High School Waist Size in Perspective

I was reading a post the other day in which the person was talking about losing weight and actually getting back into their HS jean size.  That got me thinking...is the high school jean size really a good baseline for assessing the ideal waist?  I'll state it even clearer, is the high school jean size a FAIR baseline for assesing the ideal waist?

A bit of background.  I was in high school in the 1980's.  While we didn't wear girl jeans like some of the guys wear now, we wore our jeans pretty tight.  And just to make them tighter, we would peg the legs.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, well, it just isn't easy to explain.  So my high school jean size was probably about 1 size smaller than I'd wear if I was sane during those formative years. 

One of the blessings of growing up wearing tight jeans is that I just don't have a problem with spandex and tights.  It kind of feel secure and nostalgic and I still buy into thought that if girls liked it in the 80's it probably still is good.

Since the 80's jeans began to be worn below the butt.  I'm not sure the appeal of showing of 5" of boxers and praying your pants don't fall off, but I do see the appeal of bragging to your friends that you still wear the same size jeans while you try out for "The Biggest Loser".

So, what is the fair baseline?  I think it has to be the pair of pants that either your mom or grandma bought for you when you were in high school.  These were the pants that you were too embarrassed to wear in public but occasionally had to wear for political or laundry reasons.  These pants most likely were your true pant size and should be the baseline.

The good news for me...I'm back to my true size but I'm still not going to wear those pants.