How this for an IT body type test? - YouLookFab Forum

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How this for an IT body type test?

catgirl

Veteran

ETA: This is a question, not a fact! So please don't assume you're an IT if this is the same for you - I could be totally off base... It's a science experiement in progress!

I realized today that when I stand with my arms hanging straight down and relaxed at my sides, my hands don't even touch my hips. That's how much wider my shoulders are than my hips!

Yipes.

Body Type

20 replies

Latest reply was from Aziraphale

Carole

Veteran

Same here. This is a much simpler way to figure it out, Una!

Aziraphale

Veteran

Huh. Interesting. I just tried it, and my hands do touch -- but not my hips. They rest against my upper thighs. Does that mean I have long monkey arms?

RoseandJoan

Veteran

I'm a rectangle,my hands skim but do not touch my upper thigh, my forearm contours enough to allow the extra space to skim my hip.

ETA I have never noticed before but my elbows hit at my natural waist, do yours?

catgirl

Veteran

Is it? Or is it normal? It seems like it would be an IT thing. My hands and wrists are a good inch away from my hips.

cciele

Veteran

Hm, interesting! My biceps touch the side of my chest, but lower than that my arms do not make contact with my body.

N-Marie

Veteran

I'm the same as cciele - my upper arms touch my chest but my forearms/hands don't touch my hips! I'm definitely an IT

catgirl

Veteran

Not sure, N-Marie - have we heard from any non-ITs? Maybe this happens to everyone!

cciele

Veteran

I'm a rectangle but I think I have IT tendencies, FWIW. Or maybe I need to be reclassified, heh!

Aziraphale

Veteran

I'm a rectangle too. And yes, my elbows hit exactly at my natural waist, which is very high up. (I'm pretty sure I have a short waist/long rise). But my upper arms are short in comparison to my forearms. I've known this since I was a teenager, when my cousin was teaching me to ride a horse, and she kept saying "put your elbows down!" until finally she realized that they WERE down as far as they could go, but they're still pretty high up my arm.

Also, my thighs are short in comparison to my lower legs. Or, if you look at it another way, my lower legs are disproportionately long. That's why average-shaft-length tall boots often fit me, even though I'm only 5'1".

I guess we're all unique.

Anonymous

This is really interesting. My hands don't touch my hips, either, but I know I'm an hourglass because my waist is 9 inches smaller than my hips, my hips are the same measurement as my bust, there is very visible waist definition when viewing my body from the front, and I have a difficult time finding pants that fit my hips without gapping in the waist. Also, when I gain weight, I gain it all over and retain the same hourglass shape. I recently lost weight; my waist is now 2 inches smaller and my hips are now 2 inches smaller. Ironically, my bust measurement stayed the same. I know I've always had a strong shoulder line and that I look terrible in anything that has shoulder pads. I wonder, then, if I'm an hourglass with IT tendencies, like you say??? Right now, my measurements are:

38 inches shoulders
36 inches bust
27 inches waist
36 inches hips

From the front, my shoulders and hips appear to be closely aligned. Also, I have no problem with the way my dresses fit, and I have always worn the same size top and bottom. Where does this leave me, girls?

Atlantia

Veteran

I am a pear with most of my curve in the saddlebag region. My hands not only touch my hips, but I have to move my arms out to get any clearance.
However, my elbow is exactly at my natural waist. How fun!

Ariadne

Veteran

I'm an hourglass and my arms graze my hips when I stand this way. My elbows are also at my natural waist. I have a long rise but my waist is neither high nor low (if anything it's a bit low--so I have a long torso overall).

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Mine don't touch either & I'm definitely top heavy.

ironkurtin

Veteran

Una, my arms are really far away from what nature likes to call my hips, and I don't touch my thighs, either.

From drawing class, your elbows *should* hit your natural waist. (I know someone whose arms don't, and it does look a little bit odd. Poor T-Rex dude.)

JulieJohn

Veteran

I'm a definite hourglass, verging on pear. My arms just skim my hips. And my elbows are at my waist. That's a really cool experiment!

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

LOL. The upper part of my palm is below my crotch so my forearm touches my hip. I have decided to believe that it is due to long legs rather than monkey arms. Delusions abound at my home.

deb

Veteran

My elbows are at my high hip. I have always had monkey arms. I used to judge the proper skirt length if my curved finger tips went under my hem. Of coarse this was in the 60's and 70's. And I still had 2/3rds of my thigh covered. lol

Mochi

Veteran

Why should your elbows hit your natural waist? Mine don't. Should I feel bad about this?

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Elbows reach to the narrowest part of my torso (Calling it a waist seems a bit of an exaggeration) and my arms don't touch my relatively narrow hips. I have never been classified but see myself as a rectangle with IT and apple tendencies.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Mochi, you're right, there's no "should' for anything, really. I think when we say "elbows should be level with natural waist", I think we're talking Leonardo Da Vinci "ideal" proportions -- you know, the ideal male figure is eight heads tall, torso and head are collectively four heads long, legs are four heads long, etc. Women are normally not eight heads tall, more like seven and a half, which means most of us are short somewhere, so already most of us fall outside Leonardo's "ideal".

Anyway. I think most of us deviate from the ideal proportions in some way. No need to feel bad about it. Like I was saying, I've got weirdly short upper arms and legs (or weirdly long lower arms and legs -- not sure which is a more accurate description) and although I've been aware of this since adolescence, it hasn't been a problem. Just a curious observation. You are fabulous.