# female measurements **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 12, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524 "2004-04-12T00:19:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/1 "2004-04-12T00:19:58Z")
Since I have gained almost 20 lbs. since last year, I measured myself again. 36-30-36. Weird. I’d always heard the “ideal” was 36-22-36. Was this normal to have such a small waist? Or were these women really short? Even when I was 5’11" and 115 lbs. my waist was 27! (now I am 148 lbs.) ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/2 "2004-04-12T00:33:10Z")
> [@vanilla](#): > > Since I have gained almost 20 lbs. since last year, I measured myself again. > 36-30-36. > Weird. > I’d always heard the “ideal” was 36-22-36. > Was this normal to have such a small waist? > Or were these women really short? > > Even when I was 5’11" and 115 lbs. my waist was 27! > (now I am 148 lbs.) It’s 36-24-36, not 22. It’s the ratio that is the ideal, not the measurements alone. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/3 "2004-04-12T00:45:10Z")
Plus, yeah, those people were shorter. 5"11 is a bit tall. I mean, in 2004 you don’t exactly hear “did you see that girl’s bust! It was at least 36 inches.” That’s like “Woah check out those breasts they were completely within the normal average size range!” I think if they made up that expression now it would be something like 40-22-32. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/4 "2004-04-12T00:58:49Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > It’s 36-24-36, not 22. Um…got a link to a photo? I have no idea what that’s supposed to look like. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/5 "2004-04-12T02:51:41Z")
Today’s women, by and large, are heavier than their mothers and grandmothers. I’d be willing to bet that fewer than 5 percent of the adult female population in the U.S. has a 24-inch waistline. (Maybe as few as 2 percent.) I think I read somewhere that the average female waistline today is somewhere around 30 inches. ---
**Author:** ![Intent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5e9695/32.png) [@Intent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intent)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/6 "2004-04-12T04:38:58Z")
That makes sense. When I worked retail, they average rule of thumb I was given was that womens pants are 20 plus whatever the size is in inches. It’s not perfect, but I have found it to be generally true. And since the average woman is supposed to be a size 10 or 12 I would guess, a 30" waist suits her. ---
**Author:** ![Calliope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Calliope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calliope)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/7 "2004-04-12T04:45:13Z")
I thought the ideal was bust and hips equal with the waist 10 inches smaller. ---
**Author:** ![cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/8 "2004-04-12T05:30:35Z")
A waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7 is usually considered “ideal” in terms of both attractiveness and fertility. [http://clab.cecil.cc.md.us/faculty/Sociology/beauty.html](http://clab.cecil.cc.md.us/faculty/Sociology/beauty.html) > [@](#): > > Almost anything that interferes with fertility-obesity, malnutrition, pregnancy, menopause – changes a woman’s shape. Healthy, fertile women typically have waist-hip ratios of .6 to .8, meaning their waists are 60 to 80 percent the size of their hips, whatever their actual weight. To take one familiar example, a 36-25-36 figure would have a WHR of .7. Many women outside this range are healthy and capable of having children, of course. But as researchers in the Netherlands discovered in a 1993 study, even a slight increase in waist size relative to hip size can signal reproductive problems. Among 500 women who were attempting in vitro fertilization, the odds of conceiving during any given cycle declined by 30 percent wit every 10 percent increase in WHR. In other words, a woman with WHR of .9 was nearly a third less likely to get pregnant than one with a WHR of .8, regardless of her age or weight. From an evolutionary perspective, it’s hard to imagine men not responding to such a revealing signal. And as Singh has shown repeatedly, they do. > [@](#): > > The same pattern holds when Singh generates line drawings of different female figures and asks male volunteers to rank them for attractiveness, sexiness, health and fertility. He has surveyed men of various backgrounds, nationalities and ages. And whether the judges are 8-year olds of 85-year olds, their runaway favorite is a figure of average weight with a .7 WHR. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/9 "2004-04-12T06:00:59Z")
> [@vanilla](#): > > Since I have gained almost 20 lbs. since last year, I measured myself again. > 36-30-36. > Weird. > I’d always heard the “ideal” was 36-22-36. > Was this normal to have such a small waist? > Or were these women really short? > > Even when I was 5’11" and 115 lbs. my waist was 27! > (now I am 148 lbs.) [pig hat on] Screw what’s ideal! Daddy likes what you got going on!![pig hat off] Seriously though, I’ve never found ANYTHING wrong with a woman who has a little meat on her bones. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/10 "2004-04-12T13:25:13Z")
