"Dimensions"
A woman's "dimensions" are often expressed by the circumference around the three inflection points. For example, "36-29-38" in imperial units would mean a 36″ bust, 29″ waist and 38″ hips.
A woman's bust measure is a combination of her rib cage and breast size. For convenience, a woman's bra measurements are used. For example, though the measurements are not consistently applied, a woman with a bra size of 36B has a rib cage of 36 inches in circumference and a bust measure of 38 inches; a woman with a bra size 34C has a rib cage of 34 inches around, but a smaller bust measure of 37 inches. However, the woman with a 34C breast size will appear "bustier" because of the apparent difference in bust to ribcage ratio.
Height will also affect the appearance of the figure. A woman who is 36-24-36 at 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) height will look different from a woman who is 36-24-36 at 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) height. Since the taller woman's figure has greater distance between measuring points, she will likely appear thinner or less curvaceous than her shorter counterpart, again, even though they both have the same BWH ratio. This is because the taller woman is actually thinner as expressed by her lower BMI, or body mass index, used to measure body weight in relation to height.
The use of BWH measurements for anything other than garment fitting is thus misleading. BWH is an indicator of fat distribution, not fat percentage.
The British Association of Model Agents (AMA) says that female models should be around 34-24-34 (86-60-86 cm) and at least 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) tall.
Read more about this topic: Female Body Shape
Famous quotes containing the word dimensions:
“The truth is that a Pigmy and a Patagonian, a Mouse and a Mammoth, derive their dimensions from the same nutritive juices.... [A]ll the manna of heaven would never raise the Mouse to the bulk of the Mammoth.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Why is it that many contemporary male thinkers, especially men of color, repudiate the imperialist legacy of Columbus but affirm dimensions of that legacy by their refusal to repudiate patriarchy?”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)
“It seems to me that we do not know nearly enough about ourselves; that we do not often enough wonder if our lives, or some events and times in our lives, may not be analogues or metaphors or echoes of evolvements and happenings going on in other people?—or animals?—even forests or oceans or rocks?—in this world of ours or, even, in worlds or dimensions elsewhere.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)