Over and over again we have heard women asking advice on multiple issues. Finally the penny dropped, we realised that the traditional definitions of pear, apple, hourglass and triangle were too limiting. So we embarked on an intensive study period. We broke down, pulled apart, inspected, dissected, segregated, and redefined the thousands of female bodies we have come across. Our research revealed the twelve definitive female shapes.

Then we asked more than ten thousand women – which shape are you and how does your body shape affect the way you dress and feel about yourself?

This is what we found out.

We asked which body shape you think you are:

Here's how you defined yourselves:

What we think

Quite a few of you still need to find out what shape you really are.

We asked which body shape you think is the most attractive:

The body shape that most of you perceived to be the most attractive was the voluptuous Hourglass (38%), followed by her curvy sister, the Vase (29%). The well balanced Column came next with just over 12% of your votes and the va-va-voom Lollipop got over 11% approval. Surprisingly, only just over 2% of you found the classic catwalk model shape of the Cornet the most attractive. The Skittle, Goblet, Pear and Cello all got between 1% and 2% of votes whilst the Brick, Bell and Apple each mustered less than 1%.

What we think

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but symmetry and curves seem to appeal to you more than straight-up-and-down shapes.

We asked how happy you are with your body shape:

We are pleased to learn that 52% of you are happy with your body shape, though only 4.5% claimed to be ‘very happy’.

Distressingly, 48% of you are unhappy with your body shape, with a worrying 14% describing yourselves as ‘very unhappy’.

This bears closer inspection:

Of those who admit that you are ‘very happy’ with your body shape 11% are Lollipops, 10% are Columns and 8% are Vases.

It warmed our hearts to find that 47.5% of you are ‘quite happy’ with the shape that you are. Of the ‘quite happy’ gang 64% are Columns, 60% are Lollipops, 59% are Vases, 57.5% are Cornets and 55% are Hourglasses.

Whilst less than 0.5% perceived the Bell as the most attractive body shape, 47.5% of Bells pronounced yourselves happy with your body shape.

We’re saddened to find that 34% of you are ‘quite unhappy’ with your body shape. The ‘quite unhappy’ brigade is made up predominantly of Apples (47%), Cellos (44%) and Goblets (39%).

Of those of you who are ‘very unhappy’ with your shape, 34% are Apples, 30% are Bricks and 25% are Cellos.

38% of you voted the Hourglass the most attractive shape, yet 38% of Hourglasses admitted that they are ‘quite unhappy or ‘very unhappy’ with your shape.

Of those who defined yourselves as Apples, 34% are ‘very unhappy’ with your body shape and 47.5% are ‘quite unhappy’. Thankfully 18% of Apples are ‘quite happy’ with your body shape but only a miniscule 0.5% are ‘very happy’ with the way you are.

What we think

It is possible for every woman to look great and feel good about herself, simply by understanding how to dress to flatter her body shape. Thank heavens we’ve written The Body Shape Bible.

We asked which of your body parts you were most happy with:

There was a wide distribution of choices but the most popular part was your breasts with 18% of votes. Big breasted ladies were more likely to appreciate their assets – 27.5% of Hourglasses, 27% of Vases and 26% of goblets voted for their boobs. Only 4% of flat-chested Cornets favoured their bust.

10% of you love your legs. Long legged Goblets (34%), Cornets (28%) and Lollipops (25%) love them the most.

14% of you chose your face as your favourite body part.

And then we asked which of your body parts you were least happy with:

Tummys are least liked overall with 38% of you giving your tum the thumbs down. 78.5% of Apples, 57.5% of Goblets and 53% of Cellos do not love their tummy. Predictably, only 13% of flat-bellied Pears disliked their tum.

Next on the unpopular list came thighs. 29% of Skittles and 29% of Pears chose their thighs as their least favourite body part. Only 1% of Apples and 2% of Goblets and Cornets do not like their thighs.

We asked if you have difficulty in finding particular items of clothing for your body shape:

67% of you have trouble finding that most basic garment, trousers, with a whopping 82% of Bells, 79.5% of Skittles and 79% of Pears having the biggest problems. Dresses came next, with 44% of you saying you have difficulty finding dresses for your body shape. 38.5% of you struggle to find a top – Goblets, Apples, Cellos and Lollipops find it most difficult whilst relatively few of the small-busted Skittles, Bells and Pears have problems finding tops.

What we think

Clothing manufacturers need to wake up and smell the coffee.

We asked how far you would go (or have you gone?) to change the way you feel about your body shape:

Healthy diet (66%), exercise (63%) and changing the way you dress (62%) came out top. But 22.5% of you said you would follow an extreme dieting regime, 22% would take a weight reducing drug or supplement, 17% would opt for plastic surgery or liposuction whilst only 8.5% would choose therapeutic options such as group therapy, psychotherapy or hypnotherapy. Overall, Cellos, Apples, Hourglasses and Bricks are most likely to take action to change the way they feel about their body shape whilst Columns, Lollipops and Cornets seem least likely to think about such things.

Many of you suggested other methods for changing the way you feel about your shape including affirmations, positive thinking and self-acceptance; alternative therapies; prayers; acquiring an eating disorder; gastric bypass surgery and even brain surgery. Some of you thought the best course of action was to read our next book – thank you! And one of you had the inspired idea of collecting pre-20th century portraits of gorgeous, well-rounded women!

We asked which female celebrity you most admire, as a personality:

From a list of 32 celebrities the most popular answer (14.5%) was ‘none of the above’. The most admired personalities, in order, were Kate Winslet (10%), Oprah Winfrey (8%), Nigella Lawson (6.5%) and Dame Judi Dench (6%).

Then we asked which celebrity's shape you would most like to have yourself:

Catherine Zeta Jones - a Goblet - was the top choice, followed by Halle Berry (a Skittle), Kelly Brook (a Vase), Angelina Jolie (a Lollipop) and Elle Macpherson (a Cornet). Nigella Lawson was voted somewhere in the middle with Oprah Winfrey and Dame Judi Dench appearing near the bottom of the list.

What we think

You are not a star-struck bunch. Apart from Kate Winslet, the women you most admired were not considered to have highly desirable bodies. Women are admired for more than their perfect silhouette.

In the question of body shape, when thinking about an abstract silhouette you most admired the Hourglass, Vase, Column and Lollipop. When thinking about real women, the Goblet came out on top, followed by the Skittle, Vase, Lollipop and Cornet.