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I learned a new term

Anonymous

"Calf sucking." I probably first encountered that term on this Forum, but I hadn't experienced it personally. So it was really only an idea or concept in the back of my brain.

Fast forward to June and it feels like I have tried on hundreds of pants these past few months. Some of them fit amazingly well in the waist and hips, but unfortunately, they were "calf sucking."

At first, I thought it was my body that was the problem. I was going to try to make them work because they DID fit so well in the waist and hips. Then in the deep, deep recesses of my brain, I remembered having seen this term. Suddenly I realized the problem was NOT my body, but the pants themselves. Oh, the relief.

Thank you, Forum.

Shopping

25 replies

Latest reply was from Stagiaire Fash

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Yup -- not your body!

Skinnies are great but there are skinnies and skinnies!

Thistle

Veteran

Never your body.

But yeah there's skinnies and there's the 1980's are calling and want their pants back.

Toban

Veteran

Ankle pants are particularly prone to this because they taper. I’ve done the same try-ons with same outcome until I realized it was simply the wrong silhouette for me and my body shape, even when the pants fit.

Kathie

Veteran

I felt such huge relief when I first read that description here. It was all the permission I needed to not keep trying so hard to make skinnies work for me.

Joy

Veteran

Sterling, I am so glad that you realized it was not you but the garment. I have 12 inch calves that make it hard to find knee-high boots to fit but have still experienced calve-sucking pants. Same with arms and sleeves. They must make these for skinny 12-year olds.

Runcarla

Veteran

I consider my legs my best feature - but I would be a rich woman if I had a dollar for every pair of pants I tried that i couldn't get over my 13.5 inch calves! It's not you, Sterling!

anne

Veteran

I think you have nice legs too Sterling

I also have 13.5 inch calves (just measured, they've grown!) Carla, but I rarely have this problem owing to larger thighs. In fact I often have jeans of mine that I thought of as skinnies referred to, as relaxed or even boyfriend!

Style Fan

Veteran

Yes the calve sucking jean. I have tried on many of these in my life.

LaPed

Veteran

I have a 25" waist but my calves measure 14" to15" depending on how much biking and hiking I've been doing (tend to be larger at the end of the summer, smaller at the end of the winter). Everyone talks about waist-to-hip ratio, but no one thinks about waist-to-calf ratio! Skinny jeans, and even some so-called straight-legs, are impossible. I also run into trouble with jogger-style pants because they taper, sometimes too much. The wide leg trend has been very good to me, and I wouldn't say no to bootcuts and flares if they ever come back to the marketplace.

Toban

Veteran

I’m with Carla and LaPed on this one, our athletic and shapely legs are an asset that rarely works with skinnies. Give me a knee length skirt to show off those curvy calves any day :).

Katerina

Veteran

And now I have just learnt the new term - thank you Sterling!

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Um, shouldn't it be "calf-sucking"? Or "calves-sucking" with an "s"? Grammar pedant reporting in.

Anonymous

Thanks Jenni -- I wondered how to spell it this morning when I was typing my post. I am going to change it to calf-sucking. Thanks for not letting me embarrass my publicly.

delurked

Veteran

I was compelled by Runcarla to measure my calves. They are strong and shapely and 15 inches.

karen13

Veteran

Welcome to my world! About a year ago I figured out that I need 15 inches circumference at 18” from the inseam, or I won’t wear it. Now I try to shop with a tape measure, and wont bring it intothe fitting room if it doesn’t measure up.

unfrumped

Veteran

So right!

Calf- sucking and “ calf hang-up”. I have a terrible time with the latter. Pants ride up on calves when I sit down and then don’t slide back down when I get up.

kkards

Veteran

i call that kind of pant "sausage casing"....

Anonymous

Unfrumped!!! THAT TOO. I tried on yet another pair of pants (jeggings this time). OMG. They fit so well and were so comfortable .... until I sat down. The pants rode up, hugged my calves, and no amount of tugging would get them to fall back into place. I ended up trying to "kick" them down and stressed the knee joint.

Karen13 -- what brilliance!!! How do you measure the "18” from the inseam?" From the top - down or vice versa?

Jane

Veteran

I find the calf sucking effect even worse when wearing pop sox / knee length hose. I too want trousers that when I sit down and then stand up, fall back down again. May be I am / we are just hoping for too much!

Like the Season

Yep, I have all of these problems (now cleverly named) thanks to 14 1/2-inch circumference. So annoying when "straight" jeans grab my calves and won't let go.

anne

Veteran

I thought (as I said above) that I didn't have this problem, BUT I do have that grabbing problem with my exercise tights. I don't usually run in them, but I did yesterday, and stopped mid parkrun just to pull them down.

Echo

Veteran

kkards is right. These are normally sausage casings on me. I have healthy calves, and even pants that will fit easily over my hips and thighs often will not pull up over my calves. It's a shame because I prefer tapered pants, but as unfrumped said, I want them to fall back down when I stand up and not get caught on my calves.

Jessikams

(website)

Veteran

Totally hearing you on all of this. I hate it when pants won’t slide back down when I stand up! It is so not graceful to be tugging at your pants in public.

Sal

Veteran

I have this issue too - it is really frustrating.

I have muscular calf muscles and pants can grab me there - it is irritating. Welcome to the club Sterling but not sure it is a club you wanted to join!!

Straight leg or slim leg can work (and culottes are very freeing!)

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Congratulations—you found the button to push to make me log in again, lol!

I would love a pair of summer white pants. I recently ordered a slew of them, pretty much whatever Nordy’s & the Rack had. It was awful. White leggings look remarkably similar to bandages, at least on me (and on NBA players who wear those compression leggings).

Out of all those options, there was only one pair I really liked. They were actually full length! The material was gauzy, so I’d have to choose undies color carefully, but otherwise they were perfect—except for the cuff. It was just tight enough to keep the pants taut & ridiculous looking. So I ordered up a size. Same thing. Ordered up again (now at XL). The waist is elastic with drawstring, so it was fine in all these sizes, but even the the largest pair got stuck on my calf whenever I bent my leg the least little bit. They all went back, and white pants (full length) are now my HEWI.

Nice to know you not only feel my pain, but have a word for it

Ps—I’m trying again. Just ordered 3 to pick up in store today. I’ll try them on there. Two others aren’t available, so I’m “saving them for later”.