After much thought and research, I realized other systems to determine body shape were inadequate, so I created my own classifications. Each body shape is represented by a symbol and has a description of the main points to look for with each shape.

There are eight body shapes in all. Four are balanced and four are unbalanced. Balanced body shapes are those where the top and bottom half of the body are roughly equal, visually.  Neither the shoulders/bust nor the hips/thighs areas carry more weight.

Any of these shapes can be taller or shorter than the pictured examples, but they will maintain common characteristics. Size will not classify you as a single shape either. For example, the hourglass shape shown here may be MUCH larger, but still retain the bust-waist-hips ratio.

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