Anyone else have a short torso and high hip shelf?

[hiplockbag]

I've somehow managed to be slim for most of my life but nature put a whopper of a dent in it and gave me a bloody high hip shelf (short torso /longer legs). I seem to be a 'soft classic' which means i am a slight hourglass with smallish boobs.
I have never been vain or too bothered about my shape or weight, but always felt a bit off at school when i wore a skirt with a waistband. I felt wide and fat and uncomfortable even though i looked just fine. The skirt would fit my waist then flare out abruptly as my hip bone is so close to the ribs. Even if my waist measurement qualified as a mumsnet 'teenytiny' i still looked like a weird bottle with a short top
I mean there is no point having a small waist when that fucker is half way up your back!

I have only recently googled and discovered this basic fact and am a bit shocked, since it explains every discomfort with clothes that ive ever had. High rise bury me, but lower rise produce a hip shelf. So i didnt like jeans, or skirts, but was fine with dresses that floated in a bit at the waist and gave me a nice shape. I could also deal with a solid flat waist band where the drop was gradual with darts or flat like the band on a sweaty betty legging.

Now i am living in a world stuffed full of paperbag style waists on the trousers, huge rises and long crotches and lots of bunched elastic. Even if i find a traditional button fly the band is such that my 'shelf' comes out. And side zips seem to have gone out of fashion,unless, again, formal.

I dont want to go looking for dresses as i am not a dress person, apart from restaurants or special occasions. I like the minimal french 'undone' look with a casual bit of jane birkin thrown in and the current market sucks for me.

I don't need clothes recs specifically but i would love to hear if anyone else has this type of shape and what they do to dress it. I just want to find my tribe. I feel like most people have a longer torso and the current shapes suit them, but i am stuck here with my first world problem fit issue. Anyway, im here to chat if you can relate!

I may be back with a diagram.

I hear you all, not sure about hip shelves but my belly button is about 2 inches below my boobs, if that! Crop tops are waist length and I can’t wear high waisted anything really. Dresses with proper waist accentuation suit me, and a v-neck always looks better too, even though I’ve barely any boobs. I’m also short and an inverted triangle shape, to add to the misery.

me me me me me!!!

See I love dresses but this current trend for the weird ruching makes me look huge (same for prairie dresses etc). high waisted jeans but a longer top used to be my friend but I've put on some tummy weight so now like others I have a bloody tyre because there's no room between high waist band and my hips

Probably like all people no matter proportion the only time everything looked great on me was when I was cycling a lot and got down to 9 stone at 5'9" and it was all lean muscle because then my torso was just straight up and down.

I know we're lucky to carry our height in our legs but short torso def has it's drawbacks

I will say that I live in jumpsuits and dungarees to be honest

also i WFH and have a dog so while I love dresses I'm usually in jumpsuits or joggers anyway

I don't have a really short waist but I do have what I call a Long Bottom - which I think is the high hip shelf you describe! It means that a skirt or dress can make me look all legs (in a good way) but high waisted trousers (above belly button) make me look rectangular!

Swimwear is also an absolute nightmare and has to be chosen wisely! Although last year I bought a one piece costume from monsoon kids and it worked! so I immediately had to buy another 😂 exactly the same! It had a kind of empire cut with very flattering stripes that elongated my short body and more generous bum coverage than the usual ladies swimwear. So if you are under 5ft 2 and a 6/8 try age 13/14 kids! monsoon have quite nice styles for kids. Likewise with summer dresses sometimes the cuts are less fitted at the waist in the kids styles and so more forgiving.

I am the opposite - in fact every bit of me is the size of someone 5ft6 except my lower legs which are where my missing 3" would be.
My tops never stay tucked in and now I have (even more) of a mum tum everyone gets to see it. Knee high boots are thigh high and all skirts and dresses are maxi though I expect you have that too (except knee length which show my bum when I bend over).
I agree it's a pain to be out of proportion though. I can't really wear petite clothing except occasionally dresses (skirts for some reason either have tiny waists or just look silly, trousers have too short a rise).

I'm the same size/shape and I went on TV once to be interviewed about my work and I had to sit on a booster seat 😂 I'm 5ft5!!!

OP I wear cigarette pants and fitted tops a lot and anything I can tie at the waist, including shapeless dresses I can add a (thin) belt to. Oh and I wear DH's jeans even though he's 5ft 11!

Hello, short waisted tribe! I am only 5’4” but all legs, so the minute I put any weight on around my middle I look like a box on stilts.

