Pear Shaped Body Type: Styling Do’s & Don’ts
If you struggle with styling your pear shaped body type and finding clothes that work, then you want to read this post for some styling do’s and don’ts. I’m a pear-shaped body type, so I have a lot of experience with this shape, but I’ve also been styling women of all body types for over 16 years. This post is for women to feel their best and if you’re struggling with your pear-shaped body and how to dress that pear-shaped body then these tips may be helpful for you.
A pear shaped body is someone that is more narrow in the shoulders and the waist, but the big defining characteristic is that their bottom or hip area is the widest part of their body. That’s what makes a pear shaped body type. Like any of the 5 most common body shapes, a pear shape can be any size because it’s not about the size you are, but the proportion of your shoulders to bust to waist and hips.
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How To Style A Pear Shaped Body Type | Video
Pear Shaped Body Type
Look 1: Katie Holmes
One of the famous pear-shaped women is Katie Holmes. In this first look, she has an oversized sweater and she’s wearing it with a flowy long skirt. When you have a pear-shaped body type, you want to avoid a lot of fabric in the hip area. Extra fabric like pleats, ruffles, or pockets that don’t lay flat will make the hip area appear wider. If you’re a pear-shaped body type and want to appear more proportional, you’ll want to have something more fitted on the bottom.
Look 2: Katie Holmes
In contrast to the last photo of Katie Holmes, in this photo she wears a fitted denim skirt. She has defined her waist and wears a fitted top. Her shirt has a cap sleeve. When you want to look wider on your top half, look for extra fabric on the shoulder area like ruffles or a poof sleeve on the shoulders. That way it will give the illusion that you’re wider on the top to help balance out the bottom half of a pear shape.
Look 3: Katie Holmes
In this next example, the top part of this dress is great for a pear. There’s a poof on the shoulder which gives the appearance of a wider bust and shoulders. However, it would work better if she wore something slimmer on the bottom. With extra fabric on the bottom half of this dress, it adds bulk and makes her look wider than she is.
Look 4: Katie Holmes
The last photo compared with this one, where she’s wearing a fitted structured bottom shows she is a lot slimmer.
Look 5: Katie Holmes
In this look, she’s wearing a simple white T-shirt with jeans. The t-shirt is untucked, hitting at her hips, and that is drawing the eye right to that area. This results in making her appear wider.
Look 6: Katie Holmes
For this next look, it’s a similar idea to the last outfit. Katie wears a tank top with jeans, but her top is tucked into her waistline. It defines her waist and her jeans are fitted on her hips, so she looks more proportionate.
Look 7: Katie Holmes
Here, she has her top tucked into her jeans as opposed to it being out and hitting at the hip. Your attention is drawn to her waistline and it’s defining her waist. I recommend all body shapes do a french tuck, or a full tuck depending on their outfit. It will help define your waist.
Look 8: Katie Holmes
In this next look, she’s wearing a halter top which is great if you’re smaller on top. If you’re less busty, halter tops can work great for you. I wish the skirt of this dress was a more fitted silhouette. Because the bottom half has extra fabric, it accentuates the pear shape.
Look 9: Katie Holmes
This dress choice is a more fitted silhouette. The fitted bottom and little cap sleeve create the illusion of a wider top. Also, the accentuated waist and fitted hip area give her a more proportionate look.
Look 1: Kristen Davis
The next celebrity who is a famous pear-shaped body type is Kristen Davis. In this look, she has accentuated her waist, and there is extra fabric on the sleeve which helps widen the top area. However, she has a billowy skirt which gives the illusion that she is wider in the hip area.
Look 2: Kristen Davis
Compared to this look, her dress is fitted on the bottom but she has extra fabric on the top going across her shoulders. It gives the illusion of wider shoulders. She has her waist drawn in and the dress is a more structured fabric. It’s fitted on her hip area, so it appears more narrow. This is a more accurate shape of her body shape than in the previous photo.
Look 3: Kristen Davis
In this next look, she’s wearing a navy sweater with a pair of denim jeans. The sweater hits right at her hip which draws the eye to that area, making it look wider. A half-tuck would draw in her waist and give her more of a proportionate shape.
Look 4: Kristen Davis
For this look, I think the top is great for a pear-shaped body type because it has puffy sleeves to give the illusion of appearing wider on the top half. However, her skirt has a lot of extra fabric and pleats making her bottom half appear wider than she is. Even with her waist being accentuated, I think this outfit would have worked better if she had a more fitted skirt on the bottom with less fabric.
Look 1: Beyonce
Beyonce knows her body shape and how to style it. You’ll see here that because she’s a pear-shaped body type, she wants to have some kind of fabric or bulk on her shoulders. Her waist is accentuated, and she is wearing something more fitted on her bottom half to make her look more proportionate.
