So apparently I'm short waisted (my "Aha!") - YouLookFab Forum

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So apparently I'm short waisted (my "Aha!")

Jewell

Veteran

I made this discovery this morning of all times.

I had just commented on QueenMum's sweater dress thread when I decided to try to copy her sweater dress/cropped jacket look. My sweater dress came with a wide black belt, so naturally I threaded the belt through those loops sewn onto the sides, and then layered my cropped jacket over it. Something was off to my eye, so I took the belt out of the "loops" and adjusted its position. Something still didn't look right, so I began to wonder whether my waist length was the issue. I've always assumed I was long waisted, and I don't even know where I got that idea.

A google search later and I was standing in front of the mirror with a measuring tape. I've been told that I have long legs, and now I saw what I hadn't noticed before and I had the math to back it up. From hip bone to heel I'm 36 inches. From hip bone to head I'm 31 inches. And as it turns out those 31 inches are not evenly distributed. From hip bone to bust I'm about 13 1/2 inches and from bust to top of head I'm about 17 1/2 inches THEREFORE I'm actually short waisted! Aha!

Oh it gets better. The list of clothing items to avoid includes cropped jackets and wide belts. No wonder I was having issues with the dress, jacket, and belt combo.

No, I'm not going to do anything drastic like toss out my beloved cropped jacket along with my wide belts, empire waist dresses, and high waisted skirts and pants. But I'm glad I found this out so I can make it a consideration for future purchases. And with this information I've already started scrutinizing my WIW photos differently. This so explains why my tops always look better untucked...good thing I don't like tucking anyways.

Just wanted to share my "Aha!"
Do any of you factor your high/low waistedness into how you dress or what you buy?

Dressing

27 replies

Latest reply was from Kari

Aziraphale

Veteran

Me too me too! Well, I always knew I was short waisted, but I never knew HOW much. There's a thread out there somewhere (I can't remember who started it) about this neat trick of measuring the length of your head (not just the face), then measuring the following:

- chin to peak of breasts (one head length)
- peak of breasts to waist (one head length)
- waist to break at the top of the legs (one head length)
- leg break to knee (two head lengths)
- knee to floor (two head lengths)

That's what it should be for "perfect" proportions. Most of us are short somewhere, however. I discovered, for example, that my lower leg is quite a bit longer than my thigh -- which explains why knee boots are often not too tall on me, even though you'd think they would be, seeing as I'm so short.

Fascinating stuff.

Anyway, I do factor my short-waistedness into how I dress. Dresses in particular can be a problem because the waist of the dress usually hits me somewhere near the hip. I tend to gravitate to dresses with a high waistband. Wrap styles work well too. And I wear a lot of jersey tops, which cling to your curves, rather than more structured woven tops where the waist hits me in the wrong spot. When I do wear a button-front shirt, I wear a looser one that masks my waist entirely, and I wear it with skinny pants to balance things out. Or I wear it with a fitted waistcoat over top to create a waist. And I had to have the shoulders of that waistcoat lowered by a tailor so it fit me properly.

ManidipaM

Veteran

Yep, I do too. I'm short-waisted on a long torso with short legs!

Since I'm also really short, I find it so hard to find dresses whose waists DON'T land up at my hipbone that I actually prefer to find straight silhouettes or dropped waists that hide the waistline or let me add a belt myself if I want. A skirt is far easier to wear in this respect.

And I actually like wearing hip-length jackets and wide belts to obfuscate the waistline and a get a bit of girdling going BELOW my actual narrowest point to re-apportion myself, if that makes sense.

I have very short legs, and ideally I should keep my skirts and dresses shorter, but I also don't like to reveal my knees, let alone my thighs, so I often just use colour to try and unify skirt and lower legs. Or add heels.

On the other hand, I apparently have proportionately longer arms, which is a very good thing, because otherwise most full-length sleeves would be over my hands! It does cause trouble for cuffs meant to sit just below the elbow --- they end up in the crook of my elbow sometimes, which means the garment won't be coming home with me. I found that out from the link elisabeth mentions!

Heather

Veteran

I love A-Ha moments!!

Jewell

Veteran

elisabeth, it truly is fascinating stuff!

I feel like I've cracked an usolved case! Pic one is from an old WIW post. I've looked at this photo at least a dozen times (with my untrained eyes) and couldn't figure out what was off about the outfit. Now I know what's wrong. It's a high waisted pencil skirt and I tucked in the blouse- two no no's for short waisted gals. The second pic is an example of me pulling off high waisted pants successfully. It works because of the high neckline on the button down and the untucked sweater which lengthen my torso to look more proportionate to my long legs. Geez, I've barely finished learning the rules for dressing my body type and now I have more guidelines to study up on : )

I often have issues with dresses so I'll keep yours and ManidipaM's solutions for choosing/wearing dresses in mind.

