Is it just me or is it harder to be fashionable when you're pearshaped?

[mistressploppy]

I'm trying to look like less of a frump but it's really hard

I wear V-necks too. I have a long neck. It suits me!

Having been a pear and now an apple (thank you menopause and 1 stone weight gain all around the middle and on chin) I would say apple is harder to dress.

I think a lot of clothes are made for people who are perfectly proportional top and bottom, which isn’t great if you’re apple or pear! If you have big boobs, are you not hourglass? If so, I’m jealous! I could wear a lot more clothes if I had boobs to match my hips.

clothes are all cut for apples
Nooooooooooo. I so wish that were true, Apple is the forgotten shape in the clothes world. I have to work so hard to get anything that looks good.

If you have big boobs, are you a pear? I though pears were small up top?

I small v is okay, but not a deep v. Makes us look frumpy. I think those with bigger busts are okay with bigger v’s.

pear shaped

Inverted triangle is the hardest shape to dress!😂

I’m a pear and I’m average to tall. I can’t say I do find it hard, I have bigger hips and bum size accordingly in the bottom. I like Cos, Jigsaw, Other Stories, wear straight leg cropped trousers and a blouse/top tucked in quite a bit, pleated midi skirts - as long as the pleats aren’t too boxy or make me look bigger than I am. Mini skirts still. Maybe it’s easier as I am not too short. Pinterest has good ideas.

I'm an hourglass and also find it difficult. If I buy for my bust and hip size it's too big on the shoulders and waist and the arms are too long. I used to be a 10 but now a 14 with the same proportions but my shoulders are the same size and my arms the same length and I'm still the same height. A 14 though will be sized up all over not just round the bits of me that got bigger.
Lots of clothes these days are loose and boxy - maybe they're cheaper to produce? They don't suit most pears and hourglasses.
I guess it also depends how pronounced your shape is. A slim hourglass would find it easier to find clothes that fit than a more curvy hourglass.

I’m a pear and my thighs and calves are way out of proportion to my top half. I struggle with slim leg trousers as they won’t go over my calves, and jeans are always too baggy around the front/abdomen area.

I'm a tall, slim inverted triangle and can dismiss by sight 90 percent of what's on the rails. Too small on the shoulder, too tight in the bust, too big on the hips, too short in the leg, too nipped in, too boxy, neck too high, waist in the wrong place...

Men make clothes for women with male figures. That's why boobs & hips are ignored. Disappointing

It does seem that clothes on the high street are cut not to meet the needs (standard height and shape range of women) at all.

the result of this is of course that women spend a lot of time from girlhood feeling that they are the "wrong" shape and permanently feeling a bit crap / dieting etc and wanting to change fundamental facts of who they are. Like body shape. Press don't help> headlines like "apple shaped women x times more likely to have heart problems!!!!" Well what the fuck are women who are this shape supposed to do? It's not something you can change! And of course it only elevates our risk to more like men, who don't get a mention in these articles at all!!!

Sorry for off topic rant.

OP shop aroujnd and keep your chin up
My personal view is the people look better in things that fit them and they feel comfy in (so meet their internal"style") than wearing things that are more fashionable but are uncomfy or don't flatter.

Of course sometimes you have no choice like the 90s/00s (I forget exactly but it was a long period) and low waist jeans > you couldn't get jeans with a higher waist anywhere (on my budget), they are AWFUL for apples. So essentially the shops stocked only jeans that would result in "muffin tops" for much of the populaiton, and then the press slagged women off for wearing them!

There are some lovely brands mentioned on here,some that I like, which makes me wonder if some brands are better cut generally and maybe have difeent stock for different shapes.

Clothes I wore when DS was small early - mid 2000's - boot-legged jeans/ trousers, Short A line or longer bias cut skirts, all with fitted tops, vest tops with those little bolero jackets on top which balance out your silhouette. Unfortunately they are the kind of clothing only stocked in Per Una now but are really flattering to pear shapes.

Clothes I've had more recently have been skater or fit and flare type dresses either above knee with tights / leggings or midi/ maxi length for summer.

It is true quite a lot of clothes are difficult to fit on a pear - I used to have narrow shoulders and wider hips and so many dresses, coats etc either fitted my top or bottom half, never both.

Middle age spread (combination of hormones and carbs in my case) has now given me a pronounced belly so I'm just wearing anything unstructured to skim over the top .

Oh yes! Although I'm more of an hourglass post DC with bigger boobs, it's the bottom half that's the real problem. My hips are a size bigger than my waist so I always get a gaping waist line. Boden soho skinny jeans are the best fit I've found, as they actually have a bit of curviture from hip to waist.
I would love to wear pencil skirts but the waists are too loose and the hips are too tight. One day I'll learn to sew and make my own!

But no, never fashionable I would say!

Billy the answer is to go and take the trousers/skirt to have it tailored you.
Costs about £10 and make you look like you’ve bought something £80 more expensive than it is.

The best way to look well dressed is to start with clothes that fit. And there very few people where of the peg clothes will just fit well wo any alteration.

Most stylish clothes seem designed to fit rhubarb, not pears or apples.

Rhubarb? Another fruit? I presume that means straight up and down?

Anyway, fellow pear here and I agree, I feel frumpy at times. I thnk especially in casual clothes. Work and smart, I'm pretty sorted. Casual gives me a headache.

Interestingly, in contrast to other posters, I think wrap dresses are a disaster on me. I have saddlebags and I feel they broaden my hips even further. Maybe it depends on the type of pear you are. Not good. Skater dresses the same, all that extra fabric.
There is a 'sweet spot' for me for skirt lengths. Just below mid thigh or ankle. Fitted A-line.

Casual. Sigh. It's so hard.

5’3” IS short - petite ranges at most stores are directed at 5’3” and below! That’s why those trousers are too long!

The fashion world definitely isn’t catered towards apple shaped women. In fact I’d say it’s more catered towards slim, tall pear shapes - as that’s the desired figure in the industry.

I think pear shapes are ‘trendy’ these days, maybe it’s a generational thing? I think most women my age (20s) aim for a pear or hourglass figure, and women with that shape don’t look frumpy at all. It’s not the body, it’s the outfit choices. If you have a slim waist/stomach, you might have some luck wearing high waisted trousers with a shirt tucked in, just anything that flatters a curvy figure, (rather than burying your waist in fabric as it makes your top half look as wide as your bottom half otherwise)

High waisted trousers or pencil skirts with shirts tucked in is exactly what I’d love to wear; I’m finding it really difficult to find either trousers or skirts that have enough of a difference between waist and hip size though. I’m rapidly leaning towards having to get them altered. Just need to find a alteration person who doesn’t charge min £25.