Waist vs Hip: What is The Difference Between Waist and Hip?

If you don’t know your anatomy, then you might be in big trouble when it comes to sewing your clothes. Also, sewing for men might be a bit difficult as men have larger waists than women but smaller hips.

What is the difference between waist and hip? One of the differences between the hip and the waist is the location of both. The waist is located between the rib cage and the hip. Generally, the hip is about 9 inches below the waist when it comes to sewing clothes.

To get all the information you can about the differences between the hip and the waist just continue to read our article. It goes in-depth to make sure you fully understand those differences helping you to design better clothes for you and your family.

Is Hip The Same as Waist?


You probably already know the answer to this question. It is no, they are not the same. Not only they are located on different parts of the body, but they also come with a lot of specific terms and measurements.

For example, there is the high and low hip and this measurement depends on where your body’s widest part is located. Then there is what is called long and short waist measurements.

The long waist only means that the distance from your rib cage to your waist is long and short is the opposite. Then you have what is called the natural waist. This is the smallest part of your body.

To give you an example, the natural waist on some pants are those that fasten between your rib cage and your belly button. Then if you think that low rise jeans are made to fit your natural waist, you would not be correct.

Low rise jeans fasten at your hips and are designed to complement the slender figure many women have. Then you may want to avoid those blouses and sweaters, etc., that end at the natural waist.

These clothing items tend to cast a body image where your body has been cut in half. It is not a very flattering look.

What is Hip Size and What is Waist Size?


When it comes to creating good outfits to wear, and these outfits refer to dresses, pants, and skirts, the two most important measurements you will take will be your hips and your waist.

One of the aspects of wearing clothing and having them look good is that you can distort your look by using bad posture, wearing tight clothing and not knowing where your natural waist is.

Getting the measurements correct depends on you knowing the difference between hip and waist size. To get your hip and your waist size you will need to remove as much outer clothing as you can.

Measuring with cloths on will distort the measurement and even have you locating the wrong spots on your body. Some times it is a little difficult to find your natural waist but it can be done.

Measuring at the point of your natural waist will give you your waist size. Now move down to your pelvic region and look for the widest part of your body. This should be the widest part of your body and take a measurement there.

For both measurements, pull the measuring tape snug NOT tight. This is no time to cheat. Now with the hips, you may have some difficulty because there is more than one hip size for women.

There are 6 different hips sizes. First, there is the A-line hip shape; second, there is the square-shaped hip; third, the heart-shaped hips; fourth, the triangle-shaped hips; fifth, the narrow shaped hips, and finally the round hip shape.

Should I Go by Hip or Waist Measurement?


Unless you are making pants that do not come up to your natural waist, then you need to go by both measurements, especially for dresses. You need to have accurate measurements to make sure your clothes will fit you or the other female members of your family.

But, if you are buying clothes online or at the store, the most important measurement will be the one for your hips. Since that is the widest part of your body, it is the one measurement that has to fit if you are going to wear the dress, etc comfortably.

Since the waist is smaller you know the clothing item will fit your waist if the clothing item fits your hips. Also, when you are wearing those jeans or other pants that have zippers, your hip measurement takes priority here as well.

There is no fun in trying to get pants to fit when they are smaller than your hips. One exception to this rule may be with high waisted jeans or pants. Because these clothing items sit on your waist.

For mid-rise jeans and pants, it is going to be a tossup. Some will need to use the hip measurement while others may have to use the waist measurement. So this style of pants is going to be more trial and error than others.

Hip vs Waist Belt


These come into play in one example when you are wearing a backpack. The hip belt is designed to help take some of the weight off your shoulders. Whereas the waist belt design is merely there to keep your backpack stable.

But most women do not carry a pack around and are more concerned with fashion belts. Which one is better to have? Since your hip and waist are not the same sizes unless, for a few exceptions, it is wise to have belts in 2 sizes.

One size to match your waist and one to fit your hips. Which belt you wear will depend on what kind of outfit you are going to wear for the day. If your pants are going to stop at your hips then the waist belt will probably be too small to use.

