The End of the Hourglass Figure

As someone that also has an hour glass figure, i'd just like to say that it has absoloutley nothing to do with what i eat or how i exercise. because i eat like a pig, and i dont exercise lol. i was just born small. And anyways, it sucks. Its impossible to find clothes that fit right, because my waist is much smaller than my chest, or my bum area. and it doesnt mean im any less fat than the next girl. us hour glass figures still have meat on our bodies, that we'd like to go away.

Liz Sirmans said:
It seems that this will always be a problem, I always have a hard time finding clothes to fit. I got a big bum and small waist. One thing I find to be funny is that Jennifer Lopez came out with a line of clothing to cater to the more curvier ladies like herself, but yet the sizes only go up to 13?? Don't know too many girls with hourglass figures t[...]

im an hour glass figure that wears a 3? im just petite. a petite hour glass figure lol.

Rectangle figure doesn't always mean overweight like some people think. Most models are rectangle. They are basically hangers- no hips or bust, look straight like little boys. I have a few friends shaped kind of like this.
I'm also an hourglass. My shoulders & hips are the same size. My bust is like 1.5 inches smaller than my shoulders (34C). My waist is like 27.5 inches and my hips & shoulders are like 38.5 inches. I also have trouble finding clothes that fit my hips and waist well, but I wear low-rise because I'm 16 and I shop at "young people" stores so it's easier because I don't have to fit my waist. But a four years ago when I was 12 and first getting hips I had trouble and I had the gap in the back too. I also have long legs and sometimes jeans are too short. I think clothing designers need to reconsider how they fit clothes for women. Men have 2 measurements - waist and length. But women have more diverse body shapes and sizes and we just have one measurement, and I don't even understand what it means!

I too, am one of the 8%. My hips and shoulders are the same width but I have small breasts. My waist is 12 or more inches smaller than everything else. I hate it! I also have a very short torso. I don't have money to have everything tailored, so I buy Levi's shrink-to-fit 501's. They have a short rise, and shrink to fit your body type. And they're not bootcut! Yuck! Sorry, but bootcuts, flares, and bellbottoms were NASTY the first time around in the 1970's. I know- I was there. Even thin women don't look good in these pants unless they have really long legs.

P.S. This is to Joe. Hopefully no woman would be stupid enough to date you. Rectangle-shaped or otherwise. You sound like a total moron.

I am blessed with a standard hourglass figure (US Size 10: 38-28-39) and have a VERY difficult time finding clothes that fit. The waist is always too big.

My choices for tops are either too tight across the chest and fit my shoulders or too big for my shoulders and fits my chest.

Another issue I have, and other people with similar figures, are my thighs are a bit more fleshy and pants are generally a bit tight around them.

It seems to me they are designing clothes for the rectangle.

All I can say is thank goodness for stretchy clothes.

well at least you guys kno what body shape you are... i'm not even sure what i am... i'm so confused cause my waiste is like only 5 inches smaller than my bust... @.@ and my bust is bigger than my hips by 1" according to that chart thing i'm a hourglass but then i look like a rectangle... so i'm like totally confused... but then again i'm overweight

I have a problem finding clothes that fits I am 36D, I wear size 8 in pants. Can you help me find a shop that sells clothes for small frame woman with a big bust.

i think that people just need to lose weight. i'm an hourglass with my measurements being 34-24-34 and i find clothes that fit me fine.

isa, some people will never have a 24" waist, they are just not built that way. It is presumptions to think they would. I have weighed as little as 89lb at 5'2" and my waist was still 26". So "just lose weight" is an ignorant comment.

Not to mention it depends on how tailored you want your clothes. If you want jeans, now that they make stretch ones, and t-shirts, anyone of any shape can find them very easily. If you need to wear skirt suits or pantsuits and blouses because of your work, finding clothing that fits is harder for people of any size, it involves trying on a lot of stuff and possibly still having minor tailoring adjustments made.

