I am at a point in the story where I am giving the stats and dimensions of one of the leading females. I, being a male, have very little experience with female measurements. What I have right now is: 5'4''. 38-28-36. 130 lbs. I just want to make sure that this is realistic or that I am properly conveying what I want her to look like. I've tried using measurements of actresses as starting points but women can look different on screen and real life so I'm not sure I really trust that completely. I was aiming for a sort of short, curvy, hourglass figure a la Kat Dennings. Help is appreciated, thank you.
You could probably google this, but I'm wondering why you need to explicitly give the measurements of the character. Generally you don't need to give extensive physical descriptions of your characters. Unless you're doing some kind of sci fi story where a cyborg is attempting to specifically replicate the exact physicality of a person or something along those lines, I'm having a hard time imagining a scenario where this is truly necessary.
Measurements don't really convey much, as you've already discovered. What's wrong with starting with the part I've bolded? You've already said what you're aiming for. But I would leave out specific names unless they are as iconic and timeless as Marilyn Monroe. You could also allude to how others react to her appearance, such as the sound of men's necks popping as they pass her on the sidewalk.
I'll be honest, I'm terrible at body measurements. In spite of just being fitted for a dress not that long ago I can't even recall what my own are, let alone be able to judge someone else's. The one piece of advice I can give you is to remember that the first measurement in your x-y-z formula is taken from under the woman's bust, essentially measuring her rib cage. It has nothing to do with cup size; a woman who is an A and one who is a DD could both be 38-28-36. That being said, I agree with the posters before me; unless one of your characters is a tailor, I don't see a practical reason to rattle off exact measurements. Why not just describe her as "short and curvy?"
I agree that the measurements won't communicate much. When I look at a size chart, that's very roughly an American size eight, which might communicate a bit more to an American reader about her general size, but still almost nothing about her shape.
I would advise describing her as 'short and curvy' too, but perhaps add in just one of the measurements for emphasis? like 'she was short and curvy, with a X in waist'
