waist versus hips question

[freddie]

Jeez folks,


Not sure if its something to do with how the kilt is made for my weird shape, but with my hand sewn traditionals, dress model FK, and USA Kilts semi-traditionals I've quit wearing a belt. Much more comfy.

Ron

My waist fluctuates between 45inches and 48inches depending on the time of day and whether I've just eaten or not. My hips however are 46 inches. All the kiltmakers I've dealt with say that the measurement for the hips has to be a loose one (so it's comfortable when we sit down) so I always go for 49inches around the seat and 46inches at the waist and this works fine for me. When I wear troosers I have to wear braces (suspenders) otherwise they just fall around my knees, however, when I wear my kilts higher on my waist they sit there (over my belly) and stay there, no need for a belt or suspenders !
The problem I have is with the sporran belt, because I don't have hips to sling it around. I either loop them over the kilt buckles or wear a sporran sling.

[Robinhood]

For my own kilts, I measure the back of my waist
from where I want the pleats to start to where they
stop. I do the same for the hips. The difference
between these measurements is how much I
make the pleats taper in the fell.

For the front I measure around the entire waist.
What isn't covered by the pleats like I described
above is made up with the apron.

I could measure the front using the same method
as I described for the back, but it is too easy to
not get the tape measure on the same exact
spots, and have a wrong size kilt.

By the way, the reason I do it this way is because
my waist sticks out in the front as much as by
butt sticks out in the back, giving both the
waist and hips the same measurement even
though I am not cylindrical shaped.

[freddie]

[QUOTE=The Wizard of BC;339042]From a kiltmakers viewpoint here are some random thoughts.

1 The only case I can think of where your hips will be smaller than your waist is if you can back up to a wall and the first thing that touches is your waist. If your butt touches first your hips WILL be the larger measurement.
Remember how a kilt is supposed to fit. The aprons in the front are supposed to drape straight down in front. No puckers, no bulges. The tapering is all in the back. So if when you back up to a wall and your butt touches first your kiltmaker must taper up to the waist.

Sorry to disagree with you but when I back up to a wall the first thing that hits the wall is my backside. However after a really good meal my stomach can be as much as 51 inches round, while my hips stay at their normal 46 inches !