If you are a pear with broad shoulders, you have a very unique body shape, because a typical pear has narrow shoulders and wider hips and thighs. Since you have the “non-typical” features of wide shoulders, it is critical to wear clothes that can draw attention to your best assets and camouflage what you don’t want others to pay attention to. Let’s first take a deep dive to help you fully understand your body shape, and then walk you through the best styles for your body type.
Characteristics
The pear body shape typically has a well-defined waistline, elegant neck, full thighs and buttocks, and more weight around your bottom and legs. This is also accompanied by round, sloping shoulders, with your hips being the widest part of your body.
However, for some unique body types, your shoulders may be broad, even though your hips and thighs are still wider and thicker. This is similar to an inverted triangle shape with pear features.
The good news is that it’s still possible to style this body type, especially if you focus on slimming down your lower body or minimizing your broad shoulders.
Avoid shoulder pads
Even though your hips are still wider and thicker despite having broad shoulders, it’s still important not to place so much emphasis on them as this could lead to making your upper body bigger than your lower body.
Shoulder pads is one definite way to add volume to your shoulders and this is not a desirable result for a pear body type with already broad shoulders. You should wear tops, jackets and dresses that don’t draw attention to your shoulders and make them look wider.
There are better ways to style your pear body shape with broad shoulders, without further emphasizing this width. Shoulder pads is not on this list and that’s one reason to avoid them completely.
Avoid halter neck tops
Halter neck tops are typically strappy arms that reveal the exact amount of space between your shoulders and these straps. This style of top exposes your neck, shoulders and arms in a way that contributes to the width of your shoulders excessively.
Here’s why it’s important to minimize revealing the amount of space between your shoulders and top straps. The more space between these parts, the wider your shoulders look. On the other hand, smaller spaces minimize the width of your shoulders.
Therefore, with halter neck tops creating so much space between your shoulders and the strap, it’s inevitable that you will add so much volume to this part of your body that it overwhelms your much thicker and wider thighs.
This is also because the eyes are drawn more towards this area, visually adding more volume that leads to a disproportionate outlook.
Avoid tight bottoms
As much as you’re trying to balance your upper body with the broad shoulders, you shouldn’t make the mistake of making your bottom half appear too narrow. This will instantly transform your body into an uneven inverted triangle body shape.
Avoid styles that will further shrink the bottom half of your body. A good example of this are tight bottoms. Tight bottoms especially skinny jeans stay too firmly on the body, further narrowing your lower half instead of accentuating your curves.
You need to wear bottoms that highlight your narrow waistline and help to create a more feminine outlook. However, you won’t be getting these results with tight bottoms as they make your broad shoulders appear wider.
As the eyes are drawn upwards, this visually creates the silhouette of a bigger upper body which is not flattering for the pear body shape with broad shoulders.
V-neck dress
Neckline styles are also important when trying to create an overall flattering appearance on your pear body shape with broad shoulders. Choosing a great one like a V-neck dress is the right way to go if you want to place less emphasis on the width of your shoulders.
This also doubles as a great way to accentuate your bust such that you have a more curvy silhouette that draws attention to your best assets. The major feature of the V-neck dress is that it separates the upper body such that your broad shoulders don’t lead to a disproportionate silhouette.
Instead, you can use a style like this to wrap your hips and add more curves to your overall outlook. The V-neckline is a plunging style that helps to balance both halves of the body effortlessly.
Bootcut jeans
Your bottoms are just as important as what you wear on your upper body as this contributes to the illusion of a more balanced overall silhouette. In this case, wearing bootcut jeans on your pear body shape with broad shoulders will help to slightly minimize your hips to create a more proportionate outlook.
Bootcut jeans sit firmly around the waistline and contribute to your curvy hips. For women that want to look feminine and sophisticated, wearing bootcut jeans on this body type will help you achieve this seamlessly.
Another feature that makes bootcut jeans a great choice for this body type is how it subtly flares out at the bottom. This is great for adding more definition to your legs and balancing your entire body.
With this, there’s less focus on your prominent hips and the relaxed fit flows smoothly with heavier areas of your body.
Avoid straight-cut dresses
Straight cut dresses that have no ability to introduce curves to your body or enhance the ones you already have is a huge no for the pear body type with broad shoulders. A straight cut dress is one of the best ways to emphasize a straight silhouette on your body, leading to an uneven outlook.
What you need are dresses that have a curvier outlook which minimizes the width of your broad shoulders and streamlines your hips to blend seamlessly with your upper body. The A-line dress can help you achieve this easily.
You can use this to mimic an hourglass-like body type where your upper and lower body are more proportionate. However, you shouldn’t choose any styles with shoulder pads as this will distort the results you’re trying to get.
Rely on the full A-line hem and plunging V-neckline to balance your pear body shape with broad shoulders.
Straight-leg pants
This can be your go-to when you’re looking for a relaxed yet fun vibe with your clothing choices. The good news is that picking this simple style doesn’t have to throw your body silhouette off-balance as straight-leg pants work for the pear body type with broad shoulders.
This is all thanks to the straight up-and-down cut which promotes lovely symmetry for your lower body. You can easily style this with a v-neck top, and you’re ready to step out confidently.
Also, if you’re a petite woman with this body type, you’re in luck. Straight-leg pants have been known to elongate the appearance of the legs. With this, you can achieve a slimmer and more balanced overall outlook as the straight cut from your waist to the hemline of the pants contribute to this appearance.
Straight leg pants with high-rise waistband will help to accentuate your waist as well.
Avoid details on your thigh
Remember that your broad shoulders are still slimmer compared to your wider hips and thighs. Therefore, you should avoid any style that contributes to the wider outlook of your lower body.
In this case, that would mean avoiding pants or skirts that have details around the thighs. These details could be ruffles, bulky pockets, or large buttons around this area. This also applies to jackets that are as long as your thighs and have details on this part of your body.
Another huge no for this body type are utility pants with numerous big pockets around the thighs. They may be trendy but they are not for you. These details contribute to the illusion of a wider bottom half which will not balance your overall silhouette.
Therefore, it’s best to avoid them as a pear-shaped woman with broad shoulders.
Wear scarves occasionally
As a pear-shaped woman with broad shoulders, accessories can be your best friend. One of the best ways to add more dimension and symmetry to your overall outfit is to wear scarves around your neck.
Look for a simple yet classy style in dark colors to help streamline your upper body, and balance this more with your wider bottom half. Scarves are not the only accessories that can help you slim down your silhouette.
It’s okay to invest in some long necklaces with vivid colors that can elongate your neckline and make your entire body frame look slimmer. This is one way to apply clothing accessories where the result can be felt uniformly on all parts of your body.
You can also invest in visually slimming down your face and drawing attention to this area by wearing statement earrings. Overall, this adds more volume and texture to your outfit with marvelous results.
