Triangle? Pear? Should I just not care?

Can anybody help me with this?

I'm trying to find what my body type is and what kind of clothing I should wear in order to make myself appear a little curvier, particularly up top.

At first I though I was a rectangle, since I'm slim and not at all busty, but when I entered my measurements into one of those online generator thingies it said I was a pear. However, I feel that my shoulders are more on the broad side and that the calculator didn't take that into account. Later I looked at the Wikipedia article on body shape and it said I was a bottom heavy hourglass, which I calculated with the formula they provided: If (hips − bust) ≥ 3.6" AND (hips − bust) < 10" AND (hips − waist) ≥ 9" AND (high hip/waist) < 1.193 then one would be a bottom hourglass according to them. Their idea of a triangle/pear is: If (hips − bust) ≥ 3.6" AND (hips − waist) < 9".

Here are my measurements in inches:
shoulders--35
bust (if you can call it that! haha)--31
waist--26 or 27, depends how long ago I ate!
high hips--31
hips--36

And I'm about 5'4'' or 5'5''

What body shape do you think I am? What can I do to make my body shape appear less boyish? Thanks, and sorry this is so long!

8 years ago

Joy

Veteran

Dear trying, it sounds like you could be an hour glass with your shoulders almost matching your hips. As a curve less rectangle, I look out curvy in a stretchy tube skirt or a pencil skirt. Fitted knit turtleneck, boat neck or crew neck tops can create curves. Show off your small waist with belts and tucking. It sounds like you have a wonderful figure.
Be sure to have a bra fitting. It can make a huge difference even ( maybe especially) with small breasts. Fitters have seen it all and will not judge you.

Gigi

In all honesty, the best way to tell what body shape you are is to examine yourself visually. Calculators don't take certain things into account. For instance, two people can have the same hip measurement, but one person can have a round rear end while another person has a flat one, appearing wider at the hips. Are you able to post a picture of yourself (once you become an active member) wearing a tight shirt and leggings, so we can see your body shape?

tryingtolovemyself

Active Member

Joy, thanks for your answer! I appreciate your advice. Also, I have a bit of a follow-up: If I'm an hourglass, do you think I'm more of an 8 or an X? I do feel as if I have a slightly shorter torso.

rabbit

I'm agreeing with Gigi that it's not about measurements so much as how someone looks from the front, where the muscles and padding sits on the body that determines which clothes guidelines are likely to be useful. I'm a rectangle from the front, but a pear from the side, for example.

If you are comfortable posting a picture you can crop off your head in the image and then make the image 'hidden' as soon as you have gotten answers.

Joy's answers are good ones though for showing more curves with a rectangle figure, but it does sound like you might be an hourglass because of the difference between your waist and shoulders/hips.

It's funny, I think I'd actually feel kinda okayish, maybeeee with posting a picture of myself if only my room weren't so messy!! I swear it looks like Hurricane Katrina just came through--really not good. You guys don't need to see my laundry and books everywhere, haha! I'm gonna do a little cleaning and at some point I guess I'll snap a pic! Thanks everyone!

Staysfit

What's an 8 or an X? I'm a rectangle shape, and without seeing a picture it's hard to say, but when I put my measurements in a calculator I come out all sorts of things and for a long time I thought I was a pear, which is definitely wrong. Trust me, a line skirts and dresses are not my friend.

My husband proved my rectangular shape to me by lining me up against some linear wood trim in the house and taking a photo. It was very helpful to see my shape in relationship to the line. It was easier to tell that my hips and shoulders line up pretty much exactly. Without that, my husband thought my shoulders were broader, and I thought my hips were!

It also helped to snap a photo and ask Angie.

Good luck. It made a difference for me to know the correct body shape.

Anonymous

I was told to stand in front of a mirror and using a marker that can be erased draw your outline on the mirror. Stand back and examine. That seems the most definitive method to me. I can't say if this works from personal experience though. Good luck.

Janet

(website)

I agree, photos are a very helpful way to figure this out. Even then, many of us are a combination, or not so easily defined. I'm sort of a hourglass-pear hybrid -- in fact, due to scoliosis, one side of me is literally more pear shaped, and on the other my shoulders and hips are more equal. I only figured that out through photos. Photos also helped me figure out that I'm more of an X shape -- quite narrow at the high waist and sloping down to a wide low hip. Side views are instructive too. I look smaller on my bottom half from the side, so apparently my shape is quite elliptical. I never realized this until the idea was discussed here!

Don't worry about cleaning. We're casual and no judging here.

Agree with Janet. No need to clean.

The idea of a different body type depending on whether you are facing the mirror or standing sideways explains so much to me. I am obviously a rectangle when I face the mirror. I have definitive apple tendencies from the side. This explains why I personally was never able to settle on a single body type to describe my body. Thank you, Rabbit.

Thanks for all of your kind and thoughtful comments!
Okay, so I took some photos in the neater living room, tried to wear all one color so as to not distort the picture, but who knows if the angle is perfect. Didn't really know what to do with my arms! In the one from the back, I realized my underwear was showing so I blocked out my butt as well tehee. All my black squares of semi-privacy, yikes. Oh, and note that I am wearing a very lightly padded brassiere, I'm not sure if that affects anything but the small bust is one of the reasons I feel like hourglass just can't be possible. Anyway, again, thank you!
Also--what I meant by the 8 or x thing is here: https://www.insideoutstyleblog.....shape.html
However, I'm still not positive I'm an hourglass. Maybe I'm a rectangle with hourglass as a secondary body type? I don't know. Thanks again!

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I'm an 8 body shape from the front view. Viewed from the side, I can be either an hourglass or pretty close to an apple, depending on how bloated I am at the time. It's annoying, but that's the reality. I have clothing for both body types, lol, because of the fluctuation. I think Imogen uses just the front view to determine body shape, which is okay I guess, but to me it's not a bad idea to dress according to your body's challenges, wherever they may be on your body. Hope that makes sense.

You are most definitely not a rectangle! You have a lovely slender shape that is very feminine. I'd say you are an hourglass with maybe slight pear tendencies (I can relate, although I'm larger and older than you are!).

DonnaF

You look like a well-proportioned slender hourglass to me!

You look like a lovely hourglass with slight pear tendencies from the side to me.

Thanks very much for the input everyone!

Summer

I see you as a neat hourglass, and X-shaped, since your hips flare out gently from your waist rather than curving from just below it.
You have a lovely trim figure whatever you decide to call it.

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