I’m 5’1 and currently about 47kgs, having put on a couple of pounds recently, thankfully it goes to my hips (I say thankfully, because it balances out the boobs). I’m actually 34-24-34 at the moment, but since I have a very tiny frame and 30F boobs, I don’t think my figure is quite what they had in mind when they thought up those numbers. I can fit into trousers and jeans from kids stores (usually age 12-13), a good things, since women’s trousers start at a 26’’ waist, which is fine in low-rise hipsters, but not if I want something higher waisted. ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/11 "2004-04-12T13:28:24Z")
> [@Intent](#): > > That makes sense. When I worked retail, they average rule of thumb I was given was that womens pants are 20 plus whatever the size is in inches. It’s not perfect, but I have found it to be generally true. > > And since the average woman is supposed to be a size 10 or 12 I would guess, a 30" waist suits her. That’s interesting to know. I wonder how much that has changed recently? I’ve noticed sizes seem to be getting smaller, the older I get. As in, what was a five or a seven when I was growing up, is now a two or a three. I gained 15 pounds around age 25, and the clothing I wear now, says it’s a smaller size than the things I wore when I was lighter. Apparently, I now wear a size I could not have fit into and still breathe, even as a teen. Someone else must have noticed this, and I also wonder if this has happened before? Was what was a seven when I was growing up, a nine to an earlier generation? ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/12 "2004-04-12T18:17:53Z")
> [@vanilla](#): > > Since I have gained almost 20 lbs. since last year, I measured myself again. > 36-30-36. > Weird. > I’d always heard the “ideal” was 36-22-36. > Was this normal to have such a small waist? > Or were these women really short? > > Even when I was 5’11" and 115 lbs. my waist was 27! > (now I am 148 lbs.) As long as you`re proportioned well, I wouldn`t worry about it. (BTW, this whole time I thought **vanilla** was a guy…) ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/13 "2004-04-12T18:30:19Z")
If the “average” woman is a size 10 or 12, then there’s no way she has a 30 inch waist. I weigh 132 and have a bust of 39, waist of 29, and hips of 41. I wear a size 7 pants. By most standards, I am considered small. I do have a D-cup breasts, and a bubble butt, so that accounts for the larger measurements on those. But, I am still smaller than the majority of women I see. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/14 "2004-04-12T19:51:34Z")
36-22-36?!! 36-24-36?! I’d always heard 36-26-36, which is more realistic (though perhaps not very common or realistic), and which happens to closely fit the 70% “ideal” ratio. That 22" waist sounds Barbie doll impossible to me. ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/15 "2004-04-12T20:35:15Z")
I will go sob now although no one gives me any pity… I try to find things that fit appropriately but it is difficult. This weekend I was looking at some amazing leather corsets. I need to get one special made. Why do I know this? Well I measured myself… 47 - 32 - 42 I have a photo of my grandmother on her wedding day. I don’t know how accurate the story is but I’ve heard all my life that she had a 19 inch waist in that picture. Now I know I need to lose a few pounds since I had our second kid last fall but even at my thinnest when I was 140 pounds I still had a 30 inch waist… Oh and I am 5’ 5 since I know that’s important 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/16 "2004-04-12T20:56:14Z")
Since when is a 30 inch waist considered big??? That’s crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/17 "2004-04-13T13:15:52Z")
An “ideal” figure varies wildly by culture and by era. At any given time, though, there’s really only two significant data points: What you consider ideal, and what your SO considers ideal (which ought to match your current figure!). **tanookie** , you know we’re going to want to see photos of your outfit. So would you please post photos when they’re available? ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/18 "2004-04-13T13:39:51Z")
According to noted scholar Rick James, the ideal ratio is indeed 36-24-36. In the 1990s, it was proposed by Sir Mix-a-lot that this ratio only holds true if the woman is 5’3", but research remains ongoing. Seriously, I’m pretty small, and I still have a 26-inch waist. 30 inches is absolutely normal, especially for 5’11". Oh, and pant size varies with the manufacturer. The Gap tends to run about two sizes large (if you wear a size six in other pants, it’ll be a four at the Gap). ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/19 "2004-04-13T13:40:04Z")
What I’ve always heard is that the waist number shouldn’t be more than 10 less than the bust number - if it is, then the lady is probably a bit underweight. Of course, this doesn’t take into account height, so it’s moot. So 36-26-36 or 36-28-36 or 36-30-36 are all fine, but 36-22-36 sounds like the lady would be emaciated. ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524/20 "2004-04-13T14:16:55Z")
When I was 16 I had a 20" waist. Sigh, oh for the days when my waistline was smaller than my skull. ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-measurements/239524.md?page=2)