body shape!!! what an hourglass really is

I don't know about any of you but I kinda get annoyed when someone claims to be an hourglass figure but ALSO mentions their top is bigger than their bottom or that their bottom is bigger than their top. That is NOT an hourglass. It's a pear or apple. An hourglass body shape has the bust and hips the SAME circumference and the waist AT LEAST 9 inches smaller than both the hips and waist, since they're the same size. Okay there sorry if I offended everyone. I did not mean too.

Why be annoyed? I am TECHNICALLY an hourglass (currently 38-28-38, but I used to be 36-24-36), but I don't really look like much of one, because I am so tall. My friend, on the other hand, who I think is technically a pear - is much more shapely than I am. She is also more petite, and has broader shoulders than me, so it really evens out in appearance. She has a very Christina Hendricks-ish body (like 35-24-37 or something amazing like that). Tiny little waist, shapely hips, huge bust. I don't resent her when she says she is an hourglass, because in my mind (and everyone else who gazes upon her) she totally is.

I'm an hourglass/pear. Until recently my measurements were 38-26-40, but now they are 40-36-42 (I'm pregnant, that's why the waist is so big, lol) As long as you give the illusion of proportioned top and bottom with a slim waist you are an hrglass. I'm not going to break out measuring tape when someone claims to be an hrglass. Either they are or they aren't, it's pretty obvious when someone falsely claims it.

If someone like Beyonce or Jlo with obviously smaller breasts claimed hourglass, I would have to disagree. They are pear shaped. And celebs like Angelina Jolie and Mariah are bigger up top than they are down below (apple). A good example of an hourglass is Halle Berry!

In the OP's defense, the issue may be that "hourglass" is the most desired shape, supposedly. So, claiming to be hourglass when you're not COULD be because you're unsure of the definition, in which case OP cleared that up. OR the reason to unrightfully claim the shape COULD be because said person is being catty and trying to take a dig at the rest of us.

BTW, I'm proudly APPLE, so *blssspt* 

Well before I gained all this weight I was 38-26-37

Now my measurements have increased but the ratios have remained the same.

But I would not call myself an hour glass, I look more like an apple. So it’s not always about what the measurements say.

My friend has a high butt so it gets measured along with her hips & looking at just her numbers she seams like a pear but she really has no hips at all just a high, big butt (that she loves).

I wish I was pear shaped.

I'm 36-29-38 and I call myself an hourglass. I think it has more to do with what you look like than your measurements.

My hip measurement is 2 inches bigger, but from the front my hips and chest/ribcage are the exact same width. The extra 2 inches is all out the back. I don't look pear shaped at all.

I also don't think the waist being at least 9 inches smaller than the other 2 measurements defines being an hourglass. That would depend on your height and also your proportions. Someone who's 6 feet tall might look pretty straight with a 9 inch difference, but someone who's 5 feet tall with a waist that's 6 inches smaller could look very curvy. Also if you were 49-40-49 you would look more straight and someone who was 34-25-34 would appear much more hourglass.

I prefer these definitions "water glass", "high ball", "shot glass (thats me - no leg at all), "whine glass", "beer stein".

Really?  All this fuss over a definition that some opinionated slob came up with over a hundred years ago?  For the love of pete - what does it possibly matter?  We all have the same basic equipment. 

Would anyone get irritated with me if I claim to have "cafe au lait' skin, instead of "sallow"?  Oh yes - please, lets waste our time debating this.

Does 39-28-38 count?   maybe coke bottle is more appropriate?

I want to be a beer stein : )

I consider myself hourglass, as does anyone else who defines my shape (not that it happens often). My hips are larger than my bust, but my shoulders and hips are balanced width-wise. And I am technically an 'hourglass' (by your definition) when I'm at a healthy weight, so am I an hourglass sometimes and not others? If I wear something that doesn't have a defined waist should I call myself something else? And, ooo ::raises hand:: if I wear really high heels can I tell other people I'm really tall?

Seriously, by your definition, someone could be an hourglass but look like a pear. Which seems to be what you're complaining about.

So what am I? If I'm 40,35,43?

Original Post by shewolffe:

Gee, do people actually claim to be "hourglass" these days?  I mean when we see all the "beautiful people" on TV etc., they could effectively replace a coat rack.   I could never achieve the status of a coat rack, unless I have starved to a near death scenario, but to be an hourglass?  That I can do.  Real women have hips.  Some of the most beautiful women ever known have been a rubinesque size 12.  I heard somewhere that even Marilyn Monroe wore a 16.  Clothes may have been cut a little smaller then..  but you get the picture.  How our society ever got to this stage - women on catwalks that look like death on a stick, and makeup that a Zombie would admire, I'll never understand.

