body shape

[Pia Bianca]

I bet all of those in here had this choice once, so I post my question here and not in the beauty forum.

How do I determine which body shape I have? I've got this picture:


But how to determine which one fits? My shoulders aren't that big, but still "manly". My hips aren't that small but still noticeable. My waist is almost as big as my hips. A few weeks ago I measured myself and added shoulders to the list today:
shoulders: 102.5 cm / 40.4
breast: 99.5 cm / 39.2 in (under "bust")
waist: 103.5 cm / 40.7 in
hips: 105.8 cm / 41.7 in
(all circumference)

Is this an "inverted triangle" or a "rectangle" shape?

What does it mean for clothes selection?

I got a tip to wear lighter colors for the bottom and darker colors for the top part of the body, this would be beneficial for the "male" body. Is this still true for me as my shoulders aren't that big?

[MaryXYX]

I got that advice on a "grand-moms' fashion" site - after explaining why I thought I needed special advice!  Then I realised I tend to do the opposite.

I'm:
shoulders 40"
bust 38"
waist 31"
hips 37"
which I think classes as "none of the above".  The inverted triangle might be the nearest, except that I feel 6" difference between waist and hips is not "little or no waist definition".

[Pia Bianca]

I got that advice on a "grand-moms' fashion" site - after explaining why I thought I needed special advice!  Then I realised I tend to do the opposite.

You mean darker top and lighter bottom? You do the opposite?

[Lexi Belle]

I bet all of those in here had this choice once, so I post my question here and not in the beauty forum.

How do I determine which body shape I have? I've got this picture:


But how to determine which one fits? My shoulders aren't that big, but still "manly". My hips aren't that small but still noticeable. My waist is almost as big as my hips. A few weeks ago I measured myself and added shoulders to the list today:
shoulders: 102.5 cm / 40.4
breast: 99.5 cm / 39.2 in (under "bust")
waist: 103.5 cm / 40.7 in
hips: 105.8 cm / 41.7 in
(all circumference)

Is this an "inverted triangle" or a "rectangle" shape?

What does it mean for clothes selection?

I got a tip to wear lighter colors for the bottom and darker colors for the top part of the body, this would be beneficial for the "male" body. Is this still true for me as my shoulders aren't that big?

You're probably some form of rectangle shape,  when I look in the mirror I feel rectangle shape and my measurements are
Shoulders: 37'
Chest: 36'
Underbust: 30'
Waist:29'
Hips: 38'

Even though those measurements seem pretty close to an hour glass, I look like a full on rectangle.

[Pia Bianca]

Even though those measurements seem pretty close to an hour glass, I look like a full on rectangle.

Yeah... I would have bet on an hourglass. Hence I asked for help...

[Lexi Belle]

Yeah... I would have bet on an hourglass. Hence I asked for help...

I mean, without seeing you in person it'd be difficult  but I'm almost certain you'd fall under rectangle, seeing as your underbust is an inch smaller than your waist, I'd also gather you need to lose some abdominal fat.

[Pia Bianca]

I mean, without seeing you in person it'd be difficult  but I'm almost certain you'd fall under rectangle, seeing as your underbust is an inch smaller than your waist, I'd also gather you need to lose some abdominal fat.

Yeah. I need to loose much fat. My BMI is around 30 right now. I started to reduce weight and lost about 2-3 lbs in the last 3 weeks... That leaves me with 54 lbs to go. (I'd still be glad to loose 40 lbs as this would get me into the "normal" frame for the BMI.)

Perhaps my body shape changes to inverted triangle if I loose some weight - as I might be loosing some on my butt as well. What do you think?

[Lexi Belle]

Yeah. I need to loose much fat. My BMI is around 30 right now. I started to reduce weight and lost about 2-3 lbs in the last 3 weeks... That leaves me with 54 lbs to go. (I'd still be glad to loose 40 lbs as this would get me into the "normal" frame for the BMI.)

Perhaps my body shape changes to inverted triangle if I loose some weight - as I might be loosing some on my butt as well. What do you think?

You might be amazed at what might happen, typically for an MTF I'd say yeah, you'd probably land around inverted triangle or rectangle.  Considering the primary fat spot for men is in the abdominal/waist area, I'd say after apt amount of time on HRT at the correct hormonal balance losing weight should ultimately, depending on genetics; stop accumulating abdominal fat as much and be added towards chest//hips.  So yeah, you might even end up a little more curvy than you'd expect in the end. 

You should also consider, depending on your age, (this wasn't a problem for me as I started young,) but if you were slightly older, beyond late 20's; You probably have a lot of muscle upper body too. (Not sure when you started HRT)  So, stopping excessive upper body activity in combination with HRT should also decrease upper body mass, so you might not have as broad of an inverted triangle as you'd expect, too.

[Jennygirl]

Nidalexi what you describe is exactly what happened to me.

Inverted triangle to start, 7-8 months later I am in the rectangle / banana shaped category

[Lexi Belle]

Nidalexi what you describe is exactly what happened to me.

Inverted triangle to start, 7-8 months later I am in the rectangle / banana shaped category

Yup!  Amazin' what's under that muscle, eh? xD

[Jennygirl]

Yup!  Amazin' what's under that muscle, eh? xD

goodbye guns and hellllooo buns!

[Pia Bianca]

You might be amazed at what might happen, typically for an MTF I'd say yeah, you'd probably land around inverted triangle or rectangle.  Considering the primary fat spot for men is in the abdominal/waist area, I'd say after apt amount of time on HRT at the correct hormonal balance losing weight should ultimately, depending on genetics; stop accumulating abdominal fat as much and be added towards chest//hips.  So yeah, you might even end up a little more curvy than you'd expect in the end.

