Fashion Rules for a Pear-Shaped Figure

If you are a woman with small shoulders and a slim upperbody, and you have lovely voluptuous hips then you are blessed with a sexy, feminine pear-shaped figure.

Many women, however, do not feel blessed trying to squeeze their shapely thighs into skinny jeans. Tight skirts look awkward, shirts gape around the collar bone and the ends of jackets stick out from their hips.

What, then, can such a shapely woman wear?

What Not to Wear

Hippy women, need to avoid (like the plague) the following items of clothes. If you have any of these items in your wardrobe, donate them to charity. They’ll look better on anyone else.

• Bulky fabrics adorned with bows or large frills on your lower-half simply add more girth where you want it least. This is not a technique to hide your flaws.
• Bias-cut clingy fabric that falls across the hips or thighs will always go out at the hips, out at the thighs and then in at the knees, making you look like a lightbulb
• Any light satin that is designed to “drape” across the hips will make your hips and thighs seem strangely huge
• Pants that are shaped in at the calf accentuate the size of your thighs and hips and should be avoided at all costs. No skinny jeans for pear-shaped women.
• Bright colours, geometric shapes, horizontal lines, eye-catching patterns on any skirts or trousers draw too much attention to your curves
• Shorts other than for sports or exercise. Shorts are all about the thighs and can never be flattering on a woman with broad-thighs (or a man for that matter).
• Oh ok, you can wear short-shorts if you are one of those rare skinny pear-shaped women, like Kristen Davis

What to Wear

• V-necks, Scoop-necks, off-the-shoulder and Square necklines will help to broaden your narrow shoulders, and draw attention up to your beautiful slender neck and face
• Straight skirts, or skirts with a gentle A-line, are perfect for you, but they should hang just below the knee to elongate that tricky thigh area. A short skirt will look disproportionally wide.
• Straight or boot-leg pants. Make sure you don’t hem your pants too short. We don’t want to see any bare ankles or, much much worse, socks!
• Light and Bright colours on top. In fact, find a nice colourful print and wear it on top. Go wild, just keep the lower-half demure.
• Knee-length dresses are divine as long as you keep away from clingy fabrics. You can wear a dress with a colourful print, just keep the extra adornments to a minimum.
• Fitted waist lines are a big Yes Yes! Shirts, tailored jackets, dresses, coats … anything that comes in at the waist with a little belt or a ribbon-tie is perfect for your petite body

Wardrobe Essentials

Here are 4 items you need to rush out and buy. In fact, these are really more than 4 items because you can buy them in different colours, prints and fabrics depending on the season and your mood.

Trench Coats

You want a fashionable trench coat, not a remnant from WW2. Choose one with a big collar to help broaden your chest and make sure it has a good belt, either with a buckle or a bow. Buy a range of solid colours that you can wear with anything. White, black, tan and red are excellent choices.

The trench coat should hang down to your mid-thigh, knees or upper-calf (but should not be too long).

Wear your trench coat over a light shirt in Spring or Autumn, or a soft woollen sweater in winter.

Angora Sweaters

Angora is a lovely soft wool that feels amazing against your skin and is very flattering on your petite torso.

Angora knits can be very thin and worn as a top on their own, or they could be fluffier and warmer to be worn over blouses and other shirts during a cold weather.

Your Angora sweaters should not be pulled down over your hips. They should have a waist band that sits on your waist.

The traditional design of an angora sweater makes it very easy to wear and match with skirts and trousers. Choose all the colours you like, but you should have a cream angora sweater as a staple in your wardrobe.

Wrap Dresses

Wear a knee-length, soft, light summer dress with a string-tie at the waist in summer for an easy breezy look. This is the perfect dress for your summer wardrobe.

Keep to the latest fashion and style by selecting colours and prints that are in for this season. A wrap dress is always fashionable, but turquoise screams 2007 so keep up to date. A fun summer dress shouldn’t be demure or boring, but it does need to be current.

In winter, swap your summer wardrobe for winter tweeds and wool knits that you can wear over stockings. Look for darker shades like black, red, olive, burgundy, bronze, dark grey or brown.

With a heavier, darker fabric you can get bolder with prints and patterns. Even leopard prints and zebra stripes find a place in winter, but again be careful with trends and fashion.

Knee-High Boots

When you wear dresses or skirts you’ll probably want a low heel and when you wear long trousers and jeans you might want a flat boot.

2 pairs of boots is never an extravagance. Don’t cut costs with your boots, either. A good pair of leather boots will be soft, comfortable, elegant and very versatile. You can wear boots to work under a suit, out to dinner with a dress, to the supermarket under a pair of jeans or while hanging around the house in your underwear.

In fact the more you wear your boots, the better they’ll feel on your feet.

Please don’t wear boots on a hot summer’s day. Your feet will sweat and it’s just not a good look. Autumn and Spring are fine, as long as the weather is not too hot.