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Body type questions from a new girl

vesperholly

Hello, everyone! I'm new to the forums, but have been a lover of Angie's blog (and your comments) for months now. Thanks to this website, and to all of you (and a bit of extra cash), I've plunged into the deep end with my closet and I love it. I've ruthlessly purged my closet, and am adding new items at a slightly frightening clip, but it feels for the first time like I'm really starting to hone in on the items and looks that give me a thrill, and learning (slowly) how to dress for my body. I'm grateful to you all, especially Angie, for inspiring me to strive for being fab every day. Expect a lot of pictures and questions soon...

But some body type confusion: I have just realized for the first time that I have a slightly short waist (about a hand and three fingers from bust to natural waist). I also suspect that I have a long rise but don't know how to confirm -- is it possible to have a shortish waist and a long rise at the same time? I'm tall, 5'9.5", if that matters. How do I measure my rise -- on my body or on my jeans? (Do you start from the center point of the crotch in the jeans?) What's normal for a taller girl?

I think a clue is that if I belt at the waist, I think the distance from waist to derriere seems a little too long; it looks a little frumpy to my eye, as though my back is too long (?) or my butt itself should be higher, if that makes sense. (If I wear a longer top that hits at my high hip it looks good, I think.) I have almost exactly three hands between natural waist and the start of my inseam. Grateful for any advice! I'd iike to try to emphasize the waist, and experiment with belting, but I don't know where to start.

Body Type

15 replies

Latest reply was from Aida

yellowgirl

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

I'm no expert, but yes, I believe it is possible to have a short waist and a long rise. From what I've read, a short waist is determined by the distance from the bottom of the ribcage to the top of the hipbone. And, I'm sorry, but I don't know how to do the measurements for rise. Hopefully somebody more knowledgeable will chime in.

Looking forward to seeing your new style! It's quite a fun journey, isn't it?

Kari

Veteran

Vesperholly, thanks for posting, and I hope we'll get to see more from you!

Welcome to my personal body type dilemma! I'm VERY short in the waist (I have less than a hand's width from the bottom of the rib cage to the top of the hip bone, like Kathy mentioned in her comment above) and VERY long in the rise (there's about 12-13" from my crotch - where the zipper starts on my jeans, like you mentioned - to my natural waist, or the narrowest point at my waist.) I'm 5'5" and am an extremely busty/hippy hourglass.

I don't know what size rise is average, especially for a taller women, but if I measure most jeans the rise (from the crotch to the top of the zipper) is usually about 9-11" on my best fitting pairs, which are usually defined as "medium to high rise" jeans in stores.

I struggled for a while with tucking in and belting at the waist too - it's tricky with my body proportions, and yes, sometimes my rear end looks "too low." One strategy that helps me - if I wear skirts that end at the knee, especially with heels, and tuck in or belt my tops at the waist, I can sometimes fool the eye to look like the length of my rise is actually in my legs, which makes my proportions look a little less imbalanced. Or if I'm tucking tops into bootcut jeans, I must wear a wide belt - it visually gives the impression that my natural waist is actually a little lower than it is.

Over time, I've learned to grow more comfortable with belting. My two favorite belt styles are: 1. a wide belt with some stretch in it that is relatively FLAT so it won't add bulk at my middle - I like to wear these over woven tops tucked into pencil skirts; and 2. a skinny belt that I can wear over a cardigan at my natural waist, usually over a woven/silk shirt + pencil skirt combination or over a dress. I've heard other short-waisted women who are able to wear wide hip belts pretty well - Imogen at InsideOutStyle does this beautifully - but I find hip belts problematic because they don't stay in place. It drives me nuts when clothing items shift around!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Another welcome from me, and thanks for your awfully kind words about YLF!

The gals have you sorted, vesperholly. I'm just chiming in to say that it's totally possible to be short in the waist and long in the rise. In fact, it's not uncommon at all. Have you tried wearing a more low slung belt? That will visually lengthen the torso and shorten the rise.

Aida

Veteran

Hi and welcome! Just wanted to say I'm also a bit short waisted and long in the rise (though I'm a couple inches shorter than you), and I TOTALLY hear you on feeling like my bum should be higher! If I belt at the waist, I try to make sure the TOP of the belt hits at my waist to give the top more length, and the bottom less. Another option is to tuck tops in and belt along the hips; keeps the torso looking proportional without shortening the legs, but does shorten the rise a bit.

Irene

Veteran

I didn't know before, but reading Aida and Kari (and looking at their photos), I think I'm like that too. I don't belt though, NEVER, I still have to get there, so no advice regarding that.

vesperholly

Thank you for the warm welcome, and for allowing me to confess my low butt concerns in a therapeutic environment.....! I knew you all would know what to do.

Goldenpig, you mention that a short-waisted person has little gap between their ribcage and their hipbone? If that's true, than I think I've understood it wrong - I did Imogen's hand test and got a hand and 3 fingers between bust and waist. However, there is about a 4 inch gap or more between my ribs and my hips. Again, maybe that's a side effect of being tall? I think my waist 'should' be about an inch lower than it is, maybe more.

