Body Type Calculator
Use this body type calculator to find your body shape (hourglass, spoon, pear, rectangle and more) from your bust, waist, high hip and hip measurements.
Updated October 15, 2026
Medical Disclaimer: This calculator provides a general estimate based on established research and is for educational purposes only, not a substitute for medical advice. Individual results can vary based on health conditions, so consult a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian before making significant changes to your diet, exercise, or health routine. Read our full Medical Disclaimer.
How Body Type Is Calculated
Your body type, in the sense most people mean when they look up their shape, is the pattern of your bust, waist and hip measurements: how your bust compares with your hips, how defined your waist is, and how your hips curve out just below it. This calculator sorts those measurements into one of seven shapes using the Female Figure Identification Technique (FFIT), a method built from 3D body scans at North Carolina State University¹ and written out as simple measurement rules by Lee and colleagues².
What This Calculator Measures
It describes proportions, not size, body fat or fitness. Two people with the same shape can wear very different clothing sizes. If you want to know whether you have a small, medium or large frame, which is about bone structure rather than shape, use the Body Frame Size Calculator instead.
The Measurements
Bust: around the fullest part of the bust, with the tape level.
Waist: around the narrowest part of the torso, usually just above the navel.
High hip: the widest point in the top quarter of the way from your waist down to your crotch, over the top of the hip bones.
Hips: around the fullest part of the hips and seat.
The Shape Rules
FFIT works with differences between the measurements in inches (the calculator converts centimeters first). It checks the shapes in a fixed order and gives you the first one that fits¹ ² ³:
Shape | Rule (inches) |
Hourglass | Bust − hips ≤ 1, hips − bust < 3.6, and either bust − waist ≥ 9 or hips − waist ≥ 10 |
Spoon | Hips − bust > 2, hips − waist ≥ 7, and high hip ÷ waist ≥ 1.193 |
Bottom Hourglass | Hips − bust ≥ 3.6 and < 10, hips − waist ≥ 9, and high hip ÷ waist < 1.193 |
Top Hourglass | Bust − hips > 1 and < 10, and bust − waist ≥ 9 |
Inverted Triangle | Bust − hips ≥ 3.6 and bust − waist < 9 |
Triangle (Pear) | Hips − bust ≥ 3.6 and hips − waist < 9 |
Rectangle | Bust and hips within 3.6 of each other, bust − waist < 9, and hips − waist < 10 |
The order matters because some figures meet two rules. A high hip at least 1.193 times the waist marks the “shelf” of the spoon shape. Without that shelf, hips that are larger than the bust with a defined waist make a bottom hourglass.
How This Calculator Computes Your Result
Enter the four measurements in inches or centimeters. The calculator works out bust − hips, bust − waist, hips − waist and high hip ÷ waist, runs the rules in order, and shows the matching shape, the rule it met, and any other shape your numbers also fit. A few combinations meet none of the seven rules, mostly hips 10 inches or more larger than the bust without a high-hip shelf, or a bust 10 inches or more larger than the hips with a defined waist. Then you’ll see “Between shapes”.
Worked Examples
Bust 36, waist 26, high hip 33, hips 37 inches: the bust and hips are 1 inch apart and the waist is 10 inches smaller than the bust, so the result is Hourglass.
Bust 34, waist 27, high hip 33, hips 39 inches: the hips are 5 inches larger than the bust and 12 inches larger than the waist, and high hip ÷ waist is 1.222, so the result is Spoon. With a 31-inch high hip (1.148), the same figure is a Bottom Hourglass.
Bust 34, waist 31, high hip 36, hips 39 inches: the hips are 5 inches larger than the bust but only 8 inches larger than the waist, so the result is Triangle (Pear).
Bust 40, waist 33, high hip 34, hips 35 inches: the bust is 5 inches larger than the hips and only 7 inches larger than the waist, so the result is Inverted Triangle.
Where Round or Apple Shapes Fit
The full FFIT software also has Oval and Diamond shapes for figures that carry most of their weight around the middle, but those use stomach and abdomen measurements as well¹. With only bust, waist, high hip and hips, a figure like that usually lands in Rectangle, so the calculator adds a note when your waist is at least as large as both your bust and your hips.
A Note on Accuracy
Clothing researchers often treat FFIT as a reference method, but it is sensitive to exactly where the tape goes. When the same 1,679 body scans were measured with two different sets of landmark definitions, up to 40% of bodies changed shape⁴. Half an inch near a cut-off can flip your result, so measure twice. FFIT was developed from women’s body scans, and the result describes proportions for clothing fit, not health, metabolism or how you’ll respond to training.
Frequently Asked Questions
What body shapes does this calculator use?
Seven shapes from the Female Figure Identification Technique: hourglass, bottom hourglass, top hourglass, spoon, triangle (pear), inverted triangle and rectangle². They are set by the differences between your bust, waist, high hip and hip measurements, not by your height or weight.
What is the difference between a spoon and a bottom hourglass?
Both have hips larger than the bust and a defined waist. The difference is the high hip. If your high hip is at least 1.193 times your waist, your hips flare out just below the waist, a shelf FFIT calls a spoon. Below that ratio, hips 3.6 to under 10 inches larger than the bust and at least 9 inches larger than the waist make a bottom hourglass².
Is body type the same as frame size?
No. Body shape describes how your measurements compare with each other. Frame size describes bone structure and is usually estimated from wrist circumference and height. Any shape can come with a small, medium or large frame. For frame size, use the Body Frame Size Calculator on this site.
What about ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph?
Those are somatotypes, an idea introduced by Sheldon in 1940 and later refined by Heath and Carter, whose method needs skinfold, girth and bone-width measurements taken by a trained measurer⁵. They can’t be worked out reliably from four tape measurements at home, so this calculator gives your body shape instead.
Sources
Female Figure Identification Technique (FFIT) for Apparel, Part II: Development of Shape Sorting Software, Simmons, Istook and Devarajan, Journal of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management, 2004
Comparison of Body Shape Between USA and Korean Women, Lee, Istook, Nam and Park, International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, 2007
The Body Shape of Brazilian Woman, Bastos and Sabra, 5th International Conference on 3D Body Scanning Technologies, 2014
Assessing the Female Figure Identification Technique’s Reliability as a Body Shape Classification System, Parker, Hayes, Brownbridge and Gill, Ergonomics, 2021
The Shape of Success: A Scoping Review of Somatotype in Modern Elite Athletes Across Various Sports, Martínez-Mireles et al., 2025