If you’re someone like me who has a small bust and hips that are wider than your shoulders then most likely you are pear-shaped which surprisingly is said to be the most common body shape in the world. So how do you dress for a pear-shaped body if you want to hide trouble areas such as your wide hips? The secret is with the clothes you’re wearing! Here are a few of my tricks…
Patterns
A great way to distract people from seeing your flaws is a patterned dress. One of my favorite style icons, Leighton Meester is actually pear-shaped yet you can’t even tell from the dress she’s wearing! The entire dress isn’t actually striped horiztonally but in different directions with ruching across the hips and a touch of polka dots to distract the eyes and make the dress seem visually appealing. Have you also noticed the red mary-janes? Your eyes tend to skip the hips and go straight for the shoes with this outfit, believe me it was done on purpose! Stripes are obviously hard to pull off on camera and not look wide but she nailed it! If you’re too scared to wear stripes then try to start by wearing polka dots or floral prints which are great for the summer!
Jackets
Jacket’s are pretty much my wardrobe staple, I own so many of them and I don’t even remember when my love for them began! They’re incredibly figure-flattering and I own one for every occasion and love wearing a great blazer from work or to a night-out like Lauren Conrad did here. The trick is to find a great jacket that doesn’t land on your hips but a bit past them to elongate your figure and make you appear taller.
Focusing On The Shoulders
As I mentioned earlier, pear-shaped people have hips that are wider than their shoulders so by bringing more attention to the shoulders with cut-out tops, embellishments, or structured shoulder tops, it focuses it on the upper body instead. Here, Demi Lovato chose to wear this chic TopShop dress with embellished sleeves that suites her pear-shaped body perfectly while the high, rounded neckline elongates her body at the same time.
Long Necklaces
Going along with the idea of elongating your body, I’ve noticed many pear-shaped women are on the shorter side and want to look taller in order to balance their body proportions. If you’re someone who doesn’t want to wear heels all the time, then a long necklace defiantly does the trick and it’s easy to just throw it on and go! Although I’m not the biggest fan of Kim Kardashian, from time-to-time she does wear nice outfits and I especially love this outfit because her blazer has high shoulders and she paired it with a long silver necklace. Some people may argue that Kim has a more hour-glass shaped figure but I think it can work for both body shapes.
A Slimmer Lower Body
When it comes to buying bottoms, many pear-shaped people tend to have trouble but I usually stay away from anything that’s going to add extra volume to my hips such as pleated skirts or side pockets. Since I’m short, I tend to tailor all my pants or skirts and it makes a huge difference when it comes to the way my clothes fit and look. Take Jennifer Lopez here, wearing impeccably tailored pants with a bit of a flare at the bottom which some people say can balance the wide proportions of your hips. Personally, I don’t wear flared bottoms and stick to my dark skinny jeans but I can see the way it works in some cases!
Overall, I’d like to say that fashion is all about experimenting and it doesn’t mean that you have to stop wearing your favorite clothes just because you assume that you look “fat” in it or have certain trouble areas…we all do! If you have the confidence, then you can pull off anything! The fun part is that there are no guidelines or rules when it comes to fashion, it’s all about how you feel. We all have a certain way of dressing and I’ve developed these tips because I feel comfortable with the way I dress for my body shape and thought other people may want to try it out. It doesn’t mean that one body shape is superior over the others. It’s all about accepting who we are and working with what we got 🙂
Until next time lovelies,
-Ruya
(all images found at Google Images and Tumblr.com)
thank you, sweety