(It was satisfying to finally realize this last night, which explains why I love belts that hang down in a v-shape, loosely tied rope belts, or a skinny belt wrapped around several times, I think. I also sometimes wear thick belts low on my hips.)

Kari - My rise twin! I measure 11" from my natural waist to start of my inseam. I'm not that interested in wearing high waisted pants, but where does this leave us with regular jeans? It seems like they're more likely to cut in at soft parts of hip and back and make muffin top-like bulges. (And if they fit loosely at the low waist, they fall down and get saggy....)Thank you for your great suggestions about low belts with tucking. When you wear a skinny belt + cardigan, do you think it's the longer layer under the cardigan that adds some length and balance? It's liberating to finally understand why I hate wearing shorter shirts!

Aida - thank you for the welcome! It never would have occurred to me that I could make the belt higher in front and lower in back, but that would be perfect -- genius. What kind of belts do you make it work with? I think you're right that having something across the back of the hips breaks up the space just above the derriere.

Ok, maybe getting too advanced - those of you that are shortwaisted, do you also find that the length from your chin to your 'bust points' is proportionally long? (Imogen says the length from chin to nipple should be roughly the same measurement as the length of your face.) I have a long neck, so my bust ends up being further away from my chin than it "should" be -- but then the length from bust points to waist is in proportion. So my bust looks closer to my waist than to my chin, even though it is in good shape, and I think this makes me look more short waisted. (It also makes me want to wear bras that push me up to my chin.) Has anyone else experienced this?

Mo

(website)

Veteran

As to your last question - yes. I don't have a large bust but it seems lower in proportion on my torso. So much so that jackets tend to have too much fabric at the armpit point -where I suppose my bust is supposed to be filling them out - I am a good 2 inches lower than that spot. And I also have a bit of a longer rise with my short waist.

Elly

Veteran

I have a short waist (a tiny space between my ribs and hips). That said, I have a normal rise (two hands) and a normal space between bust and waist (two hands, barely). I am tallish (only 5'8" but I wear a 36 inseam in flats and usually need tall jackets and shirts unless I size way up to fit the shoulders or bust). My mother says I have a long neck, but I wouldn't take that for gospel. I tend to have a low bust and alot of chest above it, but get less of that effect with a really super vavavoom bra. Despite this I still think I have a considerably shorter torso when comparing proportionally to others and to my legs (since my inseam alone-- not including my hips in any way, is over half my total height). Fingertip length on me (hands by my sides, like school girls measure skirts and shorts) leaves me with a 8-10" inseam on my shorts where most girls have between 3-5.

Aida

Veteran

For belting at the waist I generally use elastic banded belts, and I will also use skinny leather belts; since I have a very curved back, belts just naturally move so they're lower in back and higher in front. At the hips I like structured leather belts, either skinny or just wide enough to fit in my pants' belt loops. Thought I'd post 2 outfits to show you where I usually belt. #1 is on the hips; lower rise pants + belt + heels help balance the proportions of torso/rise/legs, and the belt being white further breaks the rise. #2 is on the waist, with the top of the belt at the top of my waist as opposed to centering the belt on my waist; this allows the short part of my torso to look a bit longer while still accenting the waist, and the heels here are really just to make the whole thing look super leggy

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vesperholly

Ooh, Aida, I love the belt you're wearing in the second picture! (Where did you get it? Metal hardware = my favorite...) And the high ponytail looks great - you look like a pin-up girl! Super leggy definitely achieved.

Mo - interesting, that happens to me too. It sounds like there are a few of us with a similar body type... I'll try to post some pictures but I need to sort out a camera first.

Elly - You must have such wonderfully long legs. What if there are two kinds of shortwaistedness? Vertically short ribcages, or else maybe taller hips. I haven't seen your photos yet, but do you perhaps have an 8-shaped (high hip) figure?

lyn67

Veteran

Wellcome to The Forum!:-)
You shall try some obi belts, too-but not the common ones, which are wide arround the hole body. I have one(from europeanH&M), which is wider at the front only (from side to side) than it is has very slim, pleated and long ties attached, so when tying arround my waist (from front to rear, and then again to knot on the front, and let ties hanging long)I have a wide belt on the front, and only a slim(as ties) belt on the rear, if this makes sense.(?)
Who knew this can be so tricky? But love it myself the best for dresses, or tunics on slim leg jeans- as I have the same problems with longer rise, and lower setted bust on the ribcage:-)))

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

I'm still learning about all of these things so I can't add any advice but I do want to welcome you to the forum. You will learn so much and have tons of fun at the same time.

Louise

Veteran

Vesperholly don't get too bogged down by what is 'normal' you are what you are and you are perfect, welcome on board x

vesperholly

Thank you for making me feel so welcome... and thank you for the good advice, Louise. I'm new to the idea of body proportions, so I think I'm getting a little carried away. I'm a grad student in an area that has to do with human variation, so it's easy for me to geek out about these topics.

Aida

Veteran

The buckly belt was from Target, not sure if they still carry it though. It is definitely interesting to learn about all the body proportions and variations, but I must say you'll really be able to understand them once you start trying different things on with that info in mind, and by adjusting clothing you have to play with your own proportions. Camera helps quite a lot in this. I find proportional play very fun