clear definition of hip and tbl?

[nytquill]

Sorry if this has been brought up a million times. I searched and couldn't find anything like what I was looking for.

What is the definition(s?) of hip length and tailbone length? What are the specific reference points? Or if you are at this length, how did you know/decide that you had reached it?

I have looked at the "standard lengths" link in the VIT sticky but I didn't find the explanations for these lengths particularly helpful. I guess they are some of the hardest ones to define anyway!

Currently the longest of my fairytale ends are juuuust squeaking past waist. I base this on my natural waist which I always understood was where the crease forms when you bend sideways. I'm trying to figure out how I will know when I'm at hip and then at tailbone. I think part of the problem may be that I'm also fairly short (5' exactly) so these points aren't very far apart on me!

[enfys]

I consider hip to be the top of the pelvis, the top of the bits that jut out.

Tailbone is either the top of the vertical smile, which is the top of the tailbone, of about an ich or two past it at the bottom of the actual bone.

I've seen these definitions come up a few times here so I take them as standard.

[nytquill]

Erm, vertical smile? I've seen that term before and figured it was some kind of anatomical reference point but don't know exactly what it's referring to. :)

[Kaijah]

Handy dandy... hair chart! At least it's what I use.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v367/Kiya_Shiranai/hairchart.jpg

Vertical smile = butt crack. :P

[nytquill]

Haha I was wondering if that was it :P I have a pilonidal abcess (nasty nasty thing) so I spend a lot of time reading about the "natal cleft"...same thing :lol:

[Juneii]

LOL vertical smile. :)

I was having trouble determining the difference too since they're both within an inch of each other for me. Thanks for the clarification and the image!

[christine1989]

I consider hip to be where your hip bones are. Since mine stick right out it is an east refrence point. Some people also measure at the fattest part of their hip. As for tailbone I define it the same way; where my literal tailbone is (I had to do some feeling around to find that :)).

[MissManda]

Hip length is where your hair meets the top of your pelvis/hipbones and tailbone is somewhere around the top of the vertical smile or the bottom of the actual tailbone. I think it is personal preference as to what you define TBL as.

My DBF and I constantly argue where waist vs. hip length is because he is very determined in thinking that they're the same thing... :o

[nytquill]

I think that's part of what was confusing me...I was taught for things like garment sewing that your natural waist is where you bend sideways like I mentioned, OR to use a different method, when you put your hands on your hips like you're mad at someone, that natural indent where your hands fit in while resting on your hips is your waist. So to my mind waist length and hip length were right next to each other, practically the same thing.

But when I look at where my waist actually "nips in" (not that it really does on me, hellooo apple shape lol) compared to where my hip bones actually start there is at least an inch or two difference I think. Not a ton, but it's measurable.

[princessp]

I like Kaijah's picture. I think waist is the place where your body goes in below your ribs. And hip is the place past waist where your body goes out (due to the structure of your hip bones). These two are generally fairly close.

I think tailbone is where the coccyx bone starts. That is a little above "the smile" (so my interpretation of TB is the place where a lot of women have tattoos). To me, your hair does not necessarily have to reach "smile" to be TB. But then it is tailbone all the way down until end of your butt (where classic starts). I am basing mine very much on the skeletal system.

[ImperfectBrat]

Waist, hip, tailbone and classic for me are just a matter of inches at five foot 4. Now that I hit waist its only a matter of time before I blink and its suddenly classic. Crotch/groin length on me is only 36inches.

Edit to add link - This link shows where the tailbone is ! Mine seems higher *confused* http://data6.blog.de/media/008/4299008_c03d69eecc_m.jpg

[princessp]

Waist, hip, tailbone and classic for me are just a matter of inches at five foot 4. Now that I hit waist its only a matter of time before I blink and its suddenly classic. Crotch/groin length on me is only 36inches.

I'm 5'4" too, but classic is about 40". I'm 34" now and I'm only at hip. So I guess it just goes to show even though we are the same height, everyone is so different.


Edit to add link - This link shows where the tailbone is ! Mine seems higher *confused*

Yeah, I consider the top of the sacrum to be the start of TB and then all the way down to the end (coccyx).

[luxepiggy]

I define waist as the narrowest part of the torso. For hip, I use what in fashion is known as the "high hip" rather than the full hip. For tailbone I use the bottom of the actual bone. I've seen the hair lengths chart before, and it always seems to me that the chart shows the wrong side of the person! I needed to see the levels from the back, where my hair actually is! (^(oo)^)

So, I have marked up a facing-away photo with my own landmarks (^(oo)^)v
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/shoppingpiglet/LENGTHS.jpg

[Capybara]

Ooh piggy that makes so much sense! I may have to make one of those charts for myself :)

And can I say, I am loving your shoes!