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Aziraphale

Veteran

Actually, I think you look really good in that pencil skirt outfit. Your waist might be high, but it looks like you're tall, and you do have a lovely tiny waist, which that outfit shows off.

Jem

Veteran

The same thing happened to me. When I did Imogen's proportion test, I found out I was short from bust to waist and all of my height is in my lower legs! Wow, so much made more sense! It seems kindof obvious now, but was eye opening at the time. I do like #2 above, better, but I don't t think #1 looks bad, either, btw.

Meredith1953

Veteran

I am also a little short waisted with long legs. I really hate tucking most things in at all because I feel I even shorter waisted! I haven't tried moving belt loops down but it sounds like a good idea to try. I would LIKE to be able to tuck things in once in awhile!

DragonflyJane

I'm probably going to appear really dim here .. but what does short-waisted mean?

It's a term I've only ever come across on ylf & I'm slightly baffled!

Thanks in advance.

Anonymous

I'm so glad you found out! I remember when I discovered I'm short waisted but have a long rise (legs are normal length). It was a real Aha! moment for me, and I wondered why it was never obvious to me before. The way I figured out was by measuring myself in head lengths and figuring out where I'm short and where I'm not. This information is valuable in knowing what to wear, what to avoid, and how to combine clothing for a pleasing silhouette.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Hi DJane. "Shortwaisted" means that the space from the peak of the breasts to the waist, which is usually the smallest part of the torso, is shorter than average, average being about one head length. This makes the waist seem higher up the body.

Sylvie

Veteran

Oh yeah, I'm the Queen of the shortwaisted people. I have to shop exclusively in petites for tops/dresses if I want to have any chance of the waist hitting me at the right point. Anytime someone complains about a belted garment hitting right under the bust, that belt is going to be right at my waist.

My long calves mean I can wear normal length pants and tall boots with no problem.

Jewell

Veteran

@DragonflyJane- To add to elisabeth's answer: short/high waistedness is a component of vertical body type and relates to the length of your waist in proportion to the rest of you. A lot of women who struggle with belting and tucking and finding pants and jackets that fit properly are short or long waisted. Therefore knowing which you are can alleviate a lot of shopping frustration. Here's a link to one very simple way to assess yourself:

http://www.my-virtual-makeover.....waist.html

There are other tests as well, but I found this one really easy to understand. For years I thought I was long waisted because I was comparing my waist to those of my friends. Silly me! Of course my waist is longer than theirs- most of them are shorter than me. I didn't realize I should be comparing the length of my waist to the rest of my top half. I have long legs and a short waist- who da thunk it?

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I had an "aha" like this, too, Jewell, when I did Imogen's proportions test. Except I'm not long legged. It turns out I'm short waisted AND short legged. And not long in the rise as I had thought. Just more or less average..and shorter everywhere else except chin to bust, which is regular length.

Oh, and I have a big head.

I finally realized why petite tops and jackets and dresses fit me better. I fit regular pants better; petites are too short for me.

Carole

Veteran

Welcome to the club! Actually, finding out how to dress my short waistedness and broad shoulders was what eventually led me to YLF. Longer tops, belting at the hip with a low slung belt are a couple style saving tips that helped me loads. I have to run now, but will come back with later to comment.

So nice to have such good company, btw.

kimana517

(website)

For years I knew that my torso was abnormal, but I didn't know what it it was called. A few years ago, Angie did a post about how to tell if you're short- or long-waisted (http://youlookfab.com/2009/06/.....g-waisted/), and that finally got me to understand what it meant and that I was extremely short-waisted. (The test in the article is how many hand-widths between the bottom of your breasts and the narrowest point of your waist. Normal is two whole hand-widths. Mine is barely one hand-width.) That explained a lot! But I have to say, I disagree with a lot of the "rules", and love wearing high-waisted fitted skirts with tops tucked in. And in fact, I think the pic you posted of you wearing such an outfit looks great! I actually get more compliments when I wear a tucked in/high-waisted pencil skirt outfit than any other type of outfit. So I guess what I'm saying is screw the rules - if you think it works, wear it. Or ask on here if it works, and these awesome ladies will let you know. =o)

Amy

(website)

Veteran

I'm short-waisted too. I think that pencil skirt looks great on you!