Look 2: Beyonce
This is a great trick that celebrity stylists always use if they want their clients to appear more of an hourglass shape. Stylists will add extra fabric, or they will look for a design that has some kind of detail in the shoulder area to widen that area. They draw in the waist and look for something more tailored or fitted on the bottom.
Look 1: Jennifer Lopez
Another super stylish pear-shaped body type celebrity is Jennifer Lopez. You’ll see in this first look, she’s wearing a baggy sweatshirt with baggy joggers. This doesn’t do a whole lot for her, and that’s fine. Sometimes we just want to feel casual and comfortable. For our purposes here though we’ll break this look down. Everything is oversized. She doesn’t have a defined waist. There’s a lot of extra fabric so it makes her look wider on the bottom than she is.
Look 2: Jennifer Lopez
Now compare that to this next outfit where she’s wearing something slimmer. Her top is tailored, her waist is defined by the waistband of the joggers, and there’s not a lot of extra fabric on her bottom half.
Look 3: Jennifer Lopez
In this next look, you’ll see she opted for a dress with a very full bottom. I’m sure this was intentional but here for styling purposes and to help you feel your best, if you’re a pear-shaped body type, you want to minimize the width of your hips. You want to skip extra fabric around your hips.
Look 3: Jennifer Lopez
In this next look in contrast to the last one, she’s wearing something more fitted and tailored. She has fabric on the shoulders and her arms making that area appear wider. The waist is accentuated, and the bottom is more structured and tailored to her body. This gives the appearance of her hips looking more narrow, and it’s always great to show your legs if you’re a pear. If you feel great about any part of your body, accentuate that part of your body.
Look 4: Jennifer Lopez
In this next example, Jennifer Lopez has pleats around her hip area. While she’s accentuating her waist, it loses definition by having a big bow in the center. Wherever there is extra fabric, that area will appear wider. This is good if you have a pear-shaped body type and you want to appear wider in your shoulders or bigger in the bust. Having extra fabric detail in that area may be helpful to give you more of a proportionate look.
Look 5: Jennifer Lopez
Here she is wearing a look that defines her waist, and she’s wearing a structured fitted pencil skirt which makes her bottom half look more narrow. If she wants to appear more like an hourglass shape or have her top and bottom half be more proportional, this is a better way to go.
Look 2: Jennifer Lopez
If you’re a pear-shaped body type, you want to skip that extra fabric or pleats on the bottom. The reason it works here is that the dress is a mini dress. It’s short and you can see her legs. the fabric of the dress has structure so it’s not adding more width to the hip area. There’s so much beautiful detail in the shoulders, chest, and bust area that also helps to draw the attention upward. Her waist is accentuated making her appear more like an hourglass shape.
Look 5: Jennifer Lopez
JLo’s stylist does a great job on the red carpet. There’s fabric or detail in the shoulder area to balance out the width of her hips. The silhouette around her hips is also streamlined and tailored to her body. If you’re a pear-shaped body type this is a great trick. Having something wider on top or having extra fabric on top while accentuating the waist with a fitted bottom is key.
Look 1: Michelle Obama
The next pear-shaped celebrity is Michelle Obama. In this first look, she is wearing this one-shouldered pink top with a cool ruffle detail and a puff sleeve. This makes her shoulders appear wider. However, the top hits at her widest part drawing the attention there. If you’re a pear shape and want to appear more proportionate, avoid having your tops hit right at the hips because it will make you look wider than you are. Her top has too much fabric to do a tuck, so this top needed to be shorter for this outfit to work for her body shape. If this top were to hit just below her waistline, I think this outfit would work.
Look 2: Michelle Obama
In this look, she has her top hitting at the hip, or even a little bit below the hip. It draws your attention to that area. She has the sleeve on the shoulders giving her more width in that area which is great. If she had tucked in her shirt, it would help accentuate her waist and make her look more narrow on her bottom half to give her more of a proportionate shape.
Look 3: Michelle Obama
For this next look, she has accentuated her waist which is great for most body shapes. She did it beautifully with this wide belt. I do wish she didn’t have so much extra fabric in her top because all that fabric billows out from the hip area and makes her look wider than she is.
Look 3: Michelle Obama
Comparing the last look to this one, she has a beautiful detail in the top shoulder area drawing attention up and making this area appear wider. Michelle has her waist accentuated and the bottom half is fitted. You can also see her legs, and she looks more proportionate for her body shape.
Figuring out your body shape can be challenging. There are five most common body types that most women fall under. Once you determine yours, there are simple styling tweaks that can help you dress your shape and feel more confident.
How To Style A Pear Shaped Body Type | Video
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