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Swim Wear Tips for Pear Shapes

Posted by Chantelle on Fri 9th February 2007 at 07:00 AM, Filed in Fashion Agonies

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Dear Chantelle,

Thanks for your practical yet hip fashion tips! I love learning and applying your tricks of the trade.

I am a 5’4” pear shape (slender but curvy, small boobs) dreading swimsuit shopping, once again. Aside from one-pieces, tankinis, halter and triangle tops, I am fascinated with cut-out suits. Specifically, those that cover a majority of the front, and expose the waist/hips and back. Padded cups, halter neck and a little metallic/wood hardware on the hips look fabulous! (In the photo, that is.)

Is there hope, or should this look never see the light of day?
Attractive alternatives are most welcome. Thanks!

Intrigued,
Lisa

Hi Lisa,

How wonderful to read that someone out there is thinking about Summer again! I love the turn into Spring and Summer but one thing I absolutely hate with a passion, is buying a new bikini. It is a very hard task to grasp and one thing I have to do without fail is to make sure I have not eaten anything before I go, because I find it thoroughly depressing ... Because I am a pear shape I know exactly how you feel when buying swim wear because your body shape sounds very similar to mine. This year you want to be daring and experiment with a fancy space age swimsuits with sexy shapes cut out but unless you have a boyish, straight up and down figure it isn’t going to have the look or effect that your after (sorry ...).

There are some key ‘pear shape’ do’s and don’ts and just bear these rules in mind when you go out shopping for your next piece of swim wear. I would like you to take on board my suggestions but remember to put your own spin on creating a look that’s right for you.

Because pear shapes have bigger bottom halves than top, choose a dark bottom and a bright or patterned top, this will draw the eyes up away from that area. Another good tip to make the eye focus on the top half and you can do this by wearing a halter neck bikini top, this will also create more ‘important’ cleavage. Padded cups on bikini tops are a must too, this will give you more confidence when you are wearing your swim wear.

Patterns are a very good way to disguise the body. The eye will be focussed on the pattern rather than your body. Keep the pattern size relative to your body proportion. For example if you are petite then look out for a pattern which is small and delicate but if you are a little larger then that same pattern will just enhance your size. You will need to go for a pattern which is larger and bolder so that your body can carry it off.

Another good tip is to match your bikini top with a swim skirt. In actual fact a sarong will create the same effect so if you don’t like showing your legs off on the beach, then this is the best option to go for. Both will hide your bottom half and skim over the bigger bits of your body.

And then last but not least, high cut leg styles of ‘bottoms’ will make legs look longer. There is nothing scientific about this, it just works this way.

These are just the basic tips but there is no reason why you can’t experiment with detail. I really like shell detailing on bikinis and I just love patterned swim wear too. I bought a fantastic patterned bikini from Matthew Williamson last year but it is now time for me to start thinking about a new bikini soon.

I have found some gorgeous swim wear pieces to feast your eyes on, which I think would really suit your body shape so please let me know what you think. Some great places to look for swimwear is in Debenhams, Reiss, French Connection and Jigsaw or if your an online shopper like me, then visit Net-a-porter, La Redoute and Figleaves.

(dusky and sexy pattern!)