How do I measure for a body shape calculator?

Use a soft tape measure over bare skin or thin clothing. Measure your bust around the fullest part of your chest, your waist at its narrowest point, usually a little above the belly button, and your hips around the fullest part of your hips and seat. Keep the tape level with the floor and snug without digging in, breathe normally, and take each measurement in centimetres. Measuring in a mirror or having someone help keeps the tape straight at the back.

What are the five body shapes?

The five common shapes are hourglass, where bust and hips are similar and the waist is clearly smaller; pear, where the hips are noticeably larger than the bust; inverted triangle, where the bust or shoulders are noticeably larger than the hips; apple, where the waist measures as much as or more than the bust and hips; and rectangle, where all three measurements sit close together without a strongly defined waist. The categories are broad, and many people fall between two shapes.

Does body shape affect health?

The shape label itself is a clothing and styling guide, not a health measure. The health-relevant part of the same tape measurements is the waist-to-hip ratio, because carrying weight around the waist rather than the hips is associated with higher cardiovascular and metabolic risk. This calculator shows your ratio alongside your shape, and our waist-to-hip ratio calculator explains the commonly used risk cut points in more detail.

Body Shape Calculator

This body shape calculator sorts your figure into one of five common shapes, hourglass, pear, apple, inverted triangle or rectangle, from three tape measurements: your bust, waist and hips. Measure in centimetres around the fullest part of your bust, the narrowest part of your waist, and the fullest part of your hips and seat, keeping the tape level and snug but not tight. The calculator then compares the three numbers. A waist as large as your bust and hips points to an apple shape, hips clearly larger than your bust suggest a pear, a bust clearly larger than your hips an inverted triangle, and a strongly defined waist against similar bust and hips an hourglass, with rectangle covering figures where all three measurements sit close together. Alongside the shape it shows your waist-to-hip ratio, the difference between your hips and bust, and how much your waist tapers from your widest measurement. Body shape is a styling and clothing guide, useful for choosing necklines, waistlines and cuts that suit your proportions, and it is not a health measure. The five categories are broad and plenty of people sit between two shapes, so treat the label as a starting point rather than a verdict, and see our waist-to-hip ratio calculator for the health side of the same measurements.

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Bust

Waist

Hips

Hourglass

your body shape from the measurements entered

Waist-to-hip ratio0.69

Hips minus bust2 cm

Waist definition28 cm

Waist definition is your smaller measurement of bust or hips minus your waist: the bigger the number, the more defined your waist. Hips minus bust is negative when your bust is the larger of the two.

Body shape is a clothing and styling guide, not a health measure. The categories are broad and many people sit between two shapes.

How it works

The calculator compares your three measurements in a fixed order. If your waist is at least as large as both your bust and your hips, the shape is apple. Otherwise, if your hips are 4 cm or more larger than your bust, the shape is pear, and if your bust is 4 cm or more larger than your hips, it is inverted triangle. If neither difference reaches 4 cm, bust and hips are treated as balanced, and the waist decides the result: when your waist is at least 18 cm smaller than the smaller of your bust and hips, the shape is hourglass, and anything else is rectangle. The waist-to-hip ratio is simply waist divided by hips, rounded to two decimal places. The 4 cm and 18 cm thresholds are styling conventions rather than scientific cut points, which is why different body shape tools can give neighbouring answers for the same figure, especially if you sit near a boundary.

Worked example

Your bust measures 94 cm, your waist 66 cm and your hips 96 cm. The waist is smaller than both bust and hips, so the shape is not apple. Hips minus bust is 96 minus 94, which is 2 cm, short of the 4 cm needed for pear, and bust minus hips is negative, so inverted triangle is out too. Bust and hips are balanced, so the waist decides: the smaller of bust and hips is 94 cm, and 94 minus 66 gives a waist definition of 28 cm, comfortably past the 18 cm hourglass threshold. The result is hourglass, with a waist-to-hip ratio of 66 divided by 96, which is 0.69. If the same person had an 80 cm waist instead, the definition would be only 14 cm and the calculator would return rectangle.

Related calculators

Bra Size Calculator: band and cup size from tape measurements.
Waist to Hip Ratio Calculator: the health side of these measurements.
BMI Calculator: weight against height.
Ideal Weight Calculator: ideal weight formulas for your height.

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