Shoulders or hips: which leads?
The single comparison that decides more of your wardrobe than any other, and the centimetre count behind it.
The comparison, and the number on it
Stand square to a mirror and the question looks obvious, and it is wrong about as often as it is right: shoulders read wider than they measure when the waist is narrow, and hips read wider than they measure when a garment adds volume there. The tape settles it.
The classifier treats the two as level until one clears the other by a real margin. Hip past bust by 9.2cm puts the width low; bust past hip by 9.2cm puts it high. Short of that you are balanced, and the shape question moves to the waist instead.
- Bust or chest 9.2cm or more past the hip: broad shoulders.
- Hip 9.2cm or more past the bust: narrow shoulders and wider hips.
- The two less than 9.2cm apart, with no defined waist: a straight up-and-down build.
- No hip measurement, shoulder-to-waist ratio 1.35 or above: an average, balanced build.
When there is no hip measurement
A shoulder-and-chest reading is the fallback, and it is what a tailor works from: the shoulder-to-waist ratio, plus the chest-minus-waist drop that menswear calls the drop. It cannot see a hip, so it cannot reach the two shapes that are defined by one.
Its lines sit at 1.15, 1.35 and 1.5. Below the first, the waist is close to or wider than the shoulder line. Above the second, the shoulders sit comfortably wider. Above the third, and only with a drop of 18cm or more, the reading is genuinely broad-shouldered rather than merely tapered.
- Ratio 1.15 or below: width sits at the waist.
- Ratio between 1.16 and 1.34: shoulders and waist track together, a straight line.
- Ratio 1.35 to 1.49: a naturally balanced build.
- Ratio 1.5 and above with a drop of 18cm: broad shoulders, narrow hips.
Why the answer is worth having
Because the two answers want opposite garments, and the mistake is symmetric. A frame that already leads with the shoulder is made top-heavy by more structure there, and a frame that leads with the hip is made bottom-heavy by more volume there. Both are easy to buy by accident, because both are what the shop is showing this season.
Each page below opens with the rule for that shape in one sentence and then scores fourteen common garments against it, with the named rule and signed effect behind every verdict.
- Broad shoulders: a V-shaped build is the other way people say it.
- Narrow shoulders and wider hips: a pear shape is the other way people say it.
- A straight up-and-down build: a straight build is the other way people say it.
- An average, balanced build: an athletic build is the other way people say it.
Updated 19 August 2026