Pear is one of the most common body types. Because this is a curvy body type, it can be confused with other curvy body types, especially the hourglass shape. In this detailed guide, we’ll compare the pear with the other 4 most common body types and walk you through everything you need to know about their differences and similarities.
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Characteristics of Pear
The Pear Body Shape tends to be quite a challenge to style due to the natural imbalance that this figure has. However, while