Female body shape or female figure is the cumulative product of a woman's bone structure along with the distribution of muscle and fat on the body.
Female figures are typically narrower at the waist than at the bust and hips. The bust, waist, and hips are called inflection points, and the ratios of their circumferences are used to define basic body shapes.
Reflecting the wide range of individual beliefs on what is best for physical health and what is preferred aesthetically, there is no universally acknowledged ideal female body shape. Ideals may also vary across different cultures, and they may exert influence on how a woman perceives her own body image.
Physiology Impact of estrogens Estrogens, which are primary female sex hormones, have a significant impact on a female's body shape. They are produced in both men and women, but their levels are significantly higher in women, especially in those of reproductive age. Besides other functions, estrogens promote the development of female secondary sexual characteristics, such as breasts and hips. As a result of estrogens, during puberty, girls develop breasts and their hips widen. Working against estrogen, the presence of testosterone in a pubescent female inhibits breast development and promotes muscle and facial hair development.
Estrogen levels also rise significantly during pregnancy. A number of other changes typically occur during pregnancy, including enlargement and increased firmness of the breasts, mainly due to hypertrophy of the mammary gland in response to the hormone prolactin. The size of the nipples may increase noticeably. These changes may continue during breastfeeding. Breasts generally revert to approximately their previous size after pregnancy, although there may be some increased sagging.
Breasts can decrease in size at menopause if estrogen levels decline.
Fat distribution
Estrogens can also affect the female body shape in a number of other ways, including increasing fat stores, accelerating metabolism, reducing muscle mass, and increasing bone formation.
Estrogens cause higher levels of fat to be stored in a female body than in a male body. They also affect body fat distribution, causing fat to be stored in the buttocks, thighs, and hips in women, but generally not around their waists, which will remain about the same size as they were before puberty. The hormones produced by the thyroid gland regulate the rate of metabolism, controlling how quickly the body uses energy, and controls how sensitive the body should be to other hormones. Body fat distribution may change from time to time, depending on food habits, activity levels and hormone levels.
When women reach menopause and the estrogen produced by ovaries declines, fat migrates from their buttocks, hips and thighs to their waists; later fat is stored at the abdomen.
Body fat percentage recommendations are higher for females, as this fat may serve as an energy reserve for pregnancy. Males have less subcutaneous fat in their faces due to the effects of testosterone;"Subcutaneous fat in face decreases" – Advanced postnatal effects testosterone also reduces fat by aiding fast metabolism. The lack of estrogen in males generally results in more fat being deposited around the waist and abdomen (producing an "apple shape").
Muscles Testosterone is a steroid hormone which helps build and maintain muscles for physical activity, such as exercise. The amount of testosterone produced varies from one individual to another, but, on average, an adult female produces around one-eighth of the testosterone of an adult male, but females are more sensitive to the hormone.
Changes to body shape The aging process has an inevitable impact on a person's body shape. A woman's sex hormone levels will affect the fat distribution on her body. According to Dr. Devendra Singh, "Body shape is determined by the nature of body fat distribution that, in turn, is significantly correlated with women's sex hormone profile, risk for disease, and reproductive capability." Concentrations of estrogen will influence where body fat is stored.
Before puberty both males and females have a similar waist–hip ratio. At puberty, a girl's sex hormones, mainly estrogen, will promote breast development and a wider pelvis that is tilted forward, and until menopause a woman's estrogen levels will cause her body to store excess fat in the buttocks, hips and thighs, but generally not around her waist, which will remain about the same size as it was before puberty. These factors result in women's waist–hip ratio (WHR) being lower than for males, although males tend to have a greater upper-body to waist–hip ratio (WHR) giving them a V-shape look because of their greater muscle mass (e.g., they generally have much larger, more muscular and broader shoulders, pectoral muscles, teres major muscles and latissimus dorsi muscles).
During and after pregnancy, a woman experiences body shape changes. After menopause, with the reduced production of estrogen by the ovaries, there is a tendency for fat to redistribute from a female's buttocks, hips and thighs to her waist or abdomen.
The breasts of girls and women in early stages of development commonly are "high" and rounded, dome- or cone-shaped, and protrude almost horizontally from a female's chest wall. Over time, the sag on breasts tends to increase due to their natural weight, the relaxation of support structures, and aging.
Categorisation in fashion industry Body shapes are often categorised in the fashion industry into one of four elementary geometric shapes, How female body shapes have changed over time. though there are very wide ranges of actual sizes within each shape:
Rectangular The waist is less than smaller than the hips and bust. Body fat is distributed predominantly in the abdomen, buttocks, chest, and face. This overall fat distribution creates the typical ruler (straight) shape. Inverted triangle The shoulders are broader than the hips. The legs and thighs tend to be slim, while the chest looks larger compared with the rest of the body. Fat is mainly distributed in the chest and face. Spoon The hips are wider than the bust. The distribution of fat varies, with fat tending to deposit first in the buttocks, hips, and thighs. As body fat percentage increases, an increasing proportion of body fat is distributed around the waist and upper abdomen. The women of this body type tend to have a relatively larger rear, thicker thighs, and a small(er) bosom. Also known as a "pear" shape. Hourglass
The hips and bust are almost of equal size, and the waist is narrower than both. Body fat distribution tends to be around both the upper body and lower body.