DragonflyJane

Thanks for explaining! I've just done the hand width test & I'm short-waisted too.

That might explain that even though I'm not petite in height, I find petite tops fit better.
I've been really struggling with a new jumper as it seems to land at a really odd place - now I understand why!

I wasn't sure about the rules too as I love belting & am always complimented when I do.

Anonymous

I have a long torso, so I always assumed I was also long waisted, but all of my length is in the top half of my torso. There is really not enough room betwen the bottom of my ribcage and the top of my hip bones to fit a wide belt, so this should have been my first clue!

I'm also having a hard time finding casual tops that are long enough to wear with pants, but that's another subject!

ButterflyLady

(website)

Veteran

I am short-waisted, with a long rise - if I'm not careful how I dress, I can look very strange!

Anonymous

Because of my short waist and overall short height (5 ft. 2 in.), I wear petite tops, petite dresses, petite jackets and petite coats... but regular pants because of my long rise. I pay to get my pants hemmed up.

Vix

Veteran

Congrats on figuring out a big proportion issue -- you're right, it should make your life so much easier!

Also, welcome to the club.

[Of course I'm in the short waist + short legs + long torso/rise club...good to see so many members of the club-within-the-club here....]

FWIW I actually think you pull off #1 pretty well due to the low-contrast skirt/top/belt -- it helps that you have a nice waist-hip ratio goin' there so the eye goes in and out in your waist zone (and the patterned top keeps the eye moving too).

Your shape may be why you don't like empire tops/dresses -- they are my favs when close-fitting, but my smallest point is definitely right under the bust (and my waist isn't far from that, ha!).

Please let us know what's working for you...I'm always looking for more ideas and I bet I'm not alone.

Jonesy

Veteran

Great epiphany! I think it's quite common to be short-waisted, and it's certainly the look that models try to attain (very, very long legline, lots of times achieved with really high heels, much shorter from waist to top of head) so I certainly don't think there is anything peculiar about it :). In fact, I really love that look of yours with the pencil skirt--may be one of my faves you've posted. I guess some of this is pretty subjective!

Some model examples below.

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Vix

Veteran

Jonesy --

True, it's all subjective.

I do think it's easier to carry off short-waisted looks (naturally or artificially) when there's not much of a change in plane between bust and waist. It's a visual breathing room thang IMO....

As one with more up top, I'm happy to try that peplum'd dress in photo #2, though. Love its 40s vibe!

Winnie

Member

I'm 39 inches from heel to hip bone, 26.5 inches from hip bone to head, and 7 inches from hip bone to bust! I guess that makes me more than short-waisted! Do they have a nonexistent waist club??

Keix

Veteran

Count me as another member of the short waist/short legs/long rise club. I'm a rectangle shape with apple tendencies, so you have to squint to see my waist at all. My trick for lengthening the torso--although it may only work for rectangles--is to wear skirts with a tucked-in top *below* my natural waist. Since my drop-waist is only about 2 inches larger than my true waist, I don't add too much visual weight by covering my narrowest point, and I gain better proportions.

In dresses, though, I look for styles that others complain are high-waisted--otherwise it tends to ride up throughout the day. And even though I have an apple tummy, I prefer to wear low-rise pants (7-8") for minimum muffin top. High rises never reach my waist, so the girdling effect becomes more of a dividing effect.

Kari

Veteran

Yes. I'm super duper short waisted! It explained why sometimes petite sized blouses that are form-fitting will fit better than straight sizes if I'm planning to wear them with skirts, why stiff and boxy cuts were SO hard to wear, why seaming on dresses often seemed to hit in the wrong spot... but I've learned to live with it, even if I don't love it.

Kari

Veteran

Also, an "aha" moment of my own that came primarily after midi skirts started coming back in:

I can kind of disguise how long the waist-to-kneecap portion of my body is in comparison to my height when the hem of my skirt JUST covers my kneecaps. It can sometimes give the illusion that the length is actually in my leg line, not in my torso.

Examples of this strategy:
Cinch the waist with a belt or blazer, cover the kneecap, and pretend that I actually have long legs under this skirt. http://cdn2.youlookfab.com/upl....._image.jpg
I've recently discovered that the same strategy can also work on me with boxier/floatier blouses over a knee-covering straight skirt. http://cdn0.youlookfab.com/upl....._image.jpg
Or I can expose the kneecap, but keep the contrast low between the top and bottom half of my body. http://cdn1.youlookfab.com/upl....._image.jpg
In comparison, here my legs look a LOT shorter and my torso looks longer. http://cdn0.youlookfab.com/upl....._image.jpg