You should be able to fit two fingers in the waistband for comfort. Length: For wide-leg pants, the length should sit above the shoe line. If you are predominantly wearing heels, the length should be altered to fit that height.
The waist of the trouser should sit comfortably on your natural waist, not your hips. Jeans are often cut to sit lower on the hips with a natural “sag” effect, but not trousers. This is why men who don't often wear trousers feel that they are sitting uncomfortably high.
Suit pants or dress pants should sit at the top of your hip bones, directly below your navel. Dress trousers will fit more conservatively than other pants, which is to say that you should not be able to see the contours of your butt. The key here it achieve some drape while avoiding unnecessarily large or loose pants.
any crotch that hangs too low or too high.
If you can see the outline of your lady parts through the pants (popularly known as “camel toe”), your pants are too tight. On the flip side, if you can grab a handful of fabric between where your body ends and your pants begin, your pants are too loose.
But, as a general rule, jeans should sit on the hips, while chinos and suit pants should land just above the hip, which will allow you to tuck in your shirt without worrying about it popping out mid-meeting.
We recommend showing an inch of the ankle so that it doesn't look obnoxious. We see a lot of people showing a bit too much.”
When selecting the right pair that is most flattering, we recommend ensuring that the hem hits anywhere from mid-calf to right above your ankle. Any longer and you look like you are wearing ill-fitting high waters (not too flattering). Any shorter and you look like you've severely outgrown your pants.
Jeans should fit perfectly at the waist and be long enough that there's a break before the hem. Slight tightness in the hip and knee area is ok, as long as it isn't uncomfortable.
The front and back rise of your trousers should match your desired fit without any tightness or discomfort in the seat. A more classic fit has a higher rise that allows the waistband to sit above the hip bones. Conversely, a modern fit requires a lower rise, with the waistband sitting just below the hip bones.
The pants shouldn't be sliding down or off your waistline. The inseam should have a relatively clean “break” (look for pants that hit the top of your shoes without bunching up or showing off too much ankle).
Make Sure They Hit At The Right Spot
Ankle pants should, as you might have guessed, hit right at or above your ankle.
We recommend showing an inch of the ankle so that it doesn't look obnoxious. We see a lot of people showing a bit too much.” Namrata Zakaria, a fashion writer, says that cropped trousers may suit only a certain body type.
When wearing heels, the hem of your dress pants should fall about ½ inch from the ground in the back—short enough that the hem doesn't drag on the ground, but long enough that the pants graze the very top of your shoe in the front.
The most universally versatile length of pants, that can be worn with all different kinds of shoes, is hitting right at or about 1″ above your ankle bone. This length is considered a “cropped” length. You can wear this length with low cut and high top sneakers, dressy and casual ankle boots, heels, flats, and sandals.
It's a way to show off your super cute flats and ankle boots that would otherwise be covered up by your pant leg (compare this to the longish trouser trend of the early aughts where it looked like women had no feet).
Skinny Pant Syndrome, officially called meralgia paresthetica, is a very real medical condition that causes numbness of pain in the outer thigh that occurs as the result of nerve injury rather than injury to the thigh.
The pants with the larger size gives you more flexibility. You can always get them altered (e.g., taken in 1 inch) so they will fit better. Then if you gain several pounds, you can have them let out again. Unless you are actively on a lifestyle change plan (i.e. diet), I would not keep the smaller pants.
Wearing tight pants could result in “skinny jean syndrome,” a condition that features nerve impingement. It can also lead to poorer posture that stressed out your back. It's not good or bad to wear jeans. Just make sure you are comfortable and not experiencing any tingling, pain, burning or numbness.