A study of the shapes of over 6,000 women, carried out by researchers at the North Carolina State University circa 2005, for apparel, found that 46% were rectangular, just over 20% spoon, just under 14% inverted triangle, and 8% hourglass. Another study has found "that the average woman's waistline had expanded by six inches since the 1950s" and that women in 2004 were taller and had bigger busts and hips than those of the 1950s. Note, however, that a 2021 study found that slight changes in measurement placement definition can recategorise up to 40% of women into different body shapes, meaning cross-research comparisons may be flawed unless the exact measurement definitions are used.
Several similar classifications of women's body shape exist. These include: Sheldon: "Somatotype: {Plumper: Endomorph, Muscular: Mesomorph, Slender: Ectomorph}", 1940s Douty's "Body Build Scale: {1,2,3,4,5}", 1968 Bonnie August's "Body I.D. Scale: {A,X,H,V,W,Y,T,O,b,d,i,r}", 1981 Simmons, Istook, & Devarajan "Female Figure Identification Technique (FFIT): {Hourglass, Bottom Hourglass, Top Hourglass, Spoon, Rectangle, Diamond, Oval, Triangle, Inverted Triangle}", 2002 Connell's "Body Shape Assessment Scale: {Hourglass, Pear, Rectangle, Inverted Triangle}", 2006 Rasband: {Ideal, Triangular, Inverted Triangular, Rectangular, Hourglass, Diamond, Tubular, Rounded}, 2006 Lee JY, Istook CL, Nam YJ, "Comparison of body shape between USA and Korean women: {Hourglass, Bottom Hourglass, Top Hourglass, Spoon, Triangle, Inverted Triangle, Rectangle}", 2007.
FFIT for Apparel measurements The "Female Figure Identification Technique for Apparel" uses the following formula to identify an individual's body type: Hourglass If (bust − hips) ≤ AND (hips − bust) < AND ((bust − waist) ≥ OR (hips − waist) ≥ ) Bottom hourglass If (hips − bust) ≥ AND (hips − bust) < AND (hips − waist) ≥ AND (high hip/waist) < 1.193 Top hourglass If (bust − hips) > AND (bust − hips) < AND (bust − waist) ≥ Spoon If (hips − bust) > AND (hips − waist) ≥ AND (high hip/waist) ≥ 1.193 Triangle If (hips − bust) ≥ AND (hips − waist) < Inverted triangle If (bust − hips) ≥ AND (bust − waist) < Rectangle If (hips − bust) < AND (bust − hips) < AND (bust − waist) < AND (hips − waist) <
Clothing standards Some clothing size standards define categories.
Inverted triangle-rectangular categories The Chinese clothing size standards give codes to clothing designed for different ratios between chest and waist. They adapt for a linear scale between inverted triangle/hourglass and rectangular.
+ Chinese [GB/T1335.1—1997] Body Shape Classifications by: Chest - Waist circumferences Shape Code Female Male Y 19–24 cm 17–22 cm A 14–18 cm 12–16 cm B 9–13 cm 7–11 cm C 4–8 cm 2–6 cm
Rectangular-spoon categories The Japanese and South Korean clothing size standards give codes to women's clothing designed for different ratios between hips and chest. The German standards similarly use hip and bust measures. They all adapt for a linear scale between rectangular and spoon shapes.
+ Japanese [JIS L 4005 - 2001] Body Shape Classifications by: Hip - Chest circumferences Shape Code Female Y 0 cm A 4 cm AB 8 cm B 12 cm
+ South Korean [KS K 0051:2004] Body Shape Classifications by: Hip - Chest circumferences Shape Code Female H 0–3 cm N 3–9 cm A 9–12 cm
+ German Body Shape Classifications by: Hip - Bust circumferences Shape Code Female S -4–2 cm M 2–8 cm L 8+ cm
The German sizing system also has height categories for short, regular and tall women, which combine with the shape categories to produce 9 categories.
Proportions and dimensions
The circumferences of bust, waist, and hips (BWH) and the ratios between them are a widespread method of identifying different female body shapes. As noted above, descriptive terms used include "rectangle", "spoon", "inverted triangle", and "hourglass".
The waist is typically smaller than the bust and hips, unless there is a high proportion of body fat distributed around it. How much the bust or hips inflect inward, towards the waist, determines a woman's structural shape. The hourglass shape is present in only about 8% of women.
A woman's dimensions are often expressed by the circumference around the three inflection points. For example, "36–29–38" in US customary units would mean a bust, waist and hips.
Height will also affect the appearance of the figure. A woman who is 36–24–36 (91–61–91 cm) at height will look different from a woman who is 36–24–36 at height. If both are the same weight, the taller woman has a much lower body mass index; if they have the same BMI, the weight is distributed around a greater volume.