The six body shape types
Six types of body shapes, the same six women's body types a stylist works from, and every one is a comparison between your own measurements rather than a size. Tap a figure to see the rule that decides it. No judgment attached.
Hourglass. Balanced bust and hips, defined waist.
waist ≤ bust × 0.75 and ≤ hip × 0.75 → HOURGLASS
Rectangle. Straight through bust, waist and hip — the most common shape, 46% in the largest body-scan study.
no end leads, waist above 75% of bust and hip → RECTANGLE
Inverted Triangle. Shoulders and bust wider than hips.
max(bust, shoulder) > hip × 1.05 → INVERTED TRIANGLE
Spoon. A pear, with a sharper hip shelf.
hip leads, and steps out at the upper hip → SPOON
Analyzed in your browser — the photo never leaves your device.
Have a tape measure? Use the calculator. Neither? Seven questions.
The six types of body shapes
Hourglass
Bust and hips measure close to level, with a waist that comes in sharply enough to read from across a room.
Pear
Your hips measure more than your bust and shoulders, with the waist still clearly drawn above them.
Apple
Bust and hips read close to level, and the widest measurement falls through the middle rather than at the shoulder or the hip.
Rectangle
Bust, waist and hip run close to straight, with no one measurement dominating the outline.
Inverted Triangle
Your shoulders and bust measure wider than your hips, so the outline tapers downward from the top.
Spoon
A hip-dominant figure like the pear, but the hip steps out sharply at the upper thigh instead of curving gradually.
The body shape chart
All six female body shapes on one sheet, drawn as dress forms from their reference measurements, with the rule that decides each. The chart is drawn by the same code that draws every figure on this site, so it cannot show a shape the calculator would not return.
How body shape is worked out
Four measurements decide it: bust, waist, hips and shoulders. What matters is not how large any of them is but how they compare to each other, which is why every shape here exists at every size.
The order of the comparisons is what most calculators get wrong. Dominance is tested first — whether the hip or the shoulder clearly outmeasures the other end — and only then is the waist considered. A figure with wide hips and a soft waist is a pear, not a rectangle, and testing the waist first would call it the wrong thing.
What the calculator shows you for a 36-29-40 figure.
hip 40 > max(bust, shoulder) 36 × 1.05 → hip-dominant · PEAR
Every result comes with the comparison that produced it, so you can check the answer instead of trusting it.
Body shape and Kibbe body type are not the same thing
The six body shapes compare four measurements and answer where your width sits. The Kibbe system reads bone structure, flesh and vertical line together — including the face — and answers what kind of line suits you. Two people who both measure as a pear body shape can land in different Kibbe types, which is why the two systems give different advice about the same body.
Both are on this site and neither replaces the other: the body shape calculator needs a tape measure, the body type quiz needs only a mirror, the body shape analyzer needs one photo it never uploads, and the Kibbe body type quiz needs ten answers about your frame.
The Kibbe system has thirteen types in five families. Dramatic family: Dramatic and Soft Dramatic; Natural family: Flamboyant Natural, Natural and Soft Natural; Classic family: Dramatic Classic, Classic and Soft Classic; Gamine family: Flamboyant Gamine, Gamine and Soft Gamine; Romantic family: Theatrical Romantic and Romantic. What the system reads, and a chart of all thirteen by bone, flesh and vertical line, is on the Kibbe body types page.
Two shapes that look alike
Most wrong answers are a near miss between neighbours. Each comparison below names the one measurement that settles it.
What to do with the answer
Dress it
How to dress for your body shape: the one principle for each of the six, with dresses, jeans and tops that follow it.
See it drawn
The body shape visualizer draws a dress form from your own five measurements, high hip included, at full size.
Just the ratio
The waist-to-hip ratio calculator gives the single number most shape rules turn on, with the published reference ranges beside it.
Men's proportions
The men's body shape calculator runs the five male body types (trapezoid, inverted triangle, rectangle, triangle, oval) from shoulders, chest, waist and hips.
Which one are you?
One method, three instruments: a photo read in your browser, four tape measurements, or seven questions in a mirror. The working comes printed either way, and nothing leaves your device.
Analyze a photoOr use the calculator, or take the quiz.