(ETA Pics + Measurements) Pear/ Apple/ Hourglass Body Type? - YouLookFab Forum

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(ETA Pics + Measurements) Pear/ Apple/ Hourglass Body Type?

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

I can't figure out my body type anymore, due to weight gain & a drastic haircut (see last photo) - I'm worried that my current self consciousness may be affecting my judgement though, so please let me know what you think!

I used to peg myself as a pear shape, due to my short legs & how far my backside & thighs protrude (side photos incoming, lol!). But I've put on weight around the lower stomach & shoulders/ upper arm area, so does that make me an apple now? I don't think I have enough in the chest area to be a true apple and, from what I can see from these photos, I *think* my waist is still well defined, right?

My body measurements:
(I went beyond just BWH so you can see how my body occupies 3D space & how far certain parts protrude, lol)

Shoulders across - 42cm / 16.54 inches
Full sleeves length - 52cm / 40.47 inches
Widest bust point - 95cm / 37.4 inches
Just under bust - 80cm / 31.5 inches
Natural waist - 77.5cm / 30.5 inches
Widest stomach - 86cm / 33.86 inches
Top of hips - 97.5cm / 38.39 inches
Widest butt - 100cm / 39.38 inches
Just under butt - 98cm / 38.6 inches
Widest thighs - 93cm / 36.62 inches
Leg length (front) - 77cm / 30.32 inches
Inseam - 70cm / 27.56 inches

Any thoughts on my primary & secondary body types would be much appreciated - thanks!

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Body Type

27 replies

Latest reply was from Zaeobi

Summer

Veteran

You look well-balanced and curvy to me, so I'm going to say Hourglass.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

So you'd say hourglass is my primary body shape?

The Cat

Veteran

To me you look like a beautiful Hourglass.

Anonymous

Hourglass! Not a pear or apple at all, IMO.

Windchime

Veteran

Yes, a beautiful hourglass!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Hourglass.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

No secondary pear characteristics? I think the issue I'm having is that my body fights against the body type 'advice' given for hourglass figures - yes I need waist definition in my outfits, but then I also need something that covers & skims my lower stomach area. Anything I find that masks that area consequently doesn't have a defined waist, which ends up making me look all one width from shoulders to hip.

The other issue I have is that hourglass advice is to emphasise the hips, but then if I don't cover them, they end up looking out of proportion with my top half. Arghhh!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Cover your hips? Well, don’t go naked, but I think yours are a good feature to feature. But your perception, not mine, is what matters here. If you find some combo of guidelines (not hard & fast rules) for hourglass and another body type looks better to you, then that’s what you should do. You might find this helpful. https://youlookfab.com/2017/07.....uidelines/

I wonder what feedback you’d get if you posted outfits that followed each set of guidelines without mentioning them in your post.

Joy

Veteran

I see hourglass as your primary shape.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

Hmm I suppose I'm just unsure about how to dress this body type after my weight fluctuations. And also because I don't have an overly feminine or vintage style, so it's difficult to find clothing that doesn't end up looking too barmaid or twee!

I guess I'm just going to have to find dressing advice for an hourglass with a tummy, lol.

Style Fan

Veteran

Angie has some great advice for hourglass on her blog. Imogen Lamport also does body type advice.
How would you describe your style?

Cardiff girl

Veteran

You might be interested to google Trinny and Susannah sbody shape bible, they were style gurus in the uk a few years ago and they described12 body types that most women fall into and how to dress them.Having said that I agree with everyone else you look like an hourglass to me. Your fundamental body shape doesn’t change even if your weight fluctuates.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I do think hourglass, but I can see secondary apple, especially in the side on views. I think an apple can still have a waist. I still do, but it is just under my boobs ( the "narrowest part of (my) torso", as some put it) . I agree with Cardiff girl that Trinny and Susannah's book may help. They had me pegged as a "bell", which was a shape no-one else had come up with. They used Hillary Clinton as a celebrity example!

Summer

Veteran

Have you tried clothes that skim your waist rather than cinching it? That might help to define your waist without drawing too much attention to your tummy area.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@Cardiff Girl, @Jenni NZ: Haha I'm from the UK too so am well aware of Trinny & Susannah, but I find some of their advice is a little outdated sometimes - like Trinny says she has a big behind & therefore can't wear high-waisted trousers because they make it look bigger/longer. But right now, big butts are in! I'm tired of hiding my butt anyway - I'd like to embrace my bubble butt & the way my lower back curves in, but that's difficult to do when I want to hide my stomach at the same time, lol! Maybe a reverse high-low hem would work?

