How do I size in women's pants?

[Lady Sarah]

When shopping, remove the pants from the hanger. While they are buttoned, put one end at your navel, and the other in the middle of your back. If it reaches without anything left over, that's your size. Then, all you have to do is figure out your length.

[Lyric]

After dealing with womens' clothing sizes for years, I've decided that jeans are the one type of clothing I can really only fit by trying it on. Sizes in womenswear are only a rough guideline at best. If you must shop online, try to use one of the online sellers that cover the cost of return postage. Zappo's, Asos, Macy's and The Gap do. Zappo's is my current fav for this. They carry a nice selection of moderate-price jeans as well as other clothes and seem to have pretty good customer service.

[flytrap]

Wrapping the pants from your navel to your mid back doesn't really work because the waist measurement  depends on the rise of the slacks. The lower the rise, the longer the string has to be.

[tgirlamg]

Sizes from different manufacturers are all over the place.. You just need to try them on! My old size in men's was 30 waist 32 length... I have pants now from size 2 to size 7 that all fit well

A

[Roll]

My old size in men's was 30 waist

Gaaaaaaah, so much jealousy.

[tgirlamg]

Gaaaaaaah, so much jealousy.

No need for jelly little sister!!! I'm just an old lady!!!... I will trade you my waist for your youth!!!

Hugs!!!

Ashley 😀❤️🌻

[MelissaPink]

Like others have said I believe that it's best to try clothes on before you purchase them. If you can't do that an prefer to purchase clothes on line take your measurements and play it by ear.  I'm 6' with 37" chest (A Cup still  ) 31" waist and 37" hips. I generally wear an 8 or 10 depending on the manufacturer. Pants are a crap shoot!  I think an Amazon Prime account is a good investment because shipping and returns are free with your membership.

[Meghan]

Like others have said I believe that it's best to try clothes on before you purchase them. If you can't do that an prefer to purchase clothes on line take your measurements and play it by ear.  I'm 6' with 37" chest (A Cup still  ) 31" waist and 37" hips. I generally wear an 8 or 10 depending on the manufacturer. Pants are a crap shoot!  I think an Amazon Prime account is a good investment because shipping and returns are free with your membership.

After many years bought woman clothes and I finally got my size correctly. I'm 5'10" waist 34 so I buying size 16 or XL, so far they are fit me well.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[TransAm]

Just popping on to share my fiancée's woes as far as pant shopping is concerned.

Sizes vary wildly between brands, washes (dark wash jeans almost always run small) and styles. She never buys anything without trying it on first. On one trip in particular, she ended up purchasing both a size 8 and a size 4: When she held them up waist-to-waist, they were identical.
Were they both size 4's? Size 8's? Were they both sized wrong and actually 6's (her usual size)? Who knows.

Women's clothes make no sense.

[Lyric]

On one trip in particular, she ended up purchasing both a size 8 and a size 4: When she held them up waist-to-waist, they were identical.

This doesn't surprise me. Over the years I've seen my size change from 12 to 8-- without my actual waist size changing at all.

[JoanneB]

I'm pretty sure at this point that even most cis-women don't know how to size their pants. My step-mother and sister have to return clothes constantly. I've been playing it safe and buying leggings/jeggings since there is margin for error, and easier just to go off a chart.

Ditto

I have jeans from a size 8 to 16, and they all fit me perfectly. As with about all womens clothes there is a LOT of vanity sizing. Plus women come in all sorts of body shapes and sizes. I'm 6ft tall and have tried on jeans that barely made it to my ankle and others that could used as shoe protectors

[barbara1962]

I've bought pants and jeans online from J C Penney using their size charts and have done well, ordering a size 14. They usually disclose the inseam length which helps a lot. I have bought Jeans and Jeggings in their retail stores and could check the inseam simply by holding them up to me. Many online retailers have size charts on their websites. You just have to "measure twice and order once". I have had only one failure online and that was an inseam (my fault, I misread the inseam length).

[DawnOday]

Measure and compare.  Waist, hips, inseam with the size chart. If the clothes are coming from Asia the sizes are somewhat smaller than stated. At least in my experience. I have a size 37 waist and need a 34 or greater inseam. Size 18 seems to work well. Unfortunately buying ladies clothes is like winning the lottery. As stated elsewhere Jc Penney seems to be a good place to buy, tall clothes. Also Long Tall Sally, Asos, Alloy.

[Pisces228]

you try them on.  I'm a 16 at H&M, an 8 at Target, and a 10 atexpress.  I measure a size 12 at most places on average, but as you can see, there is a wide range of size ranges per brand.

[Becca Kay]

in US sizes the rule of thumb is to start with your men's waist size and subtract 11 for women's. I wear a 31waist in most men's pants, which puts me roughly at a women's size 10.  For skirts and some dresses I also wear a 10. 

However, many brands now don't use the old women's sizing for things like jeans and have gone to waist sizes in lengths of either petite, regular or long.  I buy GAP jeans in a men's size 30.  Today i bought a pair of GAP women's jeans in size 30L. 

Some women's items like leggings, though, are sold in S,M,L,XL.

I like to order clothes online, try them on and do an easy return if they don't fit.  I've been very nervous in the past about shopping in stores (i'm still presenting as male in public).  But today I went to the mall with my wife and she helped me try on a few things.  It turned out to be easy.  I'll probably do more store shopping in the future.

[Dianne H]

I've always worn Levis.
The size which fit the best was misses 8 long, boot cut.
I used to purchase them in below the waist and well below the waist.
Those sizes can't be found on their website.
When I contacted them I was informed they are no longer available.
It seems Levis has gone to men's sizing now and the waist height is standard.
This size is actually 32 waist/ 34 inseam.
If anyone knows of a distributor who has the sizes in below the waist or well below the waist I hope they share that information.