Hourglass
An hourglass body shape has bust and hips in balance with a waist at least 25% smaller than both.
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Body Shape
Calculator
Four measurements are enough. Your proportions are compared as ratios, and the answer comes with the numbers behind it — one of six shapes, no guessing.
Calculated in your browser — nothing is uploaded or stored.
No tape to hand? This body type quiz gets you to the same six shapes in two or three questions. Stand in front of a mirror, or take one straight-on photo of yourself — the photo stays on your phone, it is never uploaded.
Question 1
Looking straight on, which part of your outline reads widest?
A straight-on photo is easier to read than a mirror — most people judge their own hips wider than they are.
The short answer
What is my body type?
A body shape calculator compares the ratios between your bust, waist and hips. This calculator returns one of six styling labels: hourglass, pear, spoon, rectangle, inverted triangle or apple. The body type calculator label reflects which section leads the outline and how far the waist comes in, using this site’s internal thresholds rather than a universal body taxonomy.
Two comparisons carry most of this site’s answer: hips against bust, and waist against both. The NC State FFIT work is the historical starting point, but this female body shape calculator does not reproduce its published dimensional rules. Style Look Lab converts the comparison to ratios, uses its own 8% and 25% bands, maps the source categories into six labels, adds an Apple branch, and defines its own close-call order and fallbacks. Those choices are practical styling rules, not externally validated cutoffs.
30-second guide
How to measure your body shape
A soft tape and two minutes. Keep the tape snug but not pressed in, level with the floor all the way round, and note each number before moving on.
- 01Shoulders — around the widest part
All the way around, over the shoulder bones, with your arms relaxed and the tape level with the floor. This one rounds out the picture of your proportions; the shape itself is decided by the three below. Can't see the number at the back? Ask someone to read it for you, or stand with your back to a mirror and read it there.
- 02Bust — the fullest part
Non-padded bra, tape straight across the back. Breathe out normally before you read the number.
- 03Waist — the narrowest point
Usually just above the navel. Relaxed — no pulling in, no shapewear. This number does the most work in the result.
- 04Hips — the very widest part
Around hips and seat at the fullest point, often lower than you would think. Measuring too high is the most common cause of a result that does not match.
There is a fifth, optional measurement: the high hip, taken all the way around about 7 in / 18 cm below the waist, over the hip bones. It is the one number that tells Spoon from Pear, and leaving it out still gives you a full result.
The 8% and 25% thresholds in this table are Style Look Lab’s ratio-based adaptation. They are not the dimensional differences published in the FFIT research.
| Shape | Bust vs hips | Waist | What leads the line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourglass | Within 8% of each other | 25% or more smaller than both | Neither — the waist does |
| Pear | Hips more than 8% wider | Clearly defined | Hips and seat |
| Spoon | Hips more than 8% wider | Clearly defined, with a shelf below | High hip, then hips |
| Rectangle | Within 8% of each other | Less than 25% smaller | No single section |
| Inverted triangle | Bust more than 8% wider | Varies | The bust and upper body |
| Apple | Close on both sides | Near bust and hips — the widest point | The midsection |
Landing between two rows is normal — the calculator tells you which side you lean, and what separates the two.
How it works
Measured, not guessed
- Step 01Four girths, two minutes
Measure shoulders, bust, waist and hips with a soft tape. Only bust, waist and hips enter this site’s classification rules. Shoulders are recorded and displayed for context, but they do not change the label.
- Step 02Ratios, not inches
The NC State Female Figure Identification Technique and Lee et al. (2007) are the starting point, not a copied formula. Style Look Lab replaces the published dimensional differences with its own ratios and adds its own category mapping, Apple branch, boundary handling and fallbacks.
- Step 03An answer with its numbers
One of six shapes with the comparisons behind it. Land near a boundary and you see both candidates and what separates them, rather than a coin-flip answer that changes when you measure again.
Read the research starting points, this site’s adaptations and the measurement limitations before treating a close result as settled.
Sources & limitations
Style Look Lab method and limits: the percentage conversion, 8% and 25% bands, six-label mapping, Apple branch, decision order, close-call rules and fallbacks are internal choices and have not been independently validated. Shoulders are displayed but do not participate in classification. Tape placement and a result near a boundary can change the label.
- Lee et al. (2007) — Comparison of body shape between USA and Korean women — Applies the NC State FFIT method to apparel datasets; this site does not reproduce its fixed dimensional rules.
- Sokolowski & Bettencourt (2020) — Modification of the FFIT Formulas to Include Plus Size Bodies — Finds reasons to modify FFIT formulas for a plus-size sample, illustrating that one rule set does not transfer unchanged to every population.
- Parker et al. (2021) — Assessing the FFIT’s reliability — Shows that measurement definitions can change FFIT classifications and discusses the method’s limits; it does not validate this calculator.
The catalog
The six body shapes
Same four measurements, six outlines. One sentence each on what sets it apart, so you can read your own proportions against them.
Pear
A pear body shape has hips more than 8% wider than the bust, with a defined waist.
View guideSpoon
A spoon body shape has pear proportions plus a distinct shelf at the high hip, then a straighter line down.
View guideRectangle
A rectangle body shape has bust, waist and hips in a close range, with the waist less than 25% smaller.
View guideInverted triangle
An inverted triangle body shape has a bust more than 8% wider than the hips, so the frame leads from the top.
View guideApple
An apple body shape has a waist close to both bust and hips, making the midsection the widest point.
View guideNot sure which?
Four measurements and the calculator answers with the ratios behind it.
Calculate my shapeCommon questions
Asked before you ask
What body shape am I?
Enter your shoulders, bust, waist and hips above and you get one of six shapes with the comparisons behind it — two shapes when your numbers sit between them. No tape to hand? The quiz tab asks two or three observation questions instead.
Why does another site give me a different shape?
Most calculators compare your measurements by fixed inch differences, so the same proportions read as different shapes at different sizes — a nine-inch difference is a quarter of a 36-inch bust but only a fifth of a 45-inch one. We compare ratios instead, and show the numbers behind your result so you can check them yourself. Where you take the waist and hip measurements also moves the answer, which is why the guide above is specific about it.
What if I am between two shapes?
Then we say exactly that. When your proportions sit near a boundary you get both candidates, what separates them, and a ten-second mirror check to settle it, instead of a single answer that flips the next time you measure.
Do I need the high hip measurement?
Only to tell Spoon from Pear. Both carry width below the waist, but Spoon has a distinct shelf at the hip bones. Skip it and you still get a full result — it is read as a Pear.
Does my body shape change with weight?
The shape follows the ratios between four measurements, not the numbers themselves, so it often stays put while the measurements move together. When they move unevenly the shape can change, and a result that sat near a boundary is the most likely to. Measure again after a big change; both readings were true when they were taken.
Why six shapes and not four?
The Lee paper applies FFIT categories developed for apparel research. This body type calculator for female proportions uses a separate six-label product mapping: it combines some source categories, keeps Spoon distinct, and adds an Apple branch. That mapping is a Style Look Lab design choice, not a six-type taxonomy published by Lee or NC State.
Is one shape better than another?
No — these are proportion groups, not rankings. The cited research studies apparel fit and classification, not which outline is better. Every guide starts from the proportions entered here rather than treating one result as a target.
Are my measurements stored or uploaded?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is sent to a server — your measurements stay on this page, and they are not part of the result link or your browser history.
Two minutes, tops
Grab a tape.
The math is waiting.
Want the whole picture first? Read the six body shapes and what each one changes about fit.