For a good fitted skirt, the waist-to-hip distance should be measured

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare waist-to-hip distances from contemporary construction systems with the measured waist-to-hip distance of the Slovenian young female population to establish which waist-to-hip distance present in different contemporary construction systems best fits the body dimensions of that specific market target group. A total of 156 female students (aged from 19 to 27 years) from the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) volunteered in the study. The results showed that the measured waist-to-hip distance differed significantly from those obtained from the tables of the contemporary construction systems or calculated as a secondary measure according to these systems. The differences between measured waist-to-hip distance and other analysed waist-to-hip distances increased as a size group increased and, at the same time, the range of measured waist-to-hip distances inside each size group were substantial. In conclusion, the values for waist-to-hip distances as proposed by different contemporary construction systems differ significantly from the measured one in the young Slovene female population. Including the waist-to-hip distance as a directly measured parameter in the future anthropometric surveys is recommended.