If you have the pear body shape, you want to find tops that flatter your unique body features, i.e. smaller bust, narrower shoulders, and prominent bottom half. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to choose tops that elongate your figure, create a waist cinching effect and balance your silhouette.
Characteristics
Before we get started on different styles, let’s take a closer look at the major characteristics of the pear body type.
There are usually specific characteristics that will help you know that you’re a pear shaped woman. Here are the features to look out for:
- Weight gain is typically around your bum and hips before it flows towards your upper body and tummy.
- A nicely defined waistline accompanied by fuller thighs
- The pear shape is more prominent due to hips that are wider than your bust and shoulders. Therefore, your hips are the widest part of your body
- Round and narrow shoulders
- An elegant neck that looks great alongside your slim shoulders and arms
Wear Wrap Tops
Styling the pear body shape is all about balancing your narrow shoulders. One of the most effective ways to do this is with wrap tops. There’s so much to love about wrap tops, especially how they are so easy to style. For women with a pear body shape, balancing your narrow shoulders with wrap tops helps to accentuate your slender waist, which is a great asset for your body type.
Therefore, any top that helps you emphasize this in the best possible way is a huge win. Go for wrap tops with a square neckline as this will help to give your narrow shoulders more definition while drawing attention to your waistline.
Also, wrap tops usually incorporate layering which is perfect for the pear body type. This layering adds more visual interest to your upper body, thereby drawing the eyes downwards and further accentuating your waist.
Wear Belted tops
Creating waist definition on your pear body is an amazing idea. If you’re looking to pull off a curvy silhouette, here’s an effortless way to get it done. Belted tops create a waist-cinching effect that every woman who wants to highlight her slender waist can key into.
Since you have a pear shape, you don’t want to pick belt styles that are too attention-grabbing. A slim one will do just fine. You can add belts to various kinds of tops that are great for your body type, especially structured ones. An alternative to belted tops are blouses with waistbands.
These are also great for highlighting your slim waist and making them look proportionate with your upper body. As the eyes are drawn downwards, this helps to emphasize your shoulders while drawing out a curvy silhouette. Feel free to explore various styles of belted tops until you find one that truly defines you.
Wear Structured Tops
For pear-shaped women, the fit of your top also matters. The key to balancing out your narrow, sloping shoulders is to wear structured tops. These are tops that sit firmly on your body shape without being baggy or too tight.
The key here is to pick a balanced fit that’s comfortable on your frame but still structured enough to balance your upper and lower body. A structured top creates definition around your narrow shoulders which is perfect for drawing attention towards your slender waist.
More attention on your waistline is just what you need to create a slender and hourglass-like outlook. So, whether it’s a top that’s hip length and nipped at the waist or a jacket with structured shoulders, it’s important to maintain a firm fit on your silhouette. The structured top can also have a shoulder pad to add more volume to your shoulders.
Wear off-shoulder tops
Your choice of necklines should visually broaden your shoulders. The type of neckline that can pull this off effectively is usually horizontal. The goal here is to create the illusion of a wider upper body so it can be proportionate with the width of your lower body. One of the most flattering horizontal necklines for the pear body type is the off-shoulder top.
They easily create that much-needed horizontal line by virtue of the position they sit on your shoulders. This is perfect for achieving better visual balance with your curvier lower half. So, if you’re a plus size pear shaped woman with wide hips, invest more in off-shoulder tops in bright colors to achieve a more proportionate silhouette.
The length of the top also matters in this scenario. The best off-shoulder tops for women with a pear body shape are those that are hip-length and not so tight on your frame.
Tops with shoulder pads
This seems like an obvious choice right? Well, in case you don’t know it, an effortless way to add more volume to your narrow shoulders would be to add shoulder pads to your tops. The pear body type benefits a lot from upper body balance and wearing tops with shoulder pads is an easy way to achieve this.
It will instantly widen your narrow shoulders and that gives you the visual balance you need to create a proportionate silhouette with your wide hips. Not everyone is sentimental towards shoulder pads though. They seem like ancient fashion as they have been around as far back as the 80s.
However, trust me when I say that they are still trendy and come in handy, especially for pear shaped women. This is a smart choice for your body shape if you want to easily pull off a curvy silhouette that makes you stand out.