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@Summer what did you have in mind, exactly? Like princess seams & darts? I admit that they can look good if I can find them, but out here (Hong Kong) many clothes are made straight up & down (no shaping) or they skim fine up top & then cling to the lower stomach. No idea how to avoid that without having a panel over the top, like a peplum.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@Style Fan I should probably upload some outfit photos soon but I'm always shy about having my face in full body shots, lol! Hopefully my profile description can give you more information but essentially I like to be colourful & comfortable. In an ideal world, I'd love to dress with architectural drape & clean lines with a slight graphic element but still feminine, like a modern classic updated look, if that makes sense? Basically I like bold florals but not cabbage roses, big bows but not fussy ribbons, waist definition but belted instead of a big back tie, gently flared & asymmetric hems but no tulle or exaggerated A-lines, bright colours but no neons. Hope that narrows it down a little, lol!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I also see secondary Apple, and echo Jenni NZ.

shiny

Veteran

I think it's about how and where you put on weight, and the order in which you lose it.

An hourglass will gain weight equally on top and on bottom, while the waist stays proportionately narrow (i.e., regardless of how many overall inches are gained, there's still a 0.7 or less hip-to-waist ratio).

A pair will gain weight more on bottom than top, while the top stays relatively slim and the waist stays proportionally narrow (0.7 or less ratio).

Whereas an apple will ALWAYS have a 0.8 or greater hip-to-waist ratio no matter how little they weigh. When weighing at a low/healthy BMI, the apple may look like a rectangle. Or, an inverted triangle, if the shoulders are broad and the chest just a bit wider than hips. Rectangles and inverted triangles are at the most risk of becoming apples with weight gain.

Even when I weighed 97 lbs, I still had a 0.8 ratio and finding jeans was difficult, though nobody would have said I had a belly. If the waist fit, the hips rear and legs were too baggy. I view inverted triangle as my primary shape because when I gain, I gain first in the upper body -- chest, arms, shoulders, back, chin, as the belly expands too, and very lastly my lower body (it always looks proportionately slim, no matter my weight or cup size). I say I'm primarily an inverted triangle also because I routinely take a size larger on top than on bottom, whereas a rectangle or hourglass would take the same size.

Also, in replying to the other thread, it occurred to me that some of the apple tricks I employ to hide my belly will just not translate to Zaeobi's shape, which to my eye is more hourglass.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Shiny, you bring us back to theoretical vs ideal woman. Most of my adult life, I had a .7 ratio, but when I gain weight, there is less difference between my hips and waist. Are there really people for whom that ratio stays constant?

Jenni NZ

Veteran

LOL Zaeobi, I remember a few years back when my fave magazine said " It only took Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian for women to stop asking Does my bum look too big in this? and start asking Does my bum look big enough in this? instead" !
I was in a shop trying on a dress after that and the SA said "You have such a lovely big bottom! Some women would kill to have a bottom like that! " I kid you not and it was just so funny. Right then I decided to embrace it and not be ashamed of it.
I 've found that a sort of fit-and-flare but with a higher waist just under the boobs( almost in an empire line position but then flaring a little rather than falling straight like an empire line) can highlight the thinnest part and then flare over the tummy but show the bottom. Such dresses are not easy to find but I have a couple, almost by accident, and they are quite flattering. Perhaps there will be some like that for you in Hong Kong. And BTW I really love your new haircut.

shiny

Veteran

Fashintern, all I know is if you look at all the size charts they maintain a ratio as sizes go up.

That said I do think reality is that due to modern day diets high in simple sugars and carbs yes many folks may put on weight in their midsection when genetically they may not be prone to doing so, under different dietary conditions.

And yes menopause also shifts things for many women. As does hormonal conditions -- example, too much testosterone or cortisone your shape may change.

I'm not saying the ratio is constant either -- I said "greater than 0.8" and "0.7 or less" for a reason. You see there is wiggle room in there. Someone who's always been a 0.7 may gain weight/age into a 0.8. But someone who's always been a 0.8 will gain weight/age into something greater than 0.8.

Medically speaking, greater than 0.8 ratio is unhealthy and leaves one prone to diabetes and heart disease. Women who carry their weight below their waist are simply healthier and will likely live longer than woman who carry it above their waistline. So celebrate and be glad if you have thick hips, butt, thighs, calves, ankles!

