Wow, what a WAIST!

Fertility, wealth, availability — experts say they’re all revealed in your waist size. As Kate steps out looking super-slender, how do the stars measure up?

WHENEVER the Duchess of Cambridge appears in public, she always draws admiring gasps. But by any standards, she looked particularly impressive last Friday at Princess Eugenie’s wedding — as trim as a teenager in pink Alexander McQueen.

The woman has a six-month baby at home, for goodness’ sake, not to mention two very small children! Yet there she was, out and about at Windsor Castle, sporting a waist as tiny as that of any Victorian heroine.

Just 26in, is our guess (see box on right for how we did it). That’s pretty impressive when you consider the national average is 30in.

Looking trim post childbirth has always been seen as a badge of honour, but Kate has taken it to an art form. A small waist is the revered look du jour, with celebrities from Kim Kardashian to Jennifer Lopez celebrating their tiny tummies.

It’s the ultimate symbol of health, wealth and success.

‘The waist changes with the years, and usually for the worse,’ says consultant plastic surgeon Miles Berry at the London Welbeck Hospital. Pregnancy and childbirth are the worst offenders. ‘The core muscles separate at the front of the abdomen to accommodate pregnancy, and this can make the figure look square if they don’t knit together again,’ Miles explains.

Research has revealed that females’ stomachs and love handles are comprised of a different type of fat to the rest of the body.

This fat is very closely related to brain fat, and the theory behind it is that because women grow babies — which obviously have brains — they need a ready source of this type of fat which is not generally used for anything else.

Miles says: ‘It’s harder to lose than the fat on, for example, thighs, and it also explains why women can be a size six but still have a paunch.’

Jane Ogden, Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Surrey, says: ‘A nicely nipped-in waist frequently signifies wealth, success and self-control.

‘It isn’t that easy to sustain a toned figure through life, and I think it’s seen as a particularly admirable achievement in women who have had children. For most, it represents both hard work and self denial.’ Miles agrees: ‘It could certainly be seen as a sign of money. It’s ironic that the poor used to be thin because they couldn’t afford to eat, and the rich were plump. Now, thinness suggests you have the time and the resources to employ a personal trainer.’

The waist represents — in the most basic anthropological sense — both youth and fertility.

‘A tiny waist, with flaring-out hips, also suggests purity,’ says Jane. ‘Don’t forget that in all of the Jane Austen films which have been made, we ignore the fact that most

of the women would have been pregnant for the majority of the time. A small waist shows that you aren’t pregnant and are therefore available. It’s seen as vulnerable, too — asking for a strong arm to be wrapped around it.’

She points out that throughout history, women have frequently been prepared to suffer to achieve a tiny waist — and thereby enhance their attractiveness. ‘Look at the Victorians,’ she says. ‘Some women made their maids tug in their whalebone corsets so tightly they were unable to breathe. The ultimate achievement was a waist a man could get his hands around.’

And when women did conceal their waists, they were frowned upon for being unfeminine — like the flappers of the Twenties.

Today, Jane says, we appear to have come full circle. ‘Curves are back in, but in a very Hollywood and almost cartoonish way, with extremely emphasised little waists taken to the extreme by such celebrities as Kim Kardashian.’

While there is a strong move now towards moulding our bodies with diet and exercise, it still represents pressure for women to look their best. ‘The Duchess of Cambridge looks phenomenal but she will have worked to achieve that figure.’ A small waist is a strong indicator of health, too — and never more so than in these times of obesity. Carrying too much fat around your middle raises the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. The NHS suggests that if a woman’s waist is more than 31.5in, you might try to lose weight. So how can you achieve a great waist without blowing the bank?

Celebrity personal trainer Cornel Chin says it’s not as straightforward as doing a few sit-ups.

‘There are three muscle groups involved,’ he says. ‘The transversus abdominis or core mucles, the rectus abdominis or six-pack muscle, and the external and internal obliques at the side.

‘These can all be as hard as rocks,’ he says, ‘but remember, if you still have layers of fat over them, your waist won’t look honed.’