Body shapes, measured: five for women, five for men
What the shape names mean, how researchers sort bodies with a tape measure, and why most people are not an hourglass.
By the Fitsemble team ·
“Dress for your shape” is the oldest advice in fashion. But ask what a shape is and you get fruit: apple, pear, banana. Clothing researchers have tried to answer the question with a tape measure instead. This post sums up what they found, for women and for men, and shows how to find your own shape in five minutes.
Size is how big you are. Shape is how the parts compare.
Two people who both wear a medium can look nothing alike. One has a bust and hips of the same size and a narrow waist. The other has hips 10 cm wider than the bust. A size chart gives each size one set of numbers, so it quietly assumes one shape. The trouble is that most bodies are not that shape.
In 2006, researchers at North Carolina State University sorted more than 6,300 American women from 3D body scans. Only 8% were hourglass, the shape much of the industry’s sizing was built around. The most common shape by far was the rectangle.1
The release gives rectangle as 46%, spoon as just over 20%, inverted triangle as nearly 14% and hourglass as 8%. “The rest” is what is left over.
The five women’s shapes
The method behind those numbers is the Female Figure Identification Technique, or FFIT, published by Simmons, Istook and Devarajan in 2004.2 It sorts a body by comparing four measurements: bust, waist, high hip and hips. We group its shapes into five that are easy to see.
- HourglassBust and hips about equal, with a clearly smaller waist. Includes top and bottom hourglass, where one end is a little fuller.
- Spoon and triangleHips wider than the bust. A spoon has a “shelf” at the high hip; a triangle slopes out gently from the waist.
- RectangleBust, waist and hips close to each other. The most common shape in the US data.
- Inverted triangleBust and shoulders clearly wider than the hips.
- RoundThe middle is the widest part. The first FFIT called this oval or diamond.
The gold rings mark where the tape goes. The pictures stretch each shape a little so the differences show at this size. Real bodies are subtler.
The five men’s shapes
Men’s shapes have far less research behind them. There is no men’s version of FFIT that everyone uses. The largest recent study scanned more than 13,000 men across India and found the rectangle, the inverted trapezoid and the trapezoid to be the most common types.8
Tailors have their own measure, the drop: chest minus waist. Ready-made suits are commonly cut for a drop of about 15 cm (6 inches), and the US standard tables for men’s sizes set a regular build for each chest size.9,10 The five names below are the ones stylists use; the drop is the number that tells them apart.
- TrapezoidShoulders and chest a little wider than the waist. A drop of about 15 cm: the build most suits are cut for.
- Inverted triangleBroad shoulders and chest, narrow waist. A drop of 18 cm or more. Often called athletic.
- RectangleShoulders, chest, waist and hips close. A drop under about 10 cm.
- TriangleHips and seat wider than the chest and shoulders.
- OvalThe waist is the widest measurement.
The drop numbers in these cards are tailoring habit, not a validated system. Stylist convention
How to measure yourself
You need a soft tape measure and five minutes. A mirror or a friend helps keep the tape level.
- Shoulders. Across the back, from the tip of one shoulder bone to the other.
- Bust or chest. Round the fullest part, under the arms, level across the back.
- Waist. Round the narrowest part of the torso, usually a little above the navel. Men can also measure where their trousers sit.
- High hip. Round the top of the hip bones, about halfway between the waist and the hips. It tells a spoon from a triangle.
- Hips or seat. Round the fullest part of the seat, feet together.
Find your shape
These are FFIT’s rules for women, as later written out by Lee, Istook, Nam and Park, converted from inches to centimetres and rounded.3 Work out the differences, then find the row that fits.