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@Shiny & @FashIntern
I've measured myself, in the hopes that it might shed some light on my current ratios. I went further than just BWH though, just to highlight how the 'protruding' parts of my body (thighs/ stomach/ butt) make a marked difference to the measurements:

Shoulders across - 42cm / 16.54 inches
Full sleeves length - 52cm / 40.47 inches
Widest bust point - 95cm / 37.4 inches
Just under bust - 80cm / 31.5 inches
Natural waist - 77.5cm / 30.5 inches
Widest stomach - 86cm / 33.86 inches
Top of hips - 97.5cm / 38.39 inches
Widest butt - 100cm / 39.38 inches
Just under butt - 98cm / 38.6 inches
Widest thighs - 93cm / 36.62 inches
Leg length (front) - 77cm / 30.32 inches
Inseam - 70cm / 27.56 inches

Widest' in the list above means the widest point across - you can see there's a 3+ inch difference between my natural waist & the widest point of my stomach, as well as an inch between the measurement that 'counts' (my natural hips) vs the widest point of my behind. I guess all this to say that I occupy a lot more space in the 3D side view, which can really make fit a pain.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Jenni NZ, I’m glad you could take that comment as humor!

Shiny, yep, cortisol and sugar intake (in soda pop) were way up as I gained the weight, along with movement throughout the day dropping suddenly. My belly has never been so big. But even in good times, if I put on weight it’d be an inch there and an inch at my hips at the same time, so proportionately more around my waist.

Zaeobi, I mean this most kindly. Please be careful how concerned you get about which shape your body tends towards. Every body can be a healthy one. Eat well, build your strength, get in some movement every day to take care of what you have.

No body is exactly “normal”—look at Jenn’s comment about fighter pilot seats on yesterday’s blog and what Angie said about models. No body exactly fits textbook descriptions of body types. You have an idea now of which sets of guidelines are most likely to be helpful in achieving the look you want. Try them out.

If you post pictures on here (you can block your face out), asking for help, you will get good honest responses. I’ve only been around here for half a year, but there are a lot of kind people here, and people who know a lot about fashion.

I know you’re concerned about camaflouging your belly. Fine, there are ways to do that. But please also take a mintute to appreciate your body as it is and decide what assets you want to highlight.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@Shiny I have the opposite problem to you - if I find bottoms that fit my thighs, hips & butt, there's usually enough space at the waist for me to fit four fingers to an entire fist in the waistband, lol! I've tried belts but then I just get the paper bag effect. I think the S curve problem is just something I'm going to have to embrace - like @JenniNZ said, big butts are finally in lol!

I'm going to paste this in the other thread (sorry to make two, I just thought it made more sense to put the clothes photos in a thread about dressing, lol!), but I just wanted to say that the orange tunic actually was a thicker ponte sort of fabric yet I still got that pulling. I actually bought the tunic & not the wrap top because I realise now in retrospect that asking my partner whether it fits OK was a bad idea, since of course he WANTS to see the butt outline & is therefore going to approve it, lol! But I've tried higher end bottoms & pencil skirts and I still get the same issue - I've tried tailoring my bottoms so that they nip in at the waist, flare out over the top of my bottom & then just hang straight down from the widest point, but that actually ends up looking frumpier. I literally look like I'm wearing a bustle if I don't show that my butt goes back in underneath, lol!

I think this may be because I often go for high waist bottoms to help highlight the natural waist & girdle my lower section in. If I go for a normal or low rise, whilst I don't have love handles, I do end up with muffin top overspill from the lower stomach area. It's such a weird area to try & cover, since like you said the traditional apple figure flattery guidelines just assume you want to hide all of the stomach. I would still like to show my waist off but I also have problems with belting sometimes - if the belt is very wide (almost like a corset) I sometimes get lower stomach spillage from underneath the belt too, lol! I'm not sure what's happening to my body & weight distribution - it might just be age, but also switching to a desk job & maybe my diet isn't as great since I moved abroad. Either way, I do go to the gym regularly (hence the two-pack just below my bust), but I just can't get the lower belly pooch to move, lol!

anne

Veteran

Hi Zaeobi,
I want to echo FashIntern on no getting too carried away with what shape you are - but I say that with empathy because I have certainly done that lots here myself (because I'm a bit of an amalgam of body types, as many of us are). I can relate to the "bubble butt" and swayback thing for sure, to looking bigger in 3D and to pants being too big in the waist if they fit in the thighs and bottom.

One thing about the guidelines is that they aren't that different for pear and hourglass anyway!

Shiny, this is a nitpicky question, but in your scheme what is someone between 0.7 and 0.8? (like me, 0.73 before breakfast!)

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

The 0.7 ratio is worked out from which body parts, sorry?