True / Natural Waist Measurement Technique

[lowrider]

When you guys measure your waist, do you place the tape lightly over your waist or do you simulate how the jeans will fit on you by pulling the tape a bit?

I find a 1" variance between placing the tape over my waist gently versus pulling it slightly to simulate how my jeans fit me.

What's the proper way to do it?

I'm guessing to apply a bit of pressure with the tape to simulate how the jeans will fit otherwise they jeans will be too loose.

[nakedsushi]

I don't know the proper way, but I pull the tape to simulate jeans.

[Seething Tortoise]

When I measure my waist, I measure my waist like you're supposed to.

When I measure where I want my jeans to hang, I measure my low waist area, a bit below my belly button and around where my pelvis starts.

[lowrider]

When I measure my waist, I measure my waist like you're supposed to.

And the way you're supposed to is...

When I measure where I want my jeans to hang, I measure my low waist area, a bit below my belly button and around where my pelvis starts.

Right, thanks for that. Although I'm not too concerned about placement (location on torso) of the tape as I am about how much pressure applied to the tape (in other words, how much squeezing of the waist with the tape). Sorry if my post wasn't clear.

[GoodHustle]

I find a 1" variance between placing the tape over my waist gently versus pulling it slightly to simulate how my jeans fit me.

What's the proper way to do it?

I'm guessing to apply a bit of pressure with the tape to simulate how the jeans will fit otherwise they jeans will be too loose.

Like you, I find a 1" variance so when I'm purchasing jeans I usually take the mean of the 1" range into consideration.

[isoform]

your real waist is a bit above your bellybutton. it's the slimmest part of your torso.

like my real waist is 26--so i'm able to buy "size 26" denim that have an "actual waist" measurment of like 27-28 inches or something so they can sit on my lower-waist (a few inches below my belly button) where i want them...

[XX]

you measure your waist wherever your jeans sit at on your body.. thats the point you measure

i pull the tape just slightly tighter because if your jeans fit EXACTLY to your measurment then they will most likely feel too loose in the waist

there will usually be a difference between your actual measurment and the size of jean you buy. most companies have about a 2 inch difference for guys jeans. (if you measure 32, you buy a size 30.. etc)

im not exactly sure why this is, but ive found it to be true with just about every company

[percy]

could be diff for female jeans tho. show us a pic of your waist iso so we know what you mean :-"

[Seething Tortoise]

And the way you're supposed to is...

Right, thanks for that. Although I'm not too concerned about placement (location on torso) of the tape as I am about how much pressure applied to the tape (in other words, how much squeezing of the waist with the tape). Sorry if my post wasn't clear.

That's my bad, I misread your question.

Your waist is usually the thinnest part of your torso, between your pelvis and ribcage and a bit above your belly button.

I measure quite tightly, so that the tape measure is pressed against my skin, then I loosen it a little bit to simulate stretch and see if the jeans hang where I would like them to.

[lowrider]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't know that your waist was above the belly button. Learned something new today...

I just measured again and it's the same measurement at my true waist above my belly button and my "actual" waist (where most of my jeans sit) 2" below my belly button. Lower than that and the size goes up. \

I'm glad that I'm measuring correctly by pulling the tape a bit tight.

[edmond]

when i do measure my waist i dont pull on the tape at all.. just place it lightly lets say it came out like size 34 inches .. i order my pants size 33. or 32 depends on the denim i always size down... for the SUPERFUTURE fit!

[Tarmac]

You should just measure jeans which fit you perfectly. All my jeans that fit perfectly measure 31

when I measure my waist I get 33+

[lowrider]

You should just measure jeans which fit you perfectly. All my jeans that fit perfectly measure 31

when I measure my waist I get 33+

I haven't defined what's a perfect fit for me yet. I'm still a noob. I'm still learning a lot about how the cut (esp. rise) and stretching affects the waist. My tag sizes are all over the place:

Sugar Cane x Begin: Tag 32W / Measure 32" - are a little too lose for me unless they sit on my hips (which makes me look like a took a dump in my pants)

LVC 1906 Bunkhouse 501: Tag 29W / Measure 31" - fit well but could be tighter and since I've only worn these 3 times, I'm afraid what they'll stretch out to (esp. since there are no belt loops)

Gap Gough: Tag 29W / Measure 32" - I think I don't wear my belts tight enough cuz these stretched out a bit but they still fit well

Measurements of my waist 2" below my belly button is 30" when I wake up in the morning and 30.5" after lunch.