Marilyn Monroe was 5' 5", 120 lbs., and her measurements were 37-23-36.  She might have been a size 16, but nowhere near what size 16 is today.  I'm guessing she would probably wear a size 4 or 6 now. 

 

I kind of agree with the original post though, it bothers me when euphamisms like curvy, voluptuous, hourglass figure, etc. are used to describe people who are overweight.  I think that glorifying being overweight is just as harmful as glorifying being underweight.  Marilyn Monroe was slim but still had a healthy BMI and curves in all the right places, a true hourglass figure. 

Original Post by kurichan:

Original Post by shewolffe:

Gee, do people actually claim to be "hourglass" these days?  I mean when we see all the "beautiful people" on TV etc., they could effectively replace a coat rack.   I could never achieve the status of a coat rack, unless I have starved to a near death scenario, but to be an hourglass?  That I can do.  Real women have hips.  Some of the most beautiful women ever known have been a rubinesque size 12.  I heard somewhere that even Marilyn Monroe wore a 16.  Clothes may have been cut a little smaller then..  but you get the picture.  How our society ever got to this stage - women on catwalks that look like death on a stick, and makeup that a Zombie would admire, I'll never understand.

Marilyn Monroe was 5' 5", 120 lbs., and her measurements were 37-23-36.  She might have been a size 16, but nowhere near what size 16 is today.  I'm guessing she would probably wear a size 4 or 6 now. 

 

I kind of agree with the original post though, it bothers me when euphamisms like curvy, voluptuous, hourglass figure, etc. are used to describe people who are overweight.  I think that glorifying being overweight is just as harmful as glorifying being underweight.  Marilyn Monroe was slim but still had a healthy BMI and curves in all the right places, a true hourglass figure. 

Agreed.

Original Post by kurichan:

I kind of agree with the original post though, it bothers me when euphamisms like curvy, voluptuous, hourglass figure, etc. are used to describe people who are overweight.  I think that glorifying being overweight is just as harmful as glorifying being underweight.  Marilyn Monroe was slim but still had a healthy BMI and curves in all the right places, a true hourglass figure. 

 So... fat people don't have shapes? If I'm an overweight hourglass, then I'm glorifying being overweight? Interesting.

Typically, those with an hourglass, or any shape involving a good waist-to-hip ratio, tend to carry more weight, and can do so without any health risks. Obviously there are limits, but many 'hourglass' shapes tend to look slim at the higher end of their healthy BMI and can cross into overweight with no increased health risks.

But you know, god forbid fat people say something nice about their fat bodies : ) Because it's just wrong for someone to call themselves 'curvy' instead of 'fat'

The only time I get annoyed with that is in Seventeen magazine when they are showing what clothes look good on different body types. Some examples they'll show are petite, tall, pear shaped, large bust, flat butt etc. and then they show someone who is plus sized with clothes from Torrid or another plus size store and label it as being a curvy or hourglass body type. I'm hourglass but a size 8 so I never get to see what clothes they recommend for me. Not all bigger girls are hourglasses, and not all hourglasses are bigger. They never show plus sized clothes under the other categories like pear shaped, for example, although I'm sure there would be tons of girls who fit into that category.

i have no clue what my measurements are but i wish the first number was 1 or 2 inches higher :)

Definitely agreed. I mean, I kind of went overboard a little with the measurements but what I meant was exactly as kurichan and coralbell said: it's not the measurements that are really causing the fuss. Marilyn Monroe = perfect example of an hourglass. Were her measurements exactly 10 inches in difference? No. Her bust was bigger than her hips (lucky!) and her waist was tiny. But, you look at her and think 'Wow! She has a fantastic figure. As kurichan said, to me anyway, that is the perfect hourglass.

Overweight people have shapes, of course. I myself have had an almost 30 pound weight change and went from having a BMI of 19 (which is either underweight or slim depending on what you think, as I know the 18-19 BMI has been disputed on here) and then went to borderline overweight.  I still could be considered an hourglass, though one with weight to lose, at my highest weight.  The measurements just increased. 

So, minda_spk, I don't think any of the posters are saying that overweight people cannot have shapes.  It's just that when one sees a morbidly obese person, it's not fair to their health and perception of their body to label them as curvy aka healthy. I understand than 33% of Americans are obese and so on, but when the fashion industry uses models with BMI's of 16 and then calls obese girls healthy, that's not good for either people with eating disorders, problems with body image, or overweight people.

LOLOL  i know this is an old thread but I had to laugh and will think of this thread a lot.. I have not heard the term hourglass in decades.. Too funny.  Noone.. not a one has a perfect body measurement.. Some claim to be this or that.. why do we label ourselfs as anything. Be you and if you dont like how you are change it. Not simple and or a overnight venue.  Love yourself what ever they choose to pick your body "type' as.  Silly stuff here. ( seen a lot about different figure types and I could care less whatever fruit they are using now.)