Eve, my suggestion is find a cheap tailor or dry cleaner that can make small alterations like tightening pants in the back and adding darts to jackets. It is the best solution, then you can get a jacket that fits your bust and have the waist tightened and shoulders adjusted if necessary.

presumptious*

Well, I'm a classic pear shape, measurements 35-27-39. My dream measurements would be 36-25-37, which is hourglass shaped, but a little more realistic version than 36-24-36, so at least maybe there is some hope lol.

I am a size 2 usually, and i am very petite [5'1], and I am somewhat of an hourglass shape and somewhat of a rectangle. Actually I don't even really know what shape I am. My measurements are 34-26/27-35 but the thing is my shoulders are an inch or 2 bigger than my hips, so here's just one more person that has a hard time finding perfect-fitting clothes. I mean I find decent clothes, but I am a teenager and shop at "young people stores" and wear low rise jeans.

The odd thing is, I am usually only a size 2 but my measurements seem to be bigger than the size 2 on sizing charts, and also I weigh about 120 lbs. Is that weird???

The worst thing is having short legs though. Anyone else have really short legs? It is horrible, and pants are always SO long. Plus, I can never wear skinny jeans.

I'm an overweight hourglass!!! LOL!! I think that says it all!!

Isn't it amazing how we women constantly complain aobut our bodies. We have all just got to accept our fabulous curves!! (I'm talking healthy, not too overweight curves... putting your health at risk by an unhealthy lifestyle is never good).

Let's celebrate... who cares if we can't find clothes, we should all just get naked anyway! (Although not in the cold... again... the unhealthy thing!).

im 5'4 and 110 34d-25-34 i have a hard time finding jeans they are always 2 long and i hate heels cuz i love being atletic and i love the strecth flare jeans cuz they flatter my hourglass shape and let me move with out buying pants that are to big but hardly any1 carries them anymore i love hollister there shirts,shorts,and athletic pants fit great!!!!! sum tanks

Nicole said:
It just shows how stupid the fashion designers can be. People, esp. women, come in all shapes and sizes. I have a strange figure type- I wear a size 5-6 pants but need to buy Med-Large shirts so they'll fit over my shoulders...people used to joke I was built like a man! My shoulders are wider than my hips. It's silly to try to make a standardized "[...]

i have an average sized bust, and with a waist that is smaller and goes in further, yet i have quite big hips, is that counted as an hourglass figure?

I have been reading all of your post and I must admit I am glad EVERYONE thinks they have a hard time finding clothes. I have noticed, I don't know if it is because they are said to rare now or just a coinsidence but most of you bost about an hourglass figure and no one can deny it is a beautiful thing IF you are VERY thin, you don't need to create shape, you already have it, you look good in almost anything and best in high waisted pants. But, when you gain weight (even a little) you gain in your lower stomach and your bust first. So, if you wear high waisted pants that fit your waist (which by the way look like hip wadders on a short waisted person,me) you probably won't be able to zip them, and if you do that extra weight on your lower stomach will pooch out, combined with the extra weight on top you look like you have a rubber band tightened around your middle. If you buy low waisted pants(which basically fit around the top of your pelvic bone) you will look pretty good from there down,but that area just above the waistband and just below your still narrow waist will make you not only understand but hate the term "muffin top".
These are just my problems but everyone has them along with the pros and cons. And speaking as an "hourglass" there is no prefect body type,you just learn to deal.

Hey Joe, you're full of it! I'm from England and yeah I am an hourglass but that is not the point, Hourglasses in the UK, as well as anywhere else, are rare and virtually impossible to clothe! Also, if you really believe that fast food is not a big thing in the UK, and that obesity levels aren't getting as bad as the USA then you are clearly deluded! Have you ever even been to the UK? Or Europe? Clearly not! Hooray for you for applauding the hourglass figure - most of the pretentious idiots you meet in the big cities here go for the anorexic look, but even so, you don't have to criticise people for not having a tiny waist. And at the end of the day, most people's natural body shape is purely genetic - LOOK IT UP!

I can't believe I read through all those comments!

