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[thelovelysin]

So, I'm planning on cosplaying Misaki Yata in the near future. As you can see, his clothes are very casual so instead of making it, I'm going to save myself the time and trouble and just buy what I need.

However, I'm a bit confused about the Men's clothing sizes, specifically the sizes for pants. Can someone explain it to me please?

[JasonTerror]

You're pretty much just gonna have to try them on at the store..so many companies sizes are different that It's impossible to say. But whatever you do, don't go by measurement....for some reason people keep telling me "oh I wear a size 34 so my waist measurement just be 34in". But that's not true. I wear a 36-38 depending on brand and my waist measurement is like 42in..

[shonen_jidai]

Definitely try them on if you can. Men's pants sizes go by waist and length. So 32x33 would be 32in waist, and 33in length. But you'll need to try things on because men's pants don't leave any extra room for hips. So a woman with a 30in waist say, might find 30x32 men's pants too tight on the hips. And resist the temptation to use women's pants because they are cut to show off the female form which won't work if you're going for a more masculine look.

[JasonTerror]

Originally Posted by shonen_jidai

Definitely try them on if you can. Men's pants sizes go by waist and length. So 32x33 would be 32in waist, and 33in length. But you'll need to try things on because men's pants don't leave any extra room for hips. So a woman with a 30in waist say, might find 30x32 men's pants too tight on the hips. And resist the temptation to use women's pants because they are cut to show off the female form which won't work if you're going for a more masculine look.

What form of inches are they going by? This is something I always hear but I can't ever believe..If I have a 42in waist, why would size 36-38 pants fit? I'm trying to figure out what "inches" these people are using because it damn well isn't a normal inch..

[Kell-chan]

Seconding the necessity to try things on. I've been buying men's clothing for some time, and I'm never confident about a true size without trying things on. Depending on your body shape, you may have to "learn" how to wear men's clothing as a female.

If you're pretty straight through the hip, you should be able to wear men's pants as men do. If you're more like me and have significant hips, it helps to wear them above the hip (more at the waist) and go for a longer length.

[shonen_jidai]

Originally Posted by JasonTerror

What form of inches are they going by? This is something I always hear but I can't ever believe..If I have a 42in waist, why would size 36-38 pants fit? I'm trying to figure out what "inches" these people are using because it damn well isn't a normal inch..

That's just the craziness of clothes and fashion. There really is a fair amount of variability in sizing depending of where things are made and sold. Over the last few years, at least, I've noticed what I would call "feel good" sizing where the numbers seem to have been scaled down so that people feel better about themselves. After all, happy people buy more clothes, right? LOL

So you really have to try on everything to be sure.

[rndmguy]

As already mentioned, men's pants sizes are often in vanity sizes. Some companies are better than others about being closer to true size and you can look at reviews online to get an idea for that.

Just a suggestion. Most men now wear their pants close to or on their hips, so if you're trying to look like a man then you're going to wait to base the pants size off your hip measurement. If your character is one that wears their pants at the waist because professional or military, a guy's waist is measured lower than a woman's and is somewhere near the naval. But you said casual, so hip measurement would be good.

As for style of pants, cargo shorts or a similar style will be fine. At least in that picture the fabric looks about the same and I know for sure I've seen cargo in that color. If you want to make your pants really baggy you can wear them much bigger and use a smaller belt to hold them to your body. It'll pull the fabric in a pretty sloppy way that makes the balloon up more around the legs.