Bottoms for 8 shape - high hips

Dixie

What kind of bottoms would you wear if you have an 8 shape, with high hips and narrower thighs (also called violin hips)?

I haven't found a pair of high waisted pants that looks good. Do you recommend me one?

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9 years ago

Body Type

17 replies

Latest reply was from The Cat

Gigi

Veteran

Yay! Another 8. I am one, and offhand I can think of Mo as being one. Maybe she will chime in later. There are definitely some 8s on this forum. I too was excited to find out what body shape I was...I always felt like there was something wrong with me because I didn't seem to fit into the usual categories.

I find that low-rise and mid-rise pants and jeans look the best on me. I don't like the look of the high rise on me, but that may be because my torso is short. I also think that pencil skirts look good, and maxi skirts IF they are a very straight cut and not made from lots of fabric that makes the skirt look bottom-heavy.

Generally, I stay away from A-line skirts, as they make me look pretty dumpy. I have read that skirts should be straight or tapered; if they flare, they should be straight around the hips first, and then flare out (that is, they should not flare from the hip). This seems to work pretty well for me (straight at top, then flared).

Unfortunately, I was not blessed with the "narrower thighs" part of the figure 8...I have the thicker thighs of most hourglasses. Oh well!

9 years ago

(website)

Veteran

8 raising her hand over here. I don't do high waist pants. I have a short waist (no doubt due to the high hip taking up that real estate!) and so high waisted pants give me looooonng butt lol.
I do a mid rise around 8 or 9 inches. Seems to kind of girdle in that high hip area.
I'm with Gigi in not having thin thighs. I think they're proportional to my shape.
You can look up some old WIW's for pants looks. I've been in shorts since April so you'd have to go back a bit lol.

Oh, and a-line skirts are a disaster on me. Start at my wide part and just get wider. Yuck.

9 years ago

Meow

Veteran

Another 8 here! I find that the rise of my pants is super important. Anything less than 9" rise is a problem. 9" will sit right on my high hip which helps with any muffin top issues -like Mo says "girdle" or what Stacy London calls "lock and load". A shorter rise also tends to fall down so I'm constantly pulling up my pants when I stand up which is annoying. Interesting that Gigi an Mo don't like high waisted. I LOVE high waisted. Maybe that has something to do with body proportion? Or it could be that I'm from the generation when high waisted was stylish. Lol. So happy to see it coming back.
I agree with Gigi and Mo about the skirts - pencil skirts that taper in are better.

9 years ago

elpgal

Veteran

I stick with low-rise pants myself. I lalso like the Vince tube skirts because you can wear them up or down. Skirts with a foldover waist also work for me. Athleta has some decent options.

9 years ago

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I don't have narrow thighs, far from it, so maybe my experience isn't applicable. But I'm with Mo, Gigi and elpgal that high-rise pants never seem to work for me. Higher-rise skirts can, if they follow the shape of the body correctly, but that's hard to find unless you have something tailored to fit. I tend to stick with medium-rise pants and jeans because I have a long torso, but am short between hips and waist. Most of my skirts are tapered pencil skirts, but straighter skirts can work if they're shorter (think jean skirts that hit a bit above the knee). Gathered waist or pleated skirts are dire on me, and most a-lines, but a few a-lines or gored skirts that are fitted to the hip and then flare out gently below the hip in a drapey fabric can work.

9 years ago

Dixie

Active Member

I have a skirt like the wine skirt and is A line and it works because it is so voluminous you can't tell it is flaring thanks to my hips. I think the model has a similar issue. I like it because it balances out my big boobs and it gives me a nice waist.

You're lucky for having bigger thighs! About the high waisted pants, perhaps if you're taller or have a longer torso it could work? They don't look good on me neither! But I was thinking maybe a pair with more volume could work. Tight at the waist and with pleats. Have you tried one of these?

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9 years ago

Diana

Veteran

I'm another short waisted 8 shape (but I have big thighs too) that prefers a mid rise. (On me 8-9" is good.)

I'm not fond of high rise for several reasons. First, I think it emphasizes my short waistedness and looks disproportionate. Second, it's a very bombshell shape and that's not in keeping with my style persona. And, third, I find it uncomfortable when I sit - my natural waist is very close to my rib cage and sometimes a high rise will shift up a little bit when sitting and squish my ribs.

9 years ago

Sal

Veteran

I am an 8 too, well I think so. I am short waisted, muscular thighs, and certainly carry weight on the high hip but have a waist. Average sized NZ12 or US8, 174cm which I think is 5ft 81/2.

I have some high waist flares, but I have to be careful how I style them. No blousy tucked tops. I tend to prefer a mid rise but it has to be just right, too low and I get the dreaded muffin, and too high can be wrong in the torso.

I like a pencil skirt, I can wear A line if it is right, and some full skirts can work. Gathers on the waist are pretty unflattering.

I do find dresses easier than skirts. Trousers are okay.

Shorts are my nemesis, the right pair is so hard to find for me.