High waisted anything doesn’t work, particularly jeans as the waistband and button is up to my boobs when I sit down, Next still do a good mid rise bootcut but I can’t find jeans anywhere else. Recommendations welcome.

Dresses - anything with a waist belt is a big no. Empire line is the only way so that it hangs from just below my boobs. It does really restrict my clothing options.

I have this body shape but with big boobs. My legs are the same length as DH but he is 7 inches taller than me, never heard of a high hip shelf before but this explains why certain clothes are so unflattering

Also a member of the short torso club: I find Levis’s 501 90s (the new version, not vintage) are the best jeans for my shape 😊

The new SB Gary’s are awful!! I miss the originals…

I’m hideously short waited, but with the double whammy of short legs too 😫😫

Loads of people have short torsos and long torsos can also be hard to dress but current fashion does favour long torsos

I am tall which helps but have a short torso and boobs which makes my torso look shorter. I don’t really wear skirts and I need tops that hit below the waist. I find midi dresses with a proper waist quite flattering but that might because i’m tall.

ooh The waists on some dresses are so high up, does that not work?

I find Cos dresses work well on me but my height might help.

I am the same as you, OP.
I wear a lot of tunics and dresses which have a skater type line, or shift style. I am older and not trendy so Weird Fish, Seasalt etc are my go-to.

Cant wear high rise anything! Jeans are a nightmare to get right.
I struggle with a lot of gym stuff because leggings and shorts are all high rise and cut into my diaphragm (Sweaty Betty is just about ok).

Me too. 5'4 with long legs, big hips, no space to speak of between hips and waist, and boobs immediately above waist. I looked like the side of a house when I was pregnant and was soo uncomfortable with my very big first baby.
Years of trial and error (mostly error) have revealed that straight or slight boot cut, mid rise trousers work best for me, or capris with loose tops to conceal bum.
I buy petite in tops and dresses if they're fitted, but the sleeves are usually too short, so 3/4 or shorter is best. Annoying in winter!
Also petite dresses hang shorter but if it's a maxi style that can work out OK.
Empire line or A line tunic style work quite well, and then petite is not always necessary.

@suburburbanI can’t do too high a waist due to boobs and height.

I am the opposite- long torso - and the waistband on dresses is always too high! But I came to say there is an mid size influencer, Carys Whittaker (spelling?) that comes up on my Instagram who is short bodied and seems to dress really really well for it, if that might help anyone?

Can you put a pic of the body type? I think I'm the same, but not sure

I’ve just looked Carys Whittaker up, and she seems an ordinary height/shorter than average? Or more proportionate than me, at least.
The issue with me is I’m 5’9, only about a foot of that is body and I look like a pillow on a couple of toothpicks.
People have mentioned empire line dresses - how do they not make you look pregnant? I either look like I’m with child or like a Suster Wife. Or both. I’m still yet to find the elusive perfect dress on me. Hush made a dress called the Tara dress a few years back - tight on the bottom and loose on the top that could be worn lower in the hip for that reason, and it was about as close as it got to flattering. I love shift dresses, but pillows and toothpicks. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Agree re empire line dresses!

I’m long waisted and the waists are often too high up as well

Re. Empire line - the band under the bust looks more like a waistband on me so it usually works quite well 😂 But I agree that looking pregnant can be a risk - on the whole I prefer a gradual flare with no band at all, in a petite fitting, so the flare happens in mostly the right places.

Do you mean a figure 8 body type? I have this shape, most people think it’s hourglass but my hip shelf is higher so it’s not an hourglass where the widest part is lower down. My torso is shorter compared to my legs but not massively so but high waist does come up quite high.
My waist is smaller compared to my bust and hips so fitted things looks best. I have a pair of high waist M&S jeans which come to under my bra strap they are so high but with a top over it it looks fine. Pencil skirts look best on me. A line is ok if it’s short

Im not sure if this is the right body type I’m thinking of because it’s a good type to have it looks curvy?

I have a very high waist and long legs too (I’m also 5’11).

I’m slim-ish, size 12 and at my current weight I have a defined waist and actually find high waisted, wide leg trousers suit me well if they are in good, heavy fabric that hangs well. I like Abercrombie for this style. I wear them with fitted tops, and add an open shirt over if I want to style it more casually.

If I gain more than about half a stone this style stops looking as good, though.

Jeans are tricky. Dresses hard, too, but I find some a-line dresses on OK. Skirts are a nightmare.