That would totally rock. And I have to admit that my stomach isn't nearly as small as it was while I still did sports 3 times a week. I used to play handball but stopped at around my 20th birthday.

You should also consider, depending on your age, (this wasn't a problem for me as I started young,) but if you were slightly older, beyond late 20's; You probably have a lot of muscle upper body too. (Not sure when you started HRT)  So, stopping excessive upper body activity in combination with HRT should also decrease upper body mass, so you might not have as broad of an inverted triangle as you'd expect, too.

I'm im my early 30s now, so I'm definately beyond the 20s. But being a computer scientist and working at the university I'm not doing much workout for my upper body.

Nidalexi what you describe is exactly what happened to me.

Inverted triangle to start, 7-8 months later I am in the rectangle / banana shaped category

I'd be glad if I'd be only half as passable as you are. But perhaps I will be.

[Violet Bloom]

  Aren't shoulders supposed to be measured as width rather than circumference?  And then is it outside of the arms or to the tips of the pointy bone on top?  I will list all for completeness' sake:

43" - Shoulders circumference
19" - Shoulders outside of arm-to-arm width
16" - Shoulders point-to-point width
37" - Bust (okay, they're fake right now, but I consider it ideal size.)
34" - Under-bust
30" - Waist
36.5" - Hips

And included for context:
Height - 6'1"
Weight - 144lbs

  I think I look like more of a rectangle than an inverted triangle.  Are my shoulders too wide?  I don't know but will note that women with a similar profile are instinctively most attractive to me.  If anything I suppose shoulder circumference would be a guage of muscle mass but width is probably most visually obvious.

[Lauren5]

  Aren't shoulders supposed to be measured as width rather than circumference?  And then is it outside of the arms or to the tips of the pointy bone on top?  I will list all for completeness' sake:

43" - Shoulders circumference
19" - Shoulders outside of arm-to-arm width
16" - Shoulders point-to-point width
37" - Bust (okay, they're fake right now, but I consider it ideal size.)
34" - Under-bust
30" - Waist
36.5" - Hips

And included for context:
Height - 6'1"
Weight - 144lbs

  I think I look like more of a rectangle than an inverted triangle.  Are my shoulders too wide?  I don't know but will note that women with a similar profile are instinctively most attractive to me.  If anything I suppose shoulder circumference would be a guage of muscle mass but width is probably most visually obvious.

Seems kinda like me, more like an inverted parallelogram. Not quite feeling thin enough in the hips is an issue for me, and it seems for you too. But no, you don't seem like a rectangle.

[Ltl89]

I'm sort of in the hour glass category, but it's not quite as pronounced as a genetic girl or that image.  I've always had hips that go out and curves that go in near my midsection.  None of the other images really match my shape. 

[ThatGirl]

Am I an inverted triangle?

Pre everything.

38" - Shoulder circumference
16" - Shoulders across arm to arm
29" - Underbust
34" - Bust
26" - Waist
35" - Hips

Height - 5'9"
Weight - 115 lbs

[Lexi Belle]

Am I an inverted triangle?

Pre everything.

38" - Shoulder circumference
16" - Shoulders across arm to arm
29" - Underbust
34" - Bust
26" - Waist
35" - Hips

Height - 5'9"
Weight - 115 lbs

You're probably pretty close to a triangle* not an inverted one..

[MaryXYX]

You mean darker top and lighter bottom? You do the opposite?

After reading the advice I realised most of my skirts are fairly dark and most of my tops are lighter.  It just happened that way.  I like brighter tops but perhaps I should be shopping for darker ones, and lighter coloured more flared skirts.

[Violet Bloom]

Am I an inverted triangle?

Pre everything.

38" - Shoulder circumference
16" - Shoulders across arm to arm
29" - Underbust
34" - Bust
26" - Waist
35" - Hips

Height - 5'9"
Weight - 115 lbs

  Whatever version you are I think you have great balance in your measurements already.  If you gain a little more in the hips along the way you should do really well.  If my waist was down where you're already at then my hips would look more adequate without any gains.

[Violet Bloom]

  Here's some food for thought for those worried about being an inverted triangle or being overly tall.  I pulled some scaled-up measurements from the web based off of the current Barbie Doll toy which is marketed as some sort of 'ideal' to aspire to (some variations found given as ranges):

Barbie Doll:
36-39" - Bust
18" - Waist
33" - Hips
Height - 5'9" to 6'
Weight - 101lbs

  According to research by the University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, she would lack the requisite 17 to 22 percent of body fat required to menstruate.  Perhaps this is why I don't menstruate?

Sources:
- Lord, M.G. Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll. New York: William Morrow and Company,
Inc., 1994.
- O'Sickey, Ingeborg Majer. "Barbie Magazine and the Aesthetic Commodification of Girls' Bodies." On Fashion. Ed. Shari Benstock and Suzanne Ferriss. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1994.

  Aside from the fact that the waist and weight are rediculous and severely unhealthy I see a taller than average inverted triangle there.  As such it is ironic perhaps that a number of us are already close to this supposed ideal.  Now you can understand the ironic snarkiness of my current avatar.  Wide shoulders are appropriate on a law enforcement figure anyway - more imposing.

  Also check out the following link for a life-sized rendition of the Barbie Doll proportions:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1379300/Former-anorexics-life-sized-Barbie-reveals-dolls-dangerous-proportions.html

  What would you make of this?