Brightly colored top
The first thing you think about when you see a brightly colored top is how it seems to swallow up the entire outfit. Sometimes, this can be a little too much on the body. However, on other times, it’s just exactly what you need especially if you have a pear body shape.
Women with a pear body shape typically have more volume on their lower half compared to the upper half of their body. Therefore, any way that adds more volume to the upper body as subtly as possible is a win. That’s where the brightly colored top comes in.
It’s a simple yet super cool hack to balance the bottom-heavy shape of your pear body. However, to pull this off perfectly, you would have to pair the brightly colored top with a darker colored skirt or pants. This ensures that only the top draws attention upwards and achieve the effect you’re looking for.
Tops with horizontal stripes
You may or may not have come across a few fashion tips that talk about how vertical stripes on clothing can elongate the torso while horizontal stripes help to add more width. It’s actually quite true and you can use this to your advantage.
Horizontal stripes on your tops are super flattering for the pear body type since they effortless help to create the illusion of broader shoulders. By adding more width to your upper body, this visually widens your shoulders such that they are more balanced with the curvier bottom of your body.
However, not every stripe works for this. Using chunky stripes could be counter-effective with a rounder figure that throws off your body balance. No need to do this excessively. The more subtle the horizontal stripes, the better. You’re trying to go for an elegant look on your outfit that creates a more proportionate silhouette without sacrificing your figure.
Tops with bold prints
With the pear body shape, you’re allowed to go as bold as you can with your upper body to truly get that attention-grabbing effect that visually broadens your shoulders. So, feel free to add tops with bold prints to your fashion shopping list.
This is a simple yet effective way to instantly balance your pear shape, and it’s hard not to fall in love with fashion styles that don’t need a lot of effort to pull off. Similar to stripes, you can keep this as subtle as possible to truly get that picture of elegance and sophistication.
Pair your bold printed top with skirts, pants or shorts that are not as attention-grabbing. A great pair will be a tiger print top on black pants. That will definitely get more than a few glances, and thankfully, your pear body shape will be at its best.
Layered tops
Get more strategic with your clothing choices by wearing layered outfits that flatter your pear body type. Don’t worry, this is not complicated at all. Layering is an amazing way to bring out what’s unique about your sense of style while highlighting your best assets.
With layers, you can add more volume and interest to your upper body, distributing weight just the way you want it. However, one of the best ways to make this work is to layer lighter tops with heavier jackets. So, this could work with a silk blouse paired with a thicker jacket.
Since they have different weight, this will make the layering more effortless and comfortable on your body. This means you should definitely invest in a few chunky jackets, including heavy knit sweaters that will help your layering efforts. Be sure to look out for necklines that flatter your body type such as cowl and bateau necklines.
Halter neck tops
Your choice of neckline matters a lot when looking out for tops that flatter your pear body shape. Surprisingly, I don’t see a lot of women with this body type wearing halter neck tops. That makes it one of the most underrated tops for pear shaped women, and it’s best you tap into its benefits.
Halter neck tops are very flattering for the pear shape because they draw attention towards your neck and generally, the top half of your body. Your pear body type naturally comes with an elegant neckline, so you don’t have to be self-conscious about showing it off.
As mentioned previously, this is all about creating a balance with the bottom half of your body to enhance your curvy silhouette. Halter neck tops are perfect for adding extra width to your narrow shoulders and increasing the volume around your upper body.
Avoid thigh length
Length also matters when choosing tops for your pear shape. For this body type, you would want to avoid tops that hit at the widest part of your thighs. This means that anything beyond hip length is a huge no for the pear body type and here’s why.
Tops that are too long will draw attention to this part of your body and since that’s not exactly what you want, it’s best to avoid them. Instead, the perfect length of tops for pear shaped women are those that sit above the widest portion of your hips.
Pick tops that are this long and it will have a visual elongation effect on your legs. This is very flattering for the pear body shape and enhances your silhouette. The opposite of this is to add more volume to your curvy hips which throws your figure off balance. It’s so much better to wear shorter tops, like cropped styles, than to wear those that are thigh-length.
Here’s a summary of everything that’s been said so far. The key to choosing the right top for your pear shape is to look out for those that visually widen your narrow shoulders and balance your bottom-heavy body. So, use this as a guide to have fun on your next shopping trip for the perfect outfit for you.