It does seem extremely strange you're in 5's, because I'm your size and I'm usually in 3's or 1's.

HOWEVER, it may be due to several factors: your thighs, hips, butt, and the shape of your lower back! My butt has gotten bigger over the years. Most 1's no longer fit, and 0's? HA!! I haven't "gained weight", it has simply settled itself down into a plump rump. I'm 23 by the way.

A size 5 obviously isn't "too big" if that's what fits your body.

YOU ARE NOT FAT. Child, you and I have a BMI of 17!!! That's classified as "threatened underweight"!!! We be SKINNY!!!! We are the people that models WISH they could look like.

Why are you a 5 in the store and a 1 with measuring tape? Because the clothing industry is wonky, that's why. Just buy pants that fit and forget about it.

Do you buy designer jeans? I dunno about sizes in the US but generally when I try on designer jeans I have to get a couple sizes bigger and they never fit right. They're VERY small fitting. I once tried on a pair of designer jeans and they wouldn't fit around my hips so I had to get a bigger size, and same thing happened, so I got up to a size 14 (I'm usually a 10/12) and they were still too small! The silly thing is that if they fit higher around my waist they would've fit because my hips are a lot wider. I eventually gave up because the bigger it got the longer the legs were, and I've only got short legs. They're made to fit one type of body shape, and that's skinny, long legs and no curves.

I always have problems with pants being so long. I'm only 5'4" ish and 100 lbs, so yeah. Pants are too long, lol. I can't imagine how gross a woman 3 inches taller than me with my width waist must look. Honestly, Ick!!

Sometimes a different brand that fits great is a different size than what you normally wear. In fact, it's pretty common. So please don't get hung up on numbers.

I agree... the sizing of jeans is out of whack. I have jeans that range from size 3 to size 9! Weird thing is, the size 3 are just a little bit loose on me, just like the size 9. Most my jeans are size 5 or 7 though, which strangely enough are the ones that fit snug.
But when it comes to casual pants, uhm... that's what they're called? Well, the kind that you would wear to work and such, i have to get a size 2. Or even 0. If i get a size 5 i usually drown in those. I came to learn it was because apparently the size of the jeans are for 'juniors', whereas the dressier pants were made for 'misses'. Misses are supposed to be 'grown', and juniors are expected to be more waifish, or can be expected to be a lot thinner than a fully grown woman.

So, Candy, don't worry about it. It just may be because of the brand/type of jeans you're buying. You sound like you're really thin.

On my case, i actually feel bad when i have to get a size 2 or smaller, i feel so skinny!!! I actually like feeling 'normal', haha.

Just curious, Eiri, how wide is your waist?

I don't know. I think I'm 32/24/34 (chest/waist/butt-hips) but I honestly haven't measured in aaages. I bet my butt is bigger than that right now lol. More like 36!

Haha, it just made me think... could I look like this freak she speaks of? lol
You said you couldn't imagine how a woman who's 3 inches taller than you and with your same width would look. I thought maybe like me! lol And I don't think I look that bad, sure, skinny, but... lol
I'm 5'8", 120 lbs, and 32-25-36.5, so, almost the same as you, but stretched vertically, haha.

im 17, 5'3" and 118 lbs. i am never the same size in diffferent brands of jeans. even two different styles of the same brand of jeans can fit me differently. ill be a 3 in one style and a 5 in another! its annoying!

dont worry about your pant size. i have one pair of random pants thats a size 1. i never fit into that size in any other jeans. others im at least a 3. or designer things like american eagle, im between a 0 and a 4.

my boyfriend doesnt understand why i have such hard times with buying pants. he goes in, finds his 28x32s and buys them. no fair!

lol. I get that from my boyfriend too LadyAllie. He just sees that they're 30x32, he gets his wrist-to-elbow in the pants waist, if it fits there, it fits him. He buys them, and voila!
Me, on the other hand, i grab the same pants in a 5 and a 7, and try them on. And take a lot of time looking at myself in the mirror, from behind, from a side, sitting down (to see if the seems ride up too much or if it shows panties from behind)... well, there's a LOT of little details to consider for us, for them it's SO easy. No fair, i agree!

thanks guys

You're not the same weight though lol. So I'm sure it looks normal.

Well, no... if i was the same weight i would have to be narrower than you. 4 more inches of bone have to weigh something, lol.

Lol, or be anorexic which is what I was aiming at heh.

I concur with the others that women's jean sizing is terrible. So I have to ask do you wear that range in one brand or several and also are they different cuts? I am 5'6 130 lbs (give or take a few either way) and I wear the same cut of jeans. But in several brands I will be a size 8 or 8 P but in a few other brands a size 6. So the sizing system is very inconsistent across the board.

I'm pretty consistently a 3 these days. I've had a 5 I could wear.

I think that we get like this wrong idea of whats skinny because so meany people are like 0's or even 00's which is too skinny!! (no offence to ppl who are that size, please:) ) but you can still be small and healthy, but its like if you compare yourself to thoes people you seem to look bigger which is what i hate because all of my friends are sooo small, and when we where the same jeans or something i look so big compared to them

I've seen jeans that are a size 0, I wonder how people fit in there, they look so tiny!!! But I guess the ones that wear those are very short as well, so i guess they look thin but normal.
I know what you mean about comparing yourself... but I actually feel good when i think i look 'fatter' than someone else. I don't like it when people make me feel sooo skinny! I have a friend who looks thin, well, not fat.. lol, but she has massive legs and butt, she's very curvy, and I feel like a twig beside her. When normally and beside any other woman, I feel normal, I know I'm thin, but I do have curves too, even if they're small, haha. I recently told my sister about this, and she scolded me for comparing myself to others
I know we should be comfortable in our skin and shape, but sometimes other people can make you feel short, tall, fat or skinny in comparison. I think you feel 'fat' because your friends are so skinny. You're probably thin but in a more 'normal' way.

Candy, i have a question... I didn't quite understand the part where you said you have the measurements of a 0-1. How do you know which measurements correspond to what size? What are your measurements?

You measure with a tape-measure and then there are charts online that tell you "if you have a 36 inch waist you are a size Blah".

Oh, really? I'll see what size I'm supposed to be then... thanks Eiri.