What is hip, I find it ambiguous...

[cheetahfast]

I was thinking about my goal/length today and realized that I am nearing hip, but do not know where it is.

My siggy pic is an old one. I just updated it to it though, it's my most recent one in which I can label my current goal and where my waist is.
I'm hoping by the end of summer to be at my goal. I probably should take a picture to check my length, sometimes I think I think it is longer than it is.

Anyways, how can you tell where hip is on the back? I looked at marker pictures, but they didn't really help me.

[SerinaDaith]

Should be the widest point on your pelvis. That may not help... Where you would put a measuring tape if you were trying to find a measurment for a skirt or pants. I hope this helps a little.

[Quixii]

For me, it's about where the top of my jeans/pants sit.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Hip is the widest part of your pelvis, just as waist is the narrowest. :)

[leslissocool]

hip and waist aren't very far away from me and judging by your siggy pic neither for you, I'd say like 3-4 more inches.

Find your hip bones, it's like dead in between the two lines on your siggy where the actual bone hits.

[PraiseCheeses]

Huh, I always thought hip on this forum was defined by "top of hip bones." If I took measurements like for pants, I'd be measuring around the widest part of my rear, which would be past tailbone length! (Stupid gravity.) Is this one of those relatively arbitrary measurements like BSL?

Personally I'd always thought I'd consider my hair hip-length when my hair passed the top of my jeans, which sit about at my hip bones.

cheetahfast, your new siggy looks so different! Nice growth, and beautiful wild texture! :)

[Naiadryade]

I also thought it was the top of the hip bones... For me, that's less than 3 inches below waist and still 7 inches above tailbone. If it was defined as the widest part of your hips/booty, it would be down around tailbone or classic on me, but I always see it listed between waist and BCL/TBL. I think like TBL, it's one of those lengths that is easier defined by poking around in your squishy and finding where the bone is, than just by looking at a picture.

[anitacs9101]

I could never figure this out either :P I go by my actual hip bones. I'm nearing hip too, I think xD

[Panth]

For me, waist is the natural waist as defined in dressmaking (i.e. the narrowest circumference of your waist, where your torso bends). This is found by tying a string or length of elastic snugly around your body then leaning from side to side a few times - the string will naturally settle at the point where your waist bent.

Hip is the illiac crest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliac_crest) of your hip bone.

Saying hip is the widest point on your hips is silly as this varies so much on women depending on body shape. My widest point is actually the top of my thighs (i.e. maybe 1" above classic) - obviously not 'hip' in the hair-measuring sense!

[Hiriel]

For me, waist is the natural waist as defined in dressmaking (i.e. the narrowest circumference of your waist, where your torso bends). This is found by tying a string or length of elastic snugly around your body then leaning from side to side a few times - the string will naturally settle at the point where your waist bent.

Hip is the illiac crest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliac_crest) of your hip bone.

Saying hip is the widest point on your hips is silly as this varies so much on women depending on body shape. My widest point is actually the top of my thighs (i.e. maybe 1" above classic) - obviously not 'hip' in the hair-measuring sense!

Yeah, my widest point is also around classic length. I always took hair length hip to mean top of the hip bones.

[Syaoransbear]

I always thought hip was your hip bone.

[Lissandria]

The widest part of my torso is much closer to tailbone/classic so I think if/when I reach hip I will call it maybe an inch or so past the top of my hip bones which will be halfway betwixt waist and tailbone.. not that Im ever really expecting to grow my hair much past waist ever, LOL. I think it may be one of those things that is up to the individual, based on common sense/individual anatomy kind of like top of strap BSL vs bottom of strap BSL.

OP I just want to say wow!!!! your hair has grown so much! Looks amazing!

[cheetahfast]

I can feel the illaic crest and it's pretty low for me, the widest part of my above the booty area is a bit higher than it.
Hmm, I think I'm going to go with inbetween my lines as hip. I have a very short lower torso so I think that I might even make it there before I can decided what it is on me lol.

It seems what I think TBL is might be shorter that it actually is (the yellow line is supposed to be it). That is the top of my pants, which seems too long to be hip.

Thanks for the compliments PraiseCheeses and Lissandria :flowers:.

[door72067]

I'd go by hipbones as well

[spidermom]

Hip is where you would park a baby if your arms are tired or where your holster would rest.

[spidermom]

In your sig picture, it looks like the palms of your hands are at hip level (just below the yellow line).

[HadessThera]

I measure it on myself as just below the points of my hipbones, I don't have a proper hip curve to go by because my figure is very boyish/mannish so that's what works for me

[WaitingSoLong]

For me, waist is the natural waist as defined in dressmaking (i.e. the narrowest circumference of your waist, where your torso bends). This is found by tying a string or length of elastic snugly around your body then leaning from side to side a few times - the string will naturally settle at the point where your waist bent.

Hip is the illiac crest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliac_crest) of your hip bone.

