually having the higher waist suits me a lot better. Splitting at the natural waist emphasises my long body and makes my legs look short. I always used to use a belt to visually raise the waistline back in the 00s.

@Naptrappedmummy @DewinDwl

I too want dresses that go in at the waist ie the belly button area!
Like you have a defined waist and want to show it. So many empire lines everywhere and I have big boobs. Something fitting on bust might be 12/14 but waist is 10

please post if you have recommendations