How to measure your hips

Your hip measurement is the distance around the fullest part of your hips and seat, with your feet together and the tape level. The line is usually lower than people think: below the hip bones, where the seat is fullest seen from the side.

How to measure your hips, step by step

1. Wear little. Underwear or thin leggings, pockets empty. Jeans add their seams, their pockets and whatever is in them.
2. Feet together. Stand straight, weight on both feet, feet touching. Most of Ruban Size's templates put it this way: "feet together, around the fullest part of your hips."
3. Find the fullest part. Look at yourself side-on in a mirror: it is the point where the seat sticks out most, usually well below the hip bones.
4. Wrap the tape level. Around the hips and over the fullest part of the seat, horizontal all the way round.
5. Slide and check. Move the tape a little up and down, keeping it level, and keep the largest reading.
6. Snug, not tight, then read. The tape rests on the body without pressing in. Note the number and the unit.

Common mistakes

• Measuring at the hip bones. That line, sometimes called the high hip, is smaller than the fullest part, and charts mean the fullest part.
• Feet apart. It changes the shape of the hips and the reading.
• The tape drops at the back, under the seat, or rides up over it. Check from the side.
• Measuring over jeans, or with a phone in a pocket.
• Pulling the tape tight.
• Skipping it. Measure only chest and waist, and the dress or the swimsuit can still be tight at the hips.

How charts use the hip measurement

In Ruban Size's templates, a hips row comes with dresses, swimwear, leggings, lingerie, jeans, pants, scrubs and ski pants, and the same size letter covers different ranges from one garment to the next:

A 100 cm hip is an M in all four, but at 102 cm it is an M dress and an L swimsuit. A size letter is not a measurement, which is why each brand's chart matters more than the letter (more in why a medium isn't the same size at every brand).

Jeans are sized in inches. In the Women's jeans template, hips run from 33 to 34 in for a size 24 up to 43 to 44 in for a 34, one inch more per size; the Men's pants template goes from 34 to 35 in for a 28 up to 46 to 47 in for a 40. The Scrubs template puts the rule in a sentence: "Tops follow your chest; pants follow your hips."

When hips and waist disagree

Hips and waist often point to different sizes, and on a dress or a pair of rigid jeans both have to fit. Most fit notes say to take the larger. Ruban Size's Dresses template says "Between two sizes? Take the larger one for a relaxed fit.", and the Women's jeans template "Stretch-free denim: if you are between two sizes, take the larger one." If you haven't yet, measure your waist the same way, tape level.

Stretch fabrics are more forgiving. Swimwear and leggings are cut to sit close, and their charts already count on the fabric giving a little.

What it means for a Shopify store

If your products are sized by the hips, the hip row deserves its own measuring step next to the table, with "feet together" and "fullest part" in it: those are the two things shoppers skip. For pants and skirts, also say whether the hips are a body measurement or the garment laid flat.

How Ruban Size handles the hips

The Dresses template, the Swimwear template and the Women's jeans template each have a hips row and the hips step in their How to measure block. When a shopper points at or taps the step, the hip line lights up in the body figure and the hips row lights up in the table, so the number they type goes where it belongs.

Find my size asks for bust, waist and hips on a dress, and goes by the largest, because too tight costs more than too loose. A bust of 88 cm (S on the Dresses template), a waist of 72 cm (M) and hips of 106 cm (L) read "You are between M and L. We suggest L.", with one line per measurement, "Hips 106 cm: L, middle of the range" among them. On pants, a 32 in waist with 42 in hips gets 36 on the Men's pants template: the hips decide.

Swimwear counts as stretch, and there the hips weigh the most but don't rule alone. With a bust of 88 cm and a waist of 70 cm in M and hips of 104 cm in L, the Swimwear template suggests M and adds "L may also fit if you like more room." On leggings, where waist and hips count equally, a waist in M with hips in L gets L.

When a chart lists the garment's own hips, laid flat or around, Find my size adds room before comparing: 6.4, 9 or 12.9 cm for Snug, Regular and Loose on pants and dresses. Those are the midpoints of the Vogue, Butterick and McCall's ease allowances at the hip (2 to 3, 3 1/8 to 4 and 4 1/8 to 6 in). A half hip laid flat is doubled first.

Questions

Where exactly do you measure your hips?

Around the fullest part of the hips and seat, usually well below the hip bones. Look side-on in a mirror and place the tape where the seat is fullest, level all the way round.

Do you measure hips with your feet together?

Yes. Feet together is the position size charts assume, and standing with your feet apart changes the reading.

My hips are a size bigger than my waist. Which size should I buy?

For dresses and rigid jeans, usually the larger size, then check the fit note. Stretch fabrics such as swimwear and leggings give more, so the smaller size can work there.

Are hip and seat the same measurement?

On size charts, yes: the hip line passes over the fullest part of the seat. Measure it the same way whatever the chart calls it: feet together, tape level.