I love elasticated waists. I too have big waist but small bum. Lands End do a range called starfish and offer about 5 different leg styles in 3 lengths. No baggy areas and very comfortable, the high waists with a deep waistband seem to make mid-riff bulges disappear.
My grandmother lived to a hundred and three quarter years. She never wore trousers in her life. When she was younger until she was about 70, she always wore a smart skirt with a nice blouse and cardigan. She looked elegant. After that she said she could not bear anything digging into her midriff and she started wearing dresses that skimmed her waist, just as Queen Camilla does but without her sort of clothing allowance. Oddly, she still wore a corselette, vest and full length slip under her dresses along with tights and quite large knickers. Post-70 she went from being a reasonably well-covered ,healthy looking ,lady but not obese, to a shadow of her former self and only weighed about 7 stone. She walked every day and followed her doctor's instructions to stop digging the garden when she was about 75. My parents with whom Grandma lived both died quite unexpectedly in their mid-50s and Grandma came to live with me, my husband and two small children. She lived with us for 12 years until she was 92. Shen then went to live with her daughter in Ireland in the community that she had spent her life in, until she was 50. She took up smoking and drinking whisky when she went to live with my parents when she was in her early 60s. She was an amazing character. I am now in my late 70s, I know exactly what she means about not wearing anything tight around the middle and I too refuse to do so.