If your pants are going to end at your waist then a hip belt usually is too large to wear. It is hard to find a belt that will do both areas of your body at the same time. Now if belts do not look goo don your hips, you can always omit those from your shopping list and just go with waist belts.

How to Calculate Hip and Waist Ratio


This may be a topic most women do not want to read about as it deals with the amount of fat on their bodies. Yet, the hip to waist ratio has some important medical applications so it is essential to learn all about this aspect of your body.

This ratio is not the same as the BMI index. That index compares your weight to your height to see if you are overweight for your size. What the waist to hip ratio does is measure your circumference at both parts of your body and calculates how much fat your body is storing in those regions. This includes your buttocks as well.

Now there is a safety standard that needs to be met when you take your waist to hip ratio. For men, it has to be 0.9 or less. Some also state that the figure should be 0.95 or less. Women are not so lucky.

Their safety range starts at 0.8 and goes down. The alternative figure is only at 0.85 If your waist to hip ratio is below those figures then you are in the low heath risk category.

If the ration hits between 0.81 to 0.85 for women, then you are in the moderate risk zone. For men to reach this level their waist to hip ratio has to be between 0.96 to 1.0. The high-risk level for women is 0.86 or higher and for men, it is 1.0 or greater.

Now to see where you stand, you measure your waist circumference and your hip circumference. Then you divide the waist measurement by the hip measurement. The reason you should know this is because it gives you a very inexpensive way to see if you are at risk for any health diseases.

You can trust the ration in this instance as it is more accurate than the BMI. The drawback to the waist-hip ratio is that it is not always easy to take your waist and hip measurements. You may want a calculator on hand to help you do the math to see where you land on the scale.

What Are Good Hip and Waist Measurements?


Culture may play a little role in influencing what is or isn’t ideal hip and waist measurements. For the western countries, the ideal has always been about 36-24-36, throwing in the bust size as well.

But those measurements may be a little unrealistic for most women to achieve. It is said that a waist size larger than 35 for women is not good. You are more likely to have health issues when your waist goes above that number.

What makes the 24-inch waistline unrealistic is that the average women have a waist size of 37.5 inches The average is just that, the average as there are many women well below that size.

Men are a little bit luckier as they do not start to have health issues till their waist reaches 40 inches around. The good news for men is that the average male’s waist size is 39.7 inches.

What a large waistline indicates to you and your doctor is that you have a large amount of visceral fat around your organs. This is the type of fat that leads to diabetes type 2 and heart disease among other ailments.

What this means is that you should make the effort to keep your waist size down.

What Hip to Waist Ratio is Most Attractive


For men looking at women, they seem to be attracted to those females whose waistline is at a 0.7 waist to hip ration. That measurement puts women in the 25 to 27 and the 36-inch realm of the ideal measurement mentioned above.

That 0.7 measurements is not limited to just one body type. It works for women who are of different heights and weights. Where women start to lose their curves is when their ration hits the 0.8 to 0.9 range.

What is interesting for women to know here is this most attractive measurement seems to be the same for men found all around the world. Slender women can go anywhere in the world and always be seen as attractive.

It is kind of funny, (interesting), to see that men do not have an ideal ratio to meet. There is no male equivalent to the female 36-24-36 ideal. Since most men do not have curves, you will find that their ratio is generally at the 0.9 level.

Of course, that does not include different fads like seeing a guy with a 6 pack although extra muscle, like a 6 pack, can distort the male ratio and throw the predictive elements for health risks off.

Some Final Words

Women do have it rougher than men when it comes to fashion and attractive ideals. Where and how they wear their clothes is part of how attractive they appear. Meeting their ideals is not always easy.

But to help women look their best, follow the above rules for hips and waists and you should always look good. To take the pressure off, most men would consider a woman attractive if she wore a baggy burlap sack. So dress to be healthy.

For the most part, men do not care where their pants lie. The hips or the waist do not matter unless they are participating in the show your underwear fad that has pants down to their knees. Then some men care.

Also, men do not have an ideal measurement to meet and are rarely judged by such a standard. That makes dressing men a lot easier than dressing women. It's not fair but that is the way it is.

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