The waistband on these is tiny. I'm usually a size 12 in jeans so bought a large. I also measured my hips and concluded the large might be on the loose side - I was content with this as that's preferable to a muffin top! When they arrived they were very tight around the hips and sadly the XL isn't in stock so I don't imagine I'll use the bottoms. The matching top is nice, not quite a full sports bra level of support but fairly good.