You’ve probably heard of the four most common body shapes. There’s pear – curvaceous hips and bottom, contrasting with smaller busts and shoulders; hourglass – equally proportioned bust and hips with a waist; apple – softer and fuller middle with slimmer legs and bottom; and busty – voluptuous bust with narrower hips and bottom.

Notice that the classic ‘straight’ model body shape isn’t one of them. In fact, according to size specialists Evans, who has recently surveyed over 5,000 women in-store and online to identify the real shape of Britain, the apple shape is the most common. The body metrics survey found that from the 4,000 customers that were spoken to in store, 48% fitted into the apple category, while 28% were hourglass, 16% pear and 8% busty.

Findings like these only further highlight the need for more diverse shapes in the modelling industry to change the way women view their bodies, and Evans agrees. The leading fashion retailer for women sized 14 – 32 aims to encourage a new way of thinking when it comes to the female figure and celebrate the positive aspects of every woman’s body; a campaign after our own hearts here at Models Direct.

Although body shape terminology has been around long before Trinny and Suzanna’s What Not To Wear or Gok Wan’s How To Look Good Naked, Evans plans to revolutionise highstreet shopping by helping women to not only shop by their size, but also by their shape.

Fiona Ross, Brand Director at Evans, said: “Everyone of us has a unique figure and we will help curvy women to identify, shop and dress for fabulous shape and unbeatable confidence.”

With the media’s increased focus on evolving sizes and shapes in the modelling world, we at Models Direct think that Evans’ efforts to communicate a new way of seeing and dressing the body is a great move and is the shape of things to come.