Saying hip is the widest point on your hips is silly as this varies so much on women depending on body shape. My widest point is actually the top of my thighs (i.e. maybe 1" above classic) - obviously not 'hip' in the hair-measuring sense!

My widest is also my thighs, and I am only about 15 pounds overweight.

I always measured hip by the knobby protrusions in the front of my pelvis (I have to press around for them but they are the knobbiest things there). My waist is 5.5" above that, but can change depending on my current weight (the less I weigh, the lower my waist is).

TBL is at the very bottom of my coccyx and nearly identical to BCL, I use the terms pretty much interchangeably. If someone's hair is touching the top of their rump, I would likely call it TBL just by appearance, even though it is probably not there yet.

[Anje]

I tend to think of hip as being the top of the hipbones. If nothing else, it's an easily palpable bone-based marker. Widest point on me, the dressmaker's definition of "hip," is right around classic length.

[patienceneeded]

I wear my pants on the top of my hip bones, so I'll count myself at hip when my hair reaches the top of my pants. Tailbone is the top of the, uhm, crack. My pants do not sit there! Tailbone on my is only about 2" from where I'm calling it hip. Short torso to hip ratio here. Really long legs though, so anything past tailbone and classic is a long distance to travel!

[heidi w.]

Oh, it just started me over again. According to your siggy pic, hip is where your thumbs are. Thumbs are on your hips.
Only a few more inches to go, then.
heidi w.

[Naiadryade]

I can feel the illaic crest and it's pretty low for me, the widest part of my above the booty area is a bit higher than it.
Hmm, I think I'm going to go with inbetween my lines as hip. I have a very short lower torso so I think that I might even make it there before I can decided what it is on me lol.

It seems what I think TBL is might be shorter that it actually is (the yellow line is supposed to be it). That is the top of my pants, which seems too long to be hip.

Thanks for the compliments PraiseCheeses and Lissandria :flowers:.

Yes, you are confused about TBL. TBL is the tip of your tailbone. For me, this is a couple inches below the top of my butt-crack. I suppose I have seen middle-school boys who think they are cool wear their pants at this level, but most people don't! :laugh: I wear most of my pants at about hip level (the top of the iliac crest of your pelvis), though "low-rise" pants sit somewhat lower than that... but not at tailbone! Hope that makes sense and clears things up for you.


Hip is where you would park a baby if your arms are tired or where your holster would rest.

:rollin: I love that definition!! So true and wonderful. Best baby-shelf ever... I also use my hips as a shelf on which to carry plenty of other things (heavy bags, boxes, etc) too!

[door72067]

{{laundry basket}}

[Redhead Rebel]

For me, waist is the natural waist as defined in dressmaking (i.e. the narrowest circumference of your waist, where your torso bends). This is found by tying a string or length of elastic snugly around your body then leaning from side to side a few times - the string will naturally settle at the point where your waist bent.

Hip is the illiac crest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliac_crest) of your hip bone.

Saying hip is the widest point on your hips is silly as this varies so much on women depending on body shape. My widest point is actually the top of my thighs (i.e. maybe 1" above classic) - obviously not 'hip' in the hair-measuring sense!

Oh Yay I've been trying to find out the proper definition of hip length for ages!!! This really helps thanks :) My widest point would be around an inch lower than tailbone and that didn't make sense to me.

[Panth]

Oh Yay I've been trying to find out the proper definition of hip length for ages!!! This really helps thanks :) My widest point would be around an inch lower than tailbone and that didn't make sense to me.

Going by your signature pic, you've got both hip and waist marked in the wrong place. Hip is more somewhere about where your hands are. Waist is likely a tad higher than you've placed it (no one wears anything at natural waist any more, so everyone gets confused where it is). You can use the string/elastic method I mentioned above to find your natural waist.

(Actually, where you've placed hip is nearly TBL. TBL = at coccyx level (the last bit of your spine, which you can feel as a bony bump at the top of your backside).)

[lapushka]

Hip for clothing measurements is the widest part of your pelvis, however hip here is usually where the hip bones start, so you are at hip.

[bunzfan]

I also find it difficult to determine were hip is ,if were going by the top of the hip bones then i'm there already but i dont think it will look hip till it's reached my waist band of my jeans which i should reach by next month.

[ZenaZoo]

This is something I struggle to find an answer for, to me your hips are where your hip joint is. But everywhere seems to class hip as pelvis. Unless this is just different from US to UK?

[woolyleprechaun]

This is something I struggle to find an answer for, to me your hips are where your hip joint is. But everywhere seems to class hip as pelvis. Unless this is just different from US to UK?
Yes- I think pelvic bones are what are usually discussed when considering hip length. I think most people call hip at the widest point of the pelvis, not the actual hips....so say around four inches down from waist in quite a few people. I could be wrong, but this is just my interpretation of it.

[jacqueline101]

I thought it was hipbone that was the marker for hip.