I should learn to do the SF fit and make sure I can't button up the jeans when I try them on. Problem is that I hardly get to try on jeans!

[Tarmac]

haha trust me, I dont do SuFu fit, I dunno what to say. I measure my jeans flat but sideways so the rise is taken out of the equation.

[lowrider]

haha trust me, I dont do SuFu fit, I dunno what to say. I measure my jeans flat but sideways so the rise is taken out of the equation.

Wait, how can that take the rise out of the question? A jean with a 14" front rise should (operative word here) be worn much higher up than one with a 8" rise. I don't have hips like a female but I do get a bit wider closer to my pubic area (where an 8" rise jean would hang).

Unless you wear all your jeans (regardless of cut / rise) at the same location on your body, the rise will play a significant role in determining the waist size.

No? Help a noobie out! Mahalos!

[synthi]

Hey lowrider. There are a few ways to measure jeans, however given the readings of your wiast, I can confidently say that for Japanese denim (that generally always shrinks to tag size) you should go for a 29 if you want the jeans to be a spot on fit post soak or a 28 if you want the jeans to be a little bit restrictive post soak. They would soon stretch to fit you.

Exercise caution when sizing down though because as many forum members have reported, you don't really get all of shrinkage done till you machine wash. Also something I often forget is that sizing down reflects a change not just in the waist size but also the rises, leg opening etc. Good luck dude

[Double D]

could be diff for female jeans tho. show us a pic of your waist iso so we know what you mean :-"

Girls jeans do run bigger than tagged for sure, because they sit waaaay below the waistline. The smallest Skull Lindas (00) I seem to remember measure around a 27 or something because of the low rise, wheras 5010xx run pretty true to size.

[Tarmac]

Wait, how can that take the rise out of the question? A jean with a 14" front rise should (operative word here) be worn much higher up than one with a 8" rise. I don't have hips like a female but I do get a bit wider closer to my pubic area (where an 8" rise jean would hang).

Unless you wear all your jeans (regardless of cut / rise) at the same location on your body, the rise will play a significant role in determining the waist size.

No? Help a noobie out! Mahalos!

I mean I take the rise out of the equation when measuring the waist size of my jeans. If you measure the jeans laid face up, across-the-back x 2, you would be slightly off if you had mega-droop on the front of your jeans. so what I do is measure them laid flat on their side, the waist on the right side is up against the waist on the left. Hope that makes sense.

Also I don't try to determine how the rise would affect what size I should get, that is just too complicated. I tend to get pretty mid rise stuff anyway.

[lowrider]

Hey lowrider. There are a few ways to measure jeans, however given the readings of your wiast, I can confidently say that for Japanese denim (that generally always shrinks to tag size) you should go for a 29 if you want the jeans to be a spot on fit post soak or a 28 if you want the jeans to be a little bit restrictive post soak. They would soon stretch to fit you.

Exercise caution when sizing down though because as many forum members have reported, you don't really get all of shrinkage done till you machine wash. Also something I often forget is that sizing down reflects a change not just in the waist size but also the rises, leg opening etc. Good luck dude

Thanks synthi!

[lowrider]

I mean I take the rise out of the equation when measuring the waist size of my jeans. If you measure the jeans laid face up, across-the-back x 2, you would be slightly off if you had mega-droop on the front of your jeans. so what I do is measure them laid flat on their side, the waist on the right side is up against the waist on the left. Hope that makes sense.

Also I don't try to determine how the rise would affect what size I should get, that is just too complicated. I tend to get pretty mid rise stuff anyway.

Ah... that makes sense. Mahalos!