9 years ago

Laurie

Active Member

Another 8 here. What everyone else said I've found to be spot on. Tapered pencil skirts or skirts that flare well, well below the hips. I also prefer a low rise, but pants are still such a hard fit for me that I've finally given up on them and wear only skirts and dresses. For the longest time, I didn't understand my body shape, and could never figure out why I looked absolutely awful with the higher waisted pants with a shirt tucked in. A matter or proportion. On the upside.. I think that most 8 shapes generally look long legged

9 years ago

Gigi

Veteran

Mimi, I think it very possible that if you are tall and long waisted, high-rise pants could work. Most of us posting here appear to be short in the waist, so high-rise pants just cover too much of the body to look good. I feel like it gives me "grandpa pant syndrome," where I look like I have my pants pulled up around my armpits.

I think you should continue trying things out, especially like the pics that you just posted. Sometimes small things can make a big difference, so just keep trying different styles and fabrics.

I have also heard that side-entry pockets cause problems for the figure 8, because they widen the already-wide high hip. You might want to look for the high-rise, loose-fitting pants in styles without side-entry pockets.

9 years ago

Aubergine

Veteran

I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think I might be a figure 8 too. Seconding a lot of the other comments. Tube skirts and pencil skirts work well for me. I like enough stretch there that they can fit my hips without being too big in the waist. A-line skirts can sometimes work for me, especially if they're not too bulky or overly full. It actually took me a while to realize that I should be picky with A-lines, because I didn't get that there was a difference between carrying your weight high on your hips and carrying it on your lower hips, and just assumed all full skirts were good for me because that's the advice I always saw for people with defined hips. Like Kiwigal and Laurie, I also find dresses easier to fit than anything else. But, in my case, that might be partly because I'm very short and very short-waisted, so it's easier not to worry about getting two separate pieces to overlap just right on my nearly nonexistent torso.

I have no advice about high-waisted pants, since they're just not something I've really tried to wear, but am sure there's a pair out there that could work, especially if you're taller and have a longer torso.

9 years ago

Dixie

Active Member

Thanks to everyone!
@Diana I like to mix feminine clothes with masculine clothes, so a bombshell high waisted pants coyld work, hey actually don't look good on me neither but I want to try new siluettes and I thought of that. Maybe I'll find a pair that looks good.

@kiwigal I've never had a problem with shorts! I wear tights with them and I really like the slim siluette. Perhaps that could work for you?

@laurie @Aubergine
Same problem with me. I actually recently received a comment "you don't have a waist, just a roll" and " I don't know how to call what's under your waist". Well, even I thought during my teen years that I got this type of hips because of wearing low rise pants! That's just our body shape, and I'm glad I figure it out. Maybe you don't have a hip dip as drastic as mine, but I think is a common issue with 8 shapes. Now that I know that's actually a thing, I see is super normal, even fit celebrities have them.

Anyway, thanks to everyone. I'm going to try new things the next time I go shopping, and I'll share them with you guys! Keep it fabulous, 8 figured ladies out there!

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9 years ago

Anonymous

Another 8 here - short in the waist and long in the rise - also petite. I wear mid-rise pants and jeans, and pencil skirts. I can't wear high-rise pants.

9 years ago

Amren

Active Member

I'm sort-of in between inverted triangle (relatively wide shoulders and copious boob), apple (I carry my weight around my waist & boobs) and 8-shaped because I have high hips that are wider than my thighs. I'm also short-waisted and have a rather flat butt lol. I've never really worn dresses and skirts because I feel they don't look good on me, but now I'm thinking about trying them out again. The body-type style advices confuse me since they are often conflicting. Due to my broad shoulders, I thought I might want to try out full/A-line skirts, but now I realize that due to my high hips, that might not be a good idea... *sigh* I love the look of those skirts on models...

Reading this discussion helps me gather ideas about what to try out first. I'm planning on sewing a pencil skirt (my first sewing project!) soon, hope it will fit my elusive body type!

7 years ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I have never heard of an 8 shape or high hips until this moment. I've definitely had the "hip dip" in your last photo for decades, since maybe 17 years, even when young and slim. I used to bemoan it and say that since I had a love handle and a thigh bump, why couldn't the fat just fill out the bit in between as well so that at least it would all be smooth?

7 years ago

Member

Hi Jenni, I'm also from NZ I just found out about the "8 shape" last year and it finally made sense why it was so hard to find clothes that flattered - I used to think I was a pear but when I wore A-line skirts they made me look like I'd gone up a couple of sizes! That's probably a test for high hip looking back. Peplums while they're in are meant to be good but not all of them look great either!

7 years ago

The Cat

Veteran

I discovered, a while ago, that the blog "Inside Out Style" has a lot of advice for several body types (including a few more than the usual 4 og 5 mentioned in many other places). Among the helpful posts specifically about the 8 shape are these:

https://insideoutstyleblog.com.....shape.html

https://insideoutstyleblog.com.....odies.html

6 years ago

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