found this list online. Tell me if u ladies agree - YouLookFab Forum

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found this list online. Tell me if u ladies agree

Bree

http://www.listal.com/list/wom.....-hourglass

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21 replies

Latest reply was from Bree

Anonymous

Bree, this is very interesting. I guess this shows that you can dress your body in such a way that you *appear* more hourglass-y than you are. I was hoping they would have Michelle Obama on there. I always thought she was a pretty pear, but she accents her arms and shoulders so much that she comes off looking very balanced to me.

I agree with a lot of these diagnoses. Angie always says that your bust size is only a body type *modifier* and does not determine your shape, and this list proves that.

Bree

I tend to agree with this list as well. That's why I think I'm a true pear. My hips are 1 inch wider than my bust. However, my shoulder across measurement and from hip line to hip line are exactly the same. I do have very balanced shoulders. My waist isn't 10 inches plus though all around. It's ten from my waist to hip, and nine from my bust to waist. According to a true hourglass shape, it must be 10+ inches each way and your hips have to be exactly the same width as your bust. That would make most thought to be hourglasses pears. It's funny how that works.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Measurements and numbers are only part of the story, but photos can be deceiving too. Keep in mind that, especially with celebrity photos, shapewear, posing, photoshop, camera angles, etc., all can play with our perceptions. I believe few of us are so straightforward in body type. I wouldn't get too caught up in labels. I actually dislike terms like "pear," "apple," etc.

Nicole D

Veteran

The one thing it does demonstrate is that these women are all beautiful and definitely all have different shapes. Agree with Janet that label can be restricting, although at times it is helpful in making wardrobe decisions.

ironkurtin

Veteran

I don't understand this list at all. If none of these women are hourglasses, then who is?

I never really understand the obsession with "body types" anyway except in helping you to see what kinds of clothes accent the parts you like. If to one person I'm a "ruler" and to another a "cone" and to someone else an "inverted triangle" well - whatever.

Charmian

Veteran

I only recently started thinking about style and fashion, so I can still remember those confusing early days.

When you're first starting out, it's nice to have just one monicker and just one set of guidelines so you can figure out just one thing at a time (ie, figure flattery). Trying to figure out personal style and figure flattery and adapting trends to your climate/lifestyle/preferences, ... well, I remember feeling completely overwhelmed. I think once you're a bit further along (as evidenced by the number of "veterans" responding on this thread), you can start talking about "figure flattery priorities".

At this point, I'm comfortable with being an "inverted triangle", a "cone", or even a "V" ... but if you asked me 2 years ago, I would have been flipping out in confusion over the difference, mostly due to different guidelines between different "experts". I remember being particularly confused about one site saying "v-necks look good on ITs" while another one said "wide v-necks look terrible on ITs". Nowadays, I realize it's about wide necklines drawing attention to my shoulder width, but back then I needed specific and actionable suggestions.

I think a site like this is valuable in that it demonstrates how clothes can help you appear more like the idealized hourglass. Someday, I'd like to see someone discuss why hourglasses are the ideal, though!

Bree

Charmain, very well put! I agree completely and feel that way as well. To me, it's about confusion in wardrobe. How do you truly know what looks good unless you know your true shape? I just found the list interesting because it seems like no one person is one true body shape after all. That kind of defeats all of the recommendations for one specific body shape, if one specific body shape doesn't exist. I think every body shape is beautiful in their own way. The apple has shapely lower arms and legs, the pear has a beautiful waistline and ect for other shapes. In all honesty, supposed hourglasses aren't that easy to dress in my opinion. Up until a few years ago, before I even heard of body shape analysis, I dressed horribly for my shape! I mostly wore baggy sweaters and pants in my 20's, not to mention after having babies, I was overweight a bit as well. I was completely uncomfortable and felt unproportinate, really just ugly. Then someone mentioned body type to me and how to dress better for it and that began my search on the net.I also learned that you can exercise a certain way for body types as well, which is what I did and how I lost weight. When I first learned about it, I believed pear for myself or spoon. Now I know that I'm more than likely a combination of two shapes, rather than one ( which I'm starting to believe most are). To me, true shape was important for the reasons of exercising properly and proper wardrobe or dress for my shape. It made all the difference, and I'm still learning everyday!

MsMary

Veteran

I kind of feel like the list is a little too snarky and mean-spirited for my taste.

Anonymous

I think that while the shape guidelines can be useful, they can quickly become paralysing. They are generalisations of form, but everyone will be different. I think they are of most use as a general guide, and not as a requirements list.

I found that list a little snarky too -- as if they were finger pointing that these women had the temerity to pretend to be hourglasses!

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Agreed with MaryK and Ceit about the tone of the list. And I just plain disagree with some of the assertions, including this one:

"God is such a perfect designer He made it so your body shape never changes no matter how much weight you gain or lose..."

