British women mostly have rectangular shape

London: There are now five times as many rectangular-shaped women as those with the classic Marilyn Monroe hourglass, research suggests.

Despite this, many of the fashions sold on the high street still apply this outdated silhouette, reports dailymail.com. As a result, nearly 60 percent of women complain that they are unhappy with the fit of clothes labelled as being their size. Almost one in two British women fall into the rectangle category, where there is little difference between the bust, waist and hip measurements. Examples include actresses Keira Knightley, Cameron Diaz and Nicole Kidman. The figures have been collated by clothing fit analysts at Alvanon, which develops size models used by designers and retailers. Alvanon chief executive Janice Wang said: "People are frustrated and confused by the different sizes and fits they find on the high street. "The industry uses an hourglass figure, which has not changed for many years. However, the reality is that the most prevalent shapes are the rectangle, which is not as curvy, the spoon and the inverted triangle. Brands need to adapt to reflect this reality," he added. The research suggests there are some significant differences between British women and those on the continent. IANS