Body Shapes
Start here
Every body is different, and that’s exactly the point. Understanding your proportions — where you’re narrower, where you’re fuller, where your waist sits relative to your hips — isn’t about fitting into a category. It’s a shortcut. Once you know your general shape, you can stop guessing which cut of jeans will actually work, and start reaching for pieces that already tend to feel right on you.
There’s no perfect body to dress for. There’s just yours, and the five general shapes below are simply a starting point for understanding it.
Not sure what your shape is?
Take the two-minute quiz, and we’ll walk you through it question by question.
Or measure it yourself
If you’d rather work it out with a tape measure, here’s the short version:
- Bust — measure around the fullest part of your chest.
- Waist — measure around the narrowest part of your torso, usually just above your belly button.
- Hips — measure around the fullest part of your hips and bottom.
- Compare the three numbers.
- Bust and hips close in size, waist noticeably smaller → Hourglass
- Hips clearly larger than bust and shoulders → Pear
- Waist fuller than bust and hips → Apple
- Bust, waist and hips all fairly similar → Rectangle
- Shoulders and bust clearly wider than hips → Inverted Triangle
There’s no wrong way to measure, and it’s fine if you sit between two shapes — plenty of people do. Read whichever guide feels closer, or read both.
The five shapes
Hourglass — bust and hips close in width, with a clearly defined waist.
Pear — hips wider than shoulders and bust, waist defined but not dramatic.
Apple — fuller through the middle, waist less defined than bust or hips.
Rectangle — shoulders, waist and hips fairly similar in width.
Inverted Triangle — shoulders wider than hips, tapering down through a straighter line.
Read the Inverted Triangle guide →
Why we start with body shape
Body shape isn’t about hiding anything or fixing a “problem” — there isn’t one. It’s simply that certain cuts and proportions tend to sit more comfortably on certain bodies, the same way a certain pair of shoes just tends to fit better than another. Knowing your shape means less trial and error, fewer impulse buys that never leave the closet, and more outfits that feel like you the moment you put them on.