I call BS. As several ladies here on YLF have attested, weight gain and loss can definitely change body shape! How many ladies have said they were pear-ish or apple-ish until they lost weight and discovered a shape that was more IT or rectangle?

Ever notice there are no such categories for the male form? Why must we pick apart women's bodies? That's what dismays me about the list.

qfbrenda

Veteran

I have to agree that's it's wrong to assert that bodies never change shape regardless of weight... absolutely not true. I've seen it with my own body.

Fwiw, I wouldn't make a big deal about a 1 inch difference between body parts to determine your body shape. If you are convinced you are a pear, fine... then dress that way. It's all good. It's all just guidelines anyway.

I agree with some of the pics not being hourglasses and others look like classic hourglasses to me. It's so subjective. To my eye if the shoulders balance the hips and there is a small, defined waist, then they look like an hourglass to me. So to say Marilyn wasn't an hourglass just isn't accurate IMO. But what difference does it make, really?

And what is a cone? Is that the equivalent to an IT?

unfrumped

Veteran

I think the photos are interesting when juxtaposed with the "diagnoses". I don't find this list helpful in the sense that it tries to say, gotcha, you aren't that! or, you're really a this! and that, in my mind, is not the purpose of the fruitsn & nuts classifications. The apple-pear-IT thing is not so that someone can go do some measurements and see if someone's "faking" or trying to pass for an hourglass when they're an inch off.

The point is just using some shortcut language --pear instead of saying, you may find that tops in this style or lengths in this proportion give you a more balanced look and here's why. It helps cut through some style issues and can help someone focus on certain formulas or sort quickly through possible clothing styles. But it can also inhibit trying new looks. Also the degree of overlap between types, or as said above, you just can't put everyone in to a type, gets in the way. And there are a host of measurements other than bust-waist-hip that influence how clothes fit and how they look.

I do think the very stylized photos of general figure types can help someone if they're stuck in why they don't like the results of their outfit, as can "solutions for pears" or "for apples" can give direction and help someone try styling something differently. But these specific one-inch distinctions are useless.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I didn't like the tone of the list, either -- and I didn't agree with all her categorizations. Some, yes, but not all.

One thing the photos did show, I thought, was that even among women with a particular body type there is a continuum. Some rulers are straighter than others, in other words, and some pears more luscious, and some hourglasses less curvy.

Count me into the group whose body shape has definitely changed with weight loss, exercise, and age. Used to be an hourglass tending to pear; now I am a slim hourglass tending to rectangle with a strong shoulder line (so some might call me an IT).

Caro in Oz

Veteran

I find myself drifting off when reading this kind of article - not that helpful imo.

Bree

Wow, sorry if I offended anyone. I just saw the list and thought, wow! I guess no one is an hourglass according to this list. I didn't like the tone of the list either, nor did I ee with Tmost of it.To be quite honest, it made me feel bad about my own shape. I just wanted to know if people who seemed to know their stuff, agreed or not. Sorry if I upset anyone

Anonymous

I don't think you offended anyone, Bree!

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I don't think you offended anyone either!

I think that kind of piece is meant to make us *all* feel bad about our own shapes. If they can be so critical of women who make their livings in the public eye, imagine what they'd say about the rest of us.

I am trying to make a concerted effort to avoid media that makes me feel bad about my body. It's hard to do!

unfrumped

Veteran

No, I think it's fine to air out and debunk these types of articles.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

No no - you didn't upset anybody, Bree!! It was the author of the article who took an unpleasant tone, not you!! And you know, it would have been possible to say the same things but in a nicer way. For instance, if she'd simply said, "Body types are usually categorized thus and so, but I think they're a lot more flexible than that. Take a look at these photos and see if you agree!" Instead she made it sound like those women were actually holding themselves up as ideal hourglasses. When in fact, they probably don't care a bit what body shape they are, as long as they look good!

Echo

Veteran

If a person is going to make a 1" difference in a measure between waist and hip or waist and bust and use that to claim they are not an hourglass, I think that is far too narrow a definition. Obviously, eveyone should dress how they choose for whatever shape they believe they are, but overall claiming that no one is an hourglass does a disservice to many women. Those that are closest to being hourglasses will still benefit from the tips for that body shape, even if their bust isn't EXACTLY the same size as their hips, KWIM?

Body shape isn't just about math; it is about general perception when you look in the mirror. If you perceive that your bust and hips are about equal, then the tape measure "proving" you are a pear by 1" is ridiculous. Body shapes are about what works best for someone, not about a "gotcha" sort of formula.

Bree

I couldn't agree more and I'm glad I didn't upset anyone I've thought about actually writing this person of the article and letting her know she has some ill pre- conceived notions about body shapes! It seems to me she is a very critical person in general. I was just curious what the experts ( y'all) thought