If you read the descriptions and reviews of waist trainers, these shapewear products promise you a curvy hourglass figure. But what is such an hourglass figure exactly?
Body shape categories
The fashion industry has divided the female body shapes in four categories: spoon, inverted triangle, rectangular and hourglass figure. This body shape is named after an hourglass, which has two wide upper and lower parts and a narrow middle. The hourglass figure refers to a woman’s body measurements, bust, waist and hips. Females with a hourglass body shape have wide hips, a narrow waist and a wide bust. Women with this figure have been admired througout the years and various scientific researches have shown that many men have a preference for women with the hourglass body shape.
Hourglass figure measurements
So what are the measurements for this figure? Various publications indicate that these measurements are 36” for bust, 24” for waist and 36” for hips. But please do not panic if you do not have these measurements. Only 8% of women worldwide have that figure in real.
Hourglass figure and corsets
The aspiration of women to have a hourglass figure also contributed to the popularity of the corset during the 19th century. And although the materials and design of (waist training) corsets has improved enormously over the years, the principle of the working of a corset has not changed: the waist line is reduced, so the bust and the hips are wider and thus a hourglass figure is being created.
Kim Kardashian
Over recent years, Kim Kardashian has via her social media channels contributed greatly to the worldwide popularity of the hourglass figure and the use of waist training products to achieve this body shape.