I just took k my measurements to buy the right size of jeans and apparently I should be buying size 20 even though..

[Hungrycaterpillarsmummy]

I'm a size 14 and all my trousers are a 14.
Wtf. This is the size guide for Levi's jeans and honestly I'm in shock. I am absolutely not a 16 let a lone a 20!
My husband then went into fact checking mode and also measured me and couldn't believe it.
No wonder I bought a size 14 river island jeans and they didn't fit!

According to that I'm a size 2 which I am very much not!

This may sound stupid but did you measure your waist or your belly?!

36inch waist is not a size 14.

However, brands do all sorts of different sizing so size 14s may fit you. As PP said, vanity sizing is a thing.

As someone with a 36 inch waist I wear size 16 dresses, 16/18 trousers. I do have some 14s in my wardrobe that fit as well.

I love the fact Levi’s do increments of 1! Hate 12/14 as always just between

Try looking at sizes on patterns. They don't seem to have been affected by vanity sizing and those charts do very much tally with the jeans ones. It's stores which are unrealistic

Me too! Ridiculous vanity sizing at the lower end.

You're a similar shape as me. My mother often says I have no waist. 🙄 Size charts just don't work and I have to try things on. I quite often get trousers that fit on the waist and then they have all this material flapping about on my hips, which I end up getting altered.
I swore at the Levi's size chart.

Errrrr. Well, I'm an 8 (although another thread on here about bmi absolutely disputes this at 9st 11 and 5ft 2 that I could possibly be an 8, anyway, I digress...) and this has me as a 4. I'm absolutely not a 4! I've only just gone in to an 8 after 7st weight loss. My waist is 25.5inches and hips 34 inches. Mad.

Actually, I misread. It puts me in a 2. Mental! I'm 100% not.

Are they men's sizes? A 30 inch waist and 39 inch hip seems quite straight. I'm 29 waist and 40 hip and there's not as much curve as when I had 26 inch waist.

You look similar shape to me, op. I could do 12 waist but 14 hip, looking at that.

You dont look a 36 inch waist OP. Im a 29 inch and I look like you - maybe a bit smaller.

I was thinking the same, a 28 was a size 10 all the time I was growing up in the 1980s, so seems right to me. But I only buy clothes I've tried on, I think we all know that mostly the numbers are only a guide

Different brands fit different body shapes. Not all styles are meant to fit like a glove or corset.
I’m curvy and Lee’s fit better than Levi’s for me.
Sizing is just a number not a reflection of your worth.

I'm 12 to 14 and the sizes look about right to me. Most jeans used to sit on the hip so the waist measurement isn't very important, but I see high waisted ones are getting much more common.

We've a charity shop specialising in vintage garments near me. It's fascinating to see how skirts, jackets and dresses brought in from an elderly person's wardrobe, made in the 60s or 70s (sometimes even earlier) are so tiny! Today, a row of beautiful shift dresses in size 14 (my current size) looked like they'd barely fit my DD who's a size 6. It seems that olden-days sizing almost reflected height and length of limbs more than girth; the silhouette seems trim and whippish even in bigger sizes.

I think the trouble with women’s sizing is we have individual ratio of chest/waist/hip and that’s not manufacturers fault tbf! So maybe your waist is size 20 but your hips aren’t? So you compromise on the size that fits us best overall. Or stick to certain brands that align more with our personal ratios.

levi fit me really well but looking at that size chart I’m a 6 waist and 10 hip. I normally get 27 or 28 as need to get them over my bum 😂

I do have a 32" waist, I've got clothes in a variety of sizes. But a 32" Levis 501 is too small because they don't sit on my waist (or near it), although I am tall which doesn't help. The pair of 501s that I have which are actually labelled 14 are far too big, so I've no idea. Some jeans are also tight on my thighs.
Jeans are just one of those things that I wouldn't buy without trying.
There is that Tiktok hack where you can supposedly try the waist of a pair of jeans round your neck to test the fit - you'd have to see it, I'm explaining it badly - but I do wonder if it works

Yeah you've got the same measurements as me. I'm quite definitely an 8. I would actually suffocate if I tried to get in a size 2.

I’m a 12 and buy 28 waist in Levi’s but I’ve got no bum at all and my hips and thighs are quite slim.
It doesn’t bother me what the size label says, if it fits and looks good I’d happily buy a bigger size. Levi’s shop staff are usually pretty good at suggesting styles and sizes, if you can get to a store, and they do free same-day alterations.

36in waist is a 18/20 I thought so sounds about right, you don’t look like you have a 36 in waist though.

Im size 12 and wear 29 so the chart is right for me. I’m 5,4

I have a few pair of Levi’s jeans in size 10 and 12. My waist and hip measurements match up with the chart’ and I buy 10 and 12 in most other shops.

My friend has lost weight over the last year and her waist is 32 which seems to match up with the chart and the size she’s buying elsewhere, which is a 14. She’s lost almost almost 4 inches from her waist, was previously a size 18 in most places before and looked similar to you.

Trying things (not just jeans) round your neck works as a rough guide. It doesn't seem to work for me, currently morbidly obese but losing slowly. Always works for my mum and grown up DC though, who are all a healthier size.

Not a "TikTok hack" though, I've been doing it since my DC were small and they are older than TT.

Clothes sizing in general is wild. I ignore what the label says and buy what fits, which isn't easy when shopping online!

I bought a 29 from Levi’s and they are far too big for me as a size 10/12. Yet when I was a size 18/20 I don’t think I’d have fit into the guide it shows for that size, I’d have been too big.

This is why I prefer buying things with multiple reviews. Id much rather trust actual people who have tried the clothes rather then the measurements which often seem to be wrong.

A uk 14 is a much smaller waist size than 35/36 inches though? Are you reading the chart correctly?