Body Figure Calculator

The FFIT thresholds are defined in inches; centimetre entries are converted before the rules are applied.
Girth at the fullest part of the bust, tape level all the way round.
Girth at the natural waist - the narrowest point, roughly level with the navel.
Girth at the fullest part of the seat.
Optional but needed to separate a spoon from a bottom hourglass: the girth over the upper hip and abdomen, about 7 to 8 inches below the natural waist.
Used only for the waist-hip ratio cut-off; the FFIT rules themselves were derived from female body scans.
Recorded with the result. Measurements read off a photograph need a known reference length in the same plane or every girth is scaled wrongly.
Body shape
Hourglass
Body Shape Calculator
Shape key
hourglass
What that shape means
Proportional bust and hip measurements with a defined waistline.
Bust minus hip
-1.00 in
Hip minus bust
1.00 in
Bust minus waist
10.00 in
Hip minus waist
11.00 in
Waist to hip ratio
0.703
Waist to bust ratio
0.722
Hip to bust ratio
1.028
Waist-hip ratio against the WHO cut-off
Below the WHO cut-off of 0.85 for women
Rule set applied
FFIT, Sokolowski & Griffin 2020 plus-size modification
Measurement source
tape
Worked out from Simmons K, Istook CL & Devarajan P, Female Figure Identification Technique (FFIT) for apparel, part I: describing female shapes, Journal of Textile and Apparel Technology and Management 2004;4(1) and 3 other sources.
Without a high-hip measurement the spoon category cannot be reached and a spoon figure will be reported as a bottom hourglass, because the two are separated only by the high hip to waist ratio of 1.193.
A shape label is an apparel-fit classification, not a health assessment: the FFIT rules were developed to sort body scans for garment sizing and were fitted on adult female scans. The waist-hip ratio reported alongside it is the figure with a published health cut-off, and even that is a population screening threshold rather than a diagnosis.

How this is worked out

6 steps
  1. Bust 36", waist 26", hip 37"
  2. bust - hip = -1", hip - bust = 1"
  3. bust - waist = 10", hip - waist = 11"
  4. High hip not supplied, so the high-hip/waist ratio test is skipped.
  5. Applying the modified 2020 plus-size FFIT table in order gives: Hourglass.
  6. Waist-hip ratio = 26 / 37 = 0.703

Results are general information, not financial, tax, legal, medical or engineering advice.