A disposable diaper, comprising: a. a liquid permeable topsheet forming a wearing-facing surface; a liquid impermeable backsheet forming an outward-facing surface; a front region ending at a front waist edge; a rear region ending at a rear waist edge; an overall length measured from the front waist edge to the rear waist edge; left and right longitudinal edges connecting the front and rear waist edges; a longitudinal axis dividing the backsheet into left and right halves; elastically extensible left and right fastening members each extending laterally from the respective left and right longitudinal edges in the rear region and each having a mechanical fastener proximate an end thereof; a landing zone in the front region configured to cooperate with the mechanical fasteners to effect attachment therebetween; and an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and backsheet, the absorbent core having a front core edge, a rear core edge and a core length measured from the front core edge to the rear core edge, the core length being less than the overall length, the absorbent core comprising superabsorbent particles; characterized in that the disposable diaper comprises: b. respective front and rear augmented waistband zones (64, 66) in the respective front and rear waist regions, each of the augmented waistband zones being defined by a layer of augmenting material (70, 72) in addition to the topsheet and backsheet, said layer of augmenting material having a top extent, a bottom extent and left and right side extents, a width measured from the left extent to the right extent that comprises at least 30% of the total width of the nearest of the respective front or rear waist edges, and substantially centered about the longitudinal axis, and a height measured from the top extent to the bottom extent of at least 10 mm; c. wherein the layer of augmenting material includes at least one additional layer of nonwoven web material or at least one additional layer of film or an added quantity of polymeric adhesive; and d. wherein both of the front and rear augmented waistband zones has a stiffness of at least 0.50 N according to the "Stiffness Test Method" defined herein. a. a liquid permeable topsheet forming a wearing-facing surface; a liquid impermeable backsheet forming an outward-facing surface; a front region ending at a front waist edge; a rear region ending at a rear waist edge; an overall length measured from the front waist edge to the rear waist edge; left and right longitudinal edges connecting the front and rear waist edges; a longitudinal axis dividing the backsheet into left and right halves; elastically extensible left and right fastening members each extending laterally from the respective left and right longitudinal edges in the rear region and each having a mechanical fastener proximate an end thereof; a landing zone in the front region configured to cooperate with the mechanical fasteners to effect attachment therebetween; and an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and backsheet, the absorbent core having a front core edge, a rear core edge and a core length measured from the front core edge to the rear core edge, the core length being less than the overall length, the absorbent core comprising superabsorbent particles; b. respective front and rear augmented waistband zones (64, 66) in the respective front and rear waist regions, each of the augmented waistband zones being defined by a layer of augmenting material (70, 72) in addition to the topsheet and backsheet, said layer of augmenting material having a top extent, a bottom extent and left and right side extents, a width measured from the left extent to the right extent that comprises at least 30% of the total width of the nearest of the respective front or rear waist edges, and substantially centered about the longitudinal axis, and a height measured from the top extent to the bottom extent of at least 10 mm; c. wherein the layer of augmenting material includes at least one additional layer of nonwoven web material or at least one additional layer of film or an added quantity of polymeric adhesive; and d. wherein both of the front and rear augmented waistband zones has a stiffness of at least 0.50 N according to the "Stiffness Test Method" defined herein.