I always considered myself an apple because of my short torso, large breasts, and tendancy to gain weight in my stomach first. And I assumed that all short-waisted women are "apples" as well. But is this not always the case?

When I weighed 110, I was more of an hourglass. Can your "shape" also change as you lose weight?

Well, I do think it is possible to become less apple shaped as you lose weight. It might be possible to do it even without losing weight with good nutrition and exercise.

But I would not say that large breasts were part of an apple shape -- the contrary in fact (more likely an hourglass). There really seems to be no up side to being an apple that I can see (and some nice cleavage would be an upside to me).

I am a short waisted pear. My body shape didn't change - I was a heavier pear and now I'm a smaller pear. My upper body is very slim - prominent collarbones, slim arms. I still carry a little weight in my lower tummy, hips and thighs (still HATE my thighs)

I am a round person, round face, short waist pretty much your classic apple.
When I am my perfect weight I am an hour glass. Is this true of all apples?

Grammygal, Loli - it might be true? I am also short-waisted with large breasts and consider myself an apple or "inverted triangle" when I'm heavier, my hips (and stomach :l ) fill out and I get called an hourglass but when I'm at my goal, I feel topheavy, as if another two inches of length in my torso would balance me out better.

Hmm... I think the bigger determination would be if you have a defined waist, not necessarily how short your waist is. If you have a defined waist then you might actually find that the recommendations for an hourglass fit you better because you'll want to wear fitted tops that show off your waist. In that case even if your lower stomach is larger you'd still have a narrow part of your body that you wouldn't want to be concealing.

I would just plug your measurements into a body shape calculator and see what it says. Your shape might be more nuanced (there are all sorts of expanded 'body type' charts,) but it's a starting point.

I'm so short waisted that I wear petite dresses, although I'm 5'8". But I'm definitely a pear and nothing like an apple. Have to wear Spanx to get to that hourglass shape. Even at my heaviest, I was a pear, but perhaps with apple tendencies.

Or take a look at this :)
This is where...
Pear = spoon (hips first weight gain)
Apple = rectangle (stomach first weight gain)
If my understanding is correct.

I have a short waist and long legs and I'm either an hourglass or a rectangle at my current weight. (36-28-37)

oh gosh, just what I want to be, a rectangle. nice.

It's not necessarily a bad thing! I was a rectangle at higher weights and it was SOOOOOOO much easier to find clothes that fit well. Now I'm back to being an hourglass and finding bras/shirts/dresses are a nightmare. I'm trying to convince DH to let me buy a sewing machine because it would make my life much easier.

Rectangle basically seems to mean you have narrower hips. I would never have thought of myself that way, but that's what the above chart says. All models would be rectangles.