Every woman is made differently, even identical twins; there isn't going to be a magical shop where the clothes fit everyone. Keep looking, spend a little more or have them altered if you can afford it, bloody hell, learn to sew! Making your own clothes not only gives you the perfect fit for YOU, but it's mighty cheaper. Plus, whenever someone asks you where you bought your clothes you can tell them that you made them, giving you that self esteem boost many of the above commenters need.

Good point Catharine! I'm sick of people whining about how they have to buy pants/skirts big enough to fit them in the hips, then they're too big in the waist. Take them to a tailor already!

With the longer shirts this season, you can buy pants that ride so low that the waist/hip difference is a non-issue. Heck you could get pregnant and remain in the same stretch jeans, when they are cut that low.

okay so i typed out a long ass comment and now it's gone.

as a gay woman, i would like to say that women's bodies rock, be they hourglass, ruler, spoon or some other silly ideal named after a household object.

regardless of shape, confidence is KEY! few men want an hourglass who constantly covers up and acts like a little girl when she gets naked.. ohh, my hips are a quarter of an inch too big, can we turn off the lights?

seriously, i'd rather do dame edna.

the fashion industry makes being a woman hard enough, stop complaining bout what you've got, you make the rest of us feel crap

ps: joe and craig, you're assheads and should be shot ;]

Well I'm 15. I'm 5'8 weigh 161 lbs and have measurements of bust:38 waist:26.5 hips:37 butt: 40.5. I find it really annoying how things fit especially in the teen section. I'm kind of inbetween pear and hourglass right now. my mom has a gorgeous hourglass figure so I assume I'll get it too. The problem is that some people assume all hourglass figures are petite or slim. But they aren't you can be size 11 (like i am) and have an hourglass figure. You don't have to be size 6 or lower. Sorry for ranting or whatever but it' really annoying because the trend today is to be skinny and i know no matter what i do I will be a stick or even a smaller hourglass then size 7 (which would sill be a stetch

I dont know if im a Hourglass body shape . Can some one help to tell me wat kind of shape my body has im 32a bra size and a 27 inches and my hips are 38 inches ... so wzat body shape am i ?> im 4'11

I find Hourglas figured women to be the sexiest and most attractive, but the media promotes these women with the body of boys. That makes curvy women feel self concious, and if you search for clothing for curvy women you get fat ones, wich I find the curves should not be a nasty gut but a narrow waist and wide hips and a proportionate bust to accentuate the curvature. Be fit and keep your curves since out there there are men like me who love that body type.. Good luck.

im 32 chest, 26 waist and 38 hips i never thought i was pear shaped but i guess i am.

Wow, I'm surprised that many women on this site thinks they're an hour-glass shape even though it's so rare. Body shape or frame doesn't change with weight gain. For instance, if I was to gain 5 pounds and I was a perfect hour glass, 2 pounds would go to my breast, 2lbs to my hips, and 1Lb to my waist...something similar to that. Rectangular shape is very similar to hourglass in that the bust and hip are same but the waist is bigger.
Anyway, I had plastic surgery because of weight loss that left my tummy hanging... I was a rectangular shape but now I'm a bit more pear-shaped. Anyway, I just wanted to stress that there's no shame in being other shapes than an hour glass. =)

Spectra, I don't think most women in asia are rectangular shapes any more than US women. Women in burma and Thailand tend to have curvaseous hips. Women in India have breasts and what to speak of the variety that probably exists within the whole continent.
The main importance is that waist-to-hip ratio gives an accurate checkup on whether you're seen as attractive to men or not. You divide ur waist measurement by ur hip measurement(middle of butt including the largest part of ur thighs. If it is close to .70 ratio then ur seen as highly fertile and most likely to be chosen as a mate first regardless of ur weight. However, in US, after women of .70 ratio is taken men choose the lower ratios like .69,.68 but in all other parts of the world, men choose up: .71, .72, etc.
Example: waist: 29.5/hips:42 equals .702 waist to hip ratio

I have always been told I'm an hour glass, but I don't know the correct bust, waist, hip (butt?) percents. Could someone pretty please clairify that once and for all, or suggest a web sit that would? Also, am I an hourglass?
Bust:36 Waist:24 Upper Hip:36 Lower Hip/Butt:37

For those of you having pants-fitting problems have you tried Glow (or Glo)? They were my saving grace and come in womens sizes too.
~Think your beautiful, and you will play beautiful.

