To find the right skirts for pear shaped women, it is important to first understand the pear is a bottom-heavy body shape.
Styling goal
Since your hips are significantly wider than your waist and your thighs are prominent, you need to look for the right styles of skirts that can create a visual balance for your body, and avoid those that do the contrary. In this detailed guide, we’ll walk you through the most flattering skirts for your unique body features.
Skirts with Asymmetrical Hemline
The asymmetry that goes by the hem can visually distract the eyes from solely focusing on your wider hips and thicker legs. It’s also a good opportunity to highlight your lower leg, which is way slimmer in comparison to your bottom half and therefore evenly distributes the visual weight you have in your lower body.
The typical skirt with an asymmetrical hemline starts from a shorter length on one side and goes longer on the other side, and this variation of length helps give you a more elongated frame. When styling a skirt with an asymmetrical hemline, opt for those that have a longer length, ideally knee-length or midi because if you go shorter, you may end up highlighting your heavier hips and thighs more.
I also suggest that you go for darker colors for the additional slimming effect and try not to go overboard with your details as you would want to keep things minimal on your lower body. If you’re going for a ruffled hem, choose a subtle flounce of fabric that doesn’t cascade too much.
Dark-colored Midi Skirt
One of the key styling goals that every pear-shaped woman should abide by is to wear slimming bottoms to tone down the heavier visual weight you carry in your hips and thighs. Dark colors are generally slimming by nature as they diffuse light to minimize the appearance of shadows that tend to highlight your heavier features.
Midi skirts also feature the best length when it comes to flattering pear body shapes because it hits at the slimmer part of the lower leg and not at the level of your thick thighs. This way, it gives you a slimmer and leaner appearance overall and therefore bringing a more pleasing balance between your narrow shoulders and wider hips.
The merging of these two designs can absolutely give your frame a more elongated look and a leaner appearance. By neutralizing your bottom half, you are giving your overall appearance a more symmetrical look from top to bottom.
Wrap Style
We all love how the wrap design flatters almost every body shape, don’t we? And I have to say that pear-shaped women can truly rock them effortlessly!
A wrap skirt drapes seamlessly over the hips and thighs thanks to its adjustable waist cinch wherein you can tie the skirt according to the amount of space your wider hips and thighs require. The wrap feature of the skirt also usually has a slightly asymmetrical hemline that can add visual interest and draw the eye downwards for a more elongated effect.
Additionally, the way wrap skirts cinch at the waist gives you a more distinctive definition that highlights the slimness of your waist. This will give you a more proportionate upper and lower body ratio.
Tailored A-Line
A well-tailored A-Line skirt can efficiently cater to your pear-shaped body’s proportions by working around your figure’s natural upper and lower body imbalance. The A-line silhouette is narrower at the waist and gradually widens towards the hem, which is why it works so well with a pear-shaped woman’s curvy waist and wider hips.
This particular structure efficiently highlights the waistline while also minimizing the heaviness present in hips and thighs. As the fitted waist of A-line skirts accentuates the slimmer part of the body, it gives your frame the illusion of an hourglass-like shape and helps you balance out your pear-shaped figure by making the hips appear less prominent and giving you a more proportionate look.
Skirts with Electric Pleats
Pear body shapes would find electric pleats very helpful when it comes to bringing your lower body a sense of verticality for that extra length and slimness. Electric pleats (which are sometimes called accordion pleats) significantly bring vertical lines to your frame to visually extend the length of your body and draw the eye up and down in a continuous manner, making you appear taller and slimmer.
The pleats’ natural flow and movement add a sense of sophistication, and as the pleats start from the waist and open up towards the hem, they help turn the focus to your waistline to create a flattering hourglass effect.
Maxi Skirt
Maxi skirts can be visually flattering on pear shapes as it features a length that subtly conceals your wide hips and thick thighs without looking too overwhelming. What’s great about maxi skirts is that their long length draws a continuous and flowing line from the waist to the ankles, resulting in a more balanced and elongated silhouette.
This particular structure can visually minimize the focus on the hips and thighs to make you look more even from shoulders to ankles. However, it is important to carefully consider what proper maxi length is suitable according to your height to make sure that you’re not drowning your figure in too much fabric.
Straight-cut Denim Skirt
Keeping things neat and simple can actually make your pear body shape look more streamlined and balanced in an effortless manner. Denim fabrics are very structured and they work so well in holding shape, which is having it in a simple, straight-cut style that can flatter your bigger hips and thighs without adding unnecessary bulk.
The straight cut of the skirt creates vertical lines that elongate your legs and this certain effect makes you appear taller and contributes to a more balanced overall look from top to bottom. To further maximize the flattering visual effect of wearing a s straight-cut denim skirt, look for one that sits at your natural waist or slightly above it as this will highlight the smallest part of your body and draw attention away from the hips to create the illusion of an hourglass frame.
