Pants rise to level of the natural waist

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
It seems a radical idea after years of hip-hugging, navel-baring pants and rib-cuddling baby doll dresses, but the biggest fashion news this fall is a refocus on, of all things, the natural waistline.
Fashion designers and manufacturers are belting, cinching and nipping in on dresses, jackets and even high-rise jeans. The Wall Street Journal reports that while the corset hasn't taken off in sales, at least one lingerie company is introducing a modern version, and sales of high-waisted control garments are up.
As the WSJ notes, Teresa Heinz Kerry wore a white suit with a nipped waist on the last night of the Democratic convention.
At least one Beverly Hills cosmetics doctor is getting more requests for waist-trimming surgery. New York modeling agencies are seeing increases in demand for curvy body shapes. Larger 38-inch hips are in because they make the waist seem smaller, says the WSJ.
The shift is viewed as part of a natural fashion evolution. When a style swings too far one way, it usually turns around. It's what keeps people buying new clothes.