I have a question? Does the hourglass shape go by the shoulder measurements, or the bust? My measurements are:bust 33C Waist 25 hips 36. My shoulders are 35 inches. Would I be an hourglass or spoon? Thanks!

The hourglass figure is the most beautiful and ideal figure in the world and in all of human history. That's why women who don't have one are miserable. Having an hourglass figure means you have high estrogen levels, which means you are feminine-- and what woman doesn't want to be feminine?

I am shaped like a man and I would give anything to be an hourglass figure-- I would even be an A cup (I'm a D cup) to be an hourglass figure. I'm losing weight and strengthening my hip and butt muscles inn the hope that they will get bigger and give the illusion of an hourglass figure.

An hourglass figure is something all women should strive for NO MATTER WHAT. It's biological that men prefer it and linked to fertility. So lose the weight you fat hoes!

hi,
i have 35-28-39...
i find it hard to get a good fitting jeans..34 looks bulky and 32 is too tight on hips...i have planned to follows venus and mars diet plan to lose that 4-5 inches from my waist..i would write back my comment after my diet...

I have an hourglass figure and it is impossible to find jeans that fit. If they fit well through the thighs and butt, then they gap hugely at the small of my back and sometimes are just big all around my waist. If they fit my waist, well I can't even get them over my butt to begin with. I wear a size 8 dress, but in jeans I have to get a 12 and cinch up the waist and it looks absurd all bunched up in the waist, grrr. Designers need to learn how to design clothing that looks good on something besides a coathanger!

Jadalina, you need Lee brand. I don't work for them or anything, it is just that they have one of the few fits that works for hourglasses. Not all cuts are gonna work, but I guarantee you are gonna find at least 5 different cuts that will look great, and not all of them will be super low-waist, a lot will have a natural waist.

Ami I'm with you-one exercise I'm doing and would recommend for all yous trying to get more curvy is the hip abductors (NOT Adductors!). They have increased my hip measurements a whole inch so now I have 8" difference between waist and hips. One more inch and I'm an hourglass, although that truly has to be a 9" difference between bust/waist measurements, and I think my bust is slightly smaller than my hip measurement.

I find it interesting that the beginning of the article says the fashion industry is out of touch with reality because it is still catering to hourglass figures; however the majority of women on here are claiming to be hourglasses and complaining that the fashion industry DOESN'T cater to them!

I did a saliva test and found I have a low estrogen level (32 years old), am taking DHEA which can metabolize into estrogen and plan to start black cohosh after my period's over. Have also been eating flax seeds which seems to help.

I forgot to mention my woe is that pants seem to be a wee bit tight around the middle with my figure, otherwise I have no complaints besides my slightly thick waist. Hopefully I'll lose more weight this summer, have maintained my weight around 175lbs for about a year now and am sick of it! (5'5.5") However I'm down from 211 lbs and then I only had a 5-inch difference between waist and hips! UGH!

Do hourglass figures always have a breast size of C and up? Can hourglass figures have broad shoulders? My measurements are 38-28-38 but my shoulders look alittle bit more wider than my hips.

I'm one of those unlucky girls with an hourglass figure. I have a tiny waist (23 inch) and then big bust (32 C/D) and then I have hips (35 inch).
It's impossible to find jeans and I generally always resort to skirts or dresses that kick out at the waist.
Even worse I'm 16, so all my friends have slim slender figures and can wear skinny jeans with ease.
Any advice on what else I can wear?

Stella, learn to tighten the waists of your pants, and buy them to fit your legs and you'll be fine. Does your school offer Home Ec?