When going for a straight-cut denim skirt, try not to go for excessive distressing. While distressed denim is undoubtedly a very trendy touch, too much distressing or fading around the hips and thighs may draw unnecessary attention to these areas.
High-Low Skirts
A high-low (also known as a long-back skirt) skirt shares the same style concept as skirts that have an asymmetrical hemline, the slight difference is that a high-low skirt is usually slightly shorter at the front and longer at the back. This structure can effectively elongate your legs by exposing more skin on the front while also drawing a continuous line with the help of the longer hem.
However, you also need to be cautious in choosing the right design and length of your high-low skirt because it may take a different turn if you opt for the wrong one. Go for something that is slightly longer in length at the front, ideally at knee level or slightly lower, because having it too short might cramp up the space in your bottom half and highlight its thickness even more.
Skirts with Minimal Details
The last thing you will ever want for your pear-shaped body is additional volume right around your hips and thighs so the best and safest choice you can have is to opt for skirts that feature minimal details. It could be a plain-colored skirt, with no bulky pockets or button details, and minimal ruffles, as these details may add unnecessary bulk to your look and make the unbalanced size discrepancy between your upper and lower body look more obvious.
Skirts with minimal details can give you a more polished and streamlined appearance by not attracting too much attention to this heavier region of your body. In addition to that, the simpler you go for, the easier it is to style.
High-Waisted
Pear body shapes have a very distinct waistline curve due to the fact that the size difference between your smaller upper body and bigger lower body is quite substantial. Because of this, the transition curve from your waist to your hips tends to be more narrow and very noticeable – you would absolutely want to highlight this amazing feature!
This can be done by opting for high-waisted skirts as they feature a waistband that sits at this very narrow point that you would want to highlight. The high rise of the skirt’s waistband will give your curvy waist a snug fit and instantly bring a more pleasing balance between your upper and lower body.
Additionally, the way the skirt sits at or slightly above your natural waistline will give you the illusion of longer legs and therefore create more space to offset the extra visual weight you carry in your bottom half.
Avoid Heavy Fabric Flounces
Yes, those gorgeous cascading flounces of fabric can look very pretty to look at but if you’re a pear-shaped trying to downplay your heavier bottom half, the heavy fabric flounces will significantly add unnecessary bulk to the hip and thigh area, which is already very prominent for your body shape. This can make your hips appear larger and disrupt the overall balance of your frame by making your upper body look even smaller.
Additionally, skirts with heavy flounces or ruffles can draw more attention to the heavier areas you are trying to camouflage and this will cause more imbalance to your frame. Instead, go for skirts that have simpler or minimal details.
Avoid Tulip Skirts
Tulip skirts have a distinctive shape that resembles the billowy sides of a tulip flower in which the overlapping fabric adds width to your hips. This particular shape and additional hip width will draw more attention to your hips and make you look even more imbalanced.
The overlapping or pleated fabric at the front of a tulip skirt will also not just upsize your hips but your thighs as well. As a result, your less pronounced upper body will get significantly overwhelmed and you’ll only emphasize your bottom-heavy frame.
Avoid Bias Cut
Bias skirts are typically cut at a diagonal angle which makes them quite tight-fitting, most particularly around the hips and thighs. They may also accentuate unwanted lines and bring more bulk to your figure which may further cause major disproportion between your upper and lower body.
Instead of bias-cut skirts, go for skirts with a more forgiving and flattering fit, most specifically ones that have more room around the hips and thighs. This will not just conceal this heavier region but also provide you comfort and ease of movement.
Avoid tight-fitting Skirts
A very tight skirt will create an overall visual imbalance as this will highlight your heavier hips and thighs, disrupting the symmetry of your figure. By giving your lower body a very clingy fit, you are drawing more attention to the areas you need to downplay.
Additionally, this may significantly restrict your movements especially because the size difference present in your figure is quite big. Tight-fitting skirts are not just uncomfortable but also visually unflattering for pear-shaped women.
What you need to look for is a skirt that fits tightly around the waist but provides a roomier fit that can efficiently accommodate your wider hips and bigger thighs.
Avoid Mini Skirts
Mini skirts typically have a short length that hits right at the thigh level and this particular characteristic will create a blunt horizontal break that will further draw emphasis to your hips and thighs. This will accentuate the widest part of your pear figure, which will significantly drown out the prominence of your smaller upper body.
Ideally, skirts that come in lengths that go way past your hips and thighs are deemed more flattering. It’s because the hem ends at the slimmer part of the legs.