| Shape | Bust and hips | Waist |
|---|---|---|
| Hourglass | Bust no more than 2.5 cm bigger than hips, and hips less than 9 cm bigger than bust | At least 23 cm smaller than the bust, or 25 cm smaller than the hips |
| Top hourglass | Bust 2.5 to 25 cm bigger than hips | At least 23 cm smaller than the bust |
| Bottom hourglass | Hips 9 to 25 cm bigger than bust | At least 23 cm smaller than the hips; no high-hip shelf |
| Spoon | Hips more than 5 cm bigger than bust | At least 18 cm smaller than the hips, and the high hip is at least 1.19 times the waist |
| Triangle | Hips at least 9 cm bigger than bust | Less than 23 cm smaller than the hips |
| Inverted triangle | Bust at least 9 cm bigger than hips | Less than 23 cm smaller than the bust |
| Rectangle | Within 9 cm of each other | Less than 23 cm smaller than the bust and less than 25 cm smaller than the hips |
Some bodies meet two rules and some meet none. That is normal. Researchers found the original rules missed many plus-size bodies, whose tummy can be the widest part, and added a check for it.5 Shape also involves things a tape round the middle cannot see, such as shoulder slope, posture and the curve of the back.6
Common beliefs, checked
| What people say | What the research found | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| “Most women are an hourglass.” | In the 6,300-scan US study, 8% were. The rectangle, at 46%, was the most common.1 | Myth |
| “I can see my shape in the mirror.” | In a small Missouri study, 9 of 15 women called themselves hourglass; the scanner found 5. None chose spoon, though a third were.7 | Often wrong |
| “A shape label is exact.” | Moving the tape points slightly put up to 40% of 1,679 scanned bodies in a different shape.4 | Approximate |
| “Ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph say who you are.” | The idea that body type predicts personality was dropped long ago. A later version still describes physique in sport science, but not clothing fit.11 | Myth |
| “Apple and pear are harmless labels.” | Women carrying weight at the middle were judged more harshly than women of the same weight carrying it at the hips.12 We use plain shape names for that reason. | Not harmless |
Sources
- North Carolina State University (2006). Fashion designers ignoring shapes of women’s bodies. News release on Cynthia Istook’s analysis of more than 6,300 US body scans (SizeUSA). newswise.com
- Simmons, K., Istook, C. L., & Devarajan, P. (2004). Female Figure Identification Technique (FFIT) for apparel. Part I: Describing female shapes. Journal of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management, 4(1). Google Scholar
- Lee, J. Y., Istook, C. L., Nam, Y. J., & Park, S. M. (2007). Comparison of body shape between USA and Korean women. International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, 19(5), 374–391. The shape rules in the table come from this paper, converted to centimetres. doi.org
- Parker, C. J., Hayes, S. G., Brownbridge, K., & Gill, S. (2021). Assessing the female figure identification technique’s reliability as a body shape classification system. Ergonomics, 64(8), 1035–1051. doi.org
- Sokolowski, S. L., & Bettencourt, C. (2020). Modification of the Female Figure Identification Technique (FFIT) formulas to include plus size bodies. Proceedings of 3DBODY.TECH 2020. doi.org
- Connell, L. J., Ulrich, P. V., Brannon, E. L., Alexander, M., & Presley, A. B. (2006). Body shape assessment scale: Instrument development for analyzing female figures. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 24(2), 80–95. doi.org
- University of Missouri (2017). Optical illusion garments can create desired effect if chosen correctly. News release on Ridgway and Parsons’ body-scan study of 15 women, no longer online. The study began as Ridgway, J. L. (2014), Women’s self-perceptions: An exploratory study of optical illusion garments, doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri. MOspace
- Tiwari, M., & Anand, N. (2024). Comprehensive analysis of body shapes in the Indian male population: A national and regional study. AHFE Open Access, Human Factors for Apparel and Textile Engineering. doi.org
- ASTM International. D6240/D6240M-24a, Standard tables of body measurements for adult male, chest size range 34–52, short, regular and tall. astm.org
- Nathan Custom Tailors. What suit size am I? A tailor’s guide to the chest-to-waist “drop” that suit charts assume. nathantailors.com Industry guide, not research.
- Somatotype and constitutional psychology. Overview of Sheldon’s body types, the later Heath–Carter method and why the personality claims were dropped. wikipedia.org
- Krems, J. A., & Neuberg, S. L. (2022). Updating long-held assumptions about fat stigma: For women, body shape plays a critical role. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 13(1), 70–82. Summary from Arizona State University. asu.edu