Female Hourglass Figure

The ‘Hourglass Figure’ is one of the four traditional female body shapes. The others being pear, inverted triangle and rectangular.

The term ‘hourglass’ usually means, wide or large cup bust, a narrow waist and then wide hips which are similar to the measurement of the bust. And this is why most women with this body shape will wear a Plus Size Bra.

If you consider for a moment what an actual hourglass looks like you will understand where this body shape takes its name from.

A girdle or other classic shapewear is often worn to help achieve this shape by cinching in the waist and hiding those natural lumps and bumps!

The Science

Scientists have even suggested that this body shape of the female form is the ideal shape for childbirth because it makes delivery of the child much easier. Interestingly tall women are far less likely to have this shape, whilst there is a tendency to find this shape far more often in Asian women.

History

The curvaceous shape of the female form has been well documented going back many hundreds of years. Small waists and wide hips feature regularly in both ancient Greek and Egyptian sculptures and images.

In Europe in the 17^th century Ruben was one of the most popular artists and his paintings regularly featured naked women with this ideal shape. Hence the phrase ‘Rubenesque’ has come to be used to describe a shapely woman with an hourglass figure.

Corset

The Corset became popular in the 17^th Century and it’s main purposes are to cinch the waist and lift and separate the bust.

Whilst today there are many subtle variations to this garment such as bustier, longline bra and plus size bodysuit, the classic corset with it’s shaping boning and lace up front or back never goes out of fashion.

Here’s one of our best-selling corsets:

Strapless wedding basque from Dominique available up to F cup.

Plus size fashion

Today plus size lingerie and clothing have become essential items for any collection which is produced by fashion designers. Therefore the shape now has a huge influence on what every woman wears, and this is true across many different ages and styles.

Whilst research by the University College in London suggests that in fact only around 10% of women actually enjoy this shape, it is still widely regarded as the most desirable by both women and men.

Male preference

It has also been argued that men have a definite attraction to such curvaceous women. And this shape is more important to them than either bust size or facial features.

Anthropologists tell us that this attraction is driven by men’s desire to reproduce and as we mentioned earlier this is the ideal body shape for that purpose.

But whatever the reason there’s no doubt that curvy women like Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren in the 60’s and 70’s turned their curves into genuine sex appeal. And today women like Jessica Alba and Alessandra Ambrosio have continued that trend.

Summary

Whilst a recent study showed that approximately 46% of women had a rectangular shape, 20% were pear shaped and 14% were inverted triangles, ‘Hourglass’ is still the most coveted female body shape.

And whether we talk about fuller figure or plus size, there’s no doubt that both men and women find a curvy hourglass body shape both desirable and utterly sexy!