Saddlebags is a not very pleasant term used by Trinny and Susannah to describe a particular body shape. Specifically it’s talking about the shape of your hips and thighs.
It’s true that approximately 1/2 of all women are pear shaped, which means simply that their bottom half is larger than their top half. Trinny and Susannah in their 12 shapes break it down even further because, simply put, not all pear shapes have the same issues.
WHERE DO YOU HAVE A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA?
When you gain or loose weight specific areas of your body tend to gain or loose as well. For some people that might be all over but for other’s it will be in specific areas more than others. And this is a key with defining your body shape.
If you’re bigger on the bottom you’ll gain more weight on your lower half than your top and vice versa if you’re bigger on the top. If you gain all over you’re likely more proportionate.
Specifically with saddlebags we’re looking for those who gain more on the lower half, as in from the belly button down.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF LOWER BODY FAT
There are usually three places where people gain weight in their lower body: around the hips, the bottom and the outer thighs.
The Hips: If your hips are your widest part this is the area most likely to gain weight, or likely to be the most prominent area where you gain weight. Basically it’s the old spare tyre around the middle.
Women who are wider around the hips are usually short waisted and their waist is normally very indented. The widest part may not be around the hips but around the bottom and tops of your thighs (which is usually the area referred to as the widest part).
What really stands our about women with wide hips is, well, their hips are really there and really distinctive. If you have wide hips you’re more likely to have a flatter bottom.
The Butt: If your bottom is your widest part, well, you have a big butt. Your bottom is round and out sticks out from your body quite prominently. There’s no missing that baby.
When you gain weight it is likely to be gained around your bottom and upper thighs. Almost always women with larger bottoms have large thighs as well, which is just a part of being pear shaped.
Though your thighs are big you are unlikely to have saddle bags.
The Thighs: Women who have saddlebags are very distinctive. The upper body is always distinctly smaller than the lower body and from the narrowest part, just underneath the breasts the line of their body is an unbroken slope downwards to the widest part which is the outer thighs usually three to four inches below the hip bone.
When weight is gained it gathers on the outside of the thighs predominantly and that area outside the thighs is what Trinny & Susannah call saddlebags.
This is a true pear shape because the relationship between the upper and lower body is exactly pear shaped with the thighs being the bottom of the pear.
True pears are characterised by the deposits on the outer thighs and the comparative tininess of their upper bodies. Some examples are shown below.
About Lisa
Hi Lisa! As a fashion designer, who is exploring more the subjects: body shape, style and self-esteem. I just would like to say that you are doing a such a good job in your blog.
Your analyzes are very objective and clear. Your history are great.
I really like the way you write about these subjects. You made me read one post after another, without desire to stop. And made me buy some books too.
You are great !!!
Please, keep posting
Thanks, Anniele
Hi Anniele
Thank you so much. I’m glad to you found something interesting to read.
LISA
The good news is that many men love women with saddlebag thighs. Drives them nuts, so ladies, before you lose you mind, just know that a huge percentage of men love the curves and bigger, pear shaped bottom.
Joe, you sound like my boyfriend! (Every pear girl should have a bf like mine!) What got him noticing me was a pair (pear?) of tight, white (and pocketless!) 7 for All Mankind jeans…a total no-no for my shape, but he definitely likes big butts (and he cannot lie). He still asks me to wear them when they’re in season
I like dress and freedom.
i, for sure like my pear shaped body not only my hips but bottom too !
and till today there is no guy that i met who didn’t find my body lustful !
because i really do think that this book isnt fairly enough for some types of body
The widest part of my hips are where it meets my thigh, but its all bone that sticks out. I don’t have any fat there, but its still the widest point, so are those saddlebags?
Hi Clare
No. Saddlebags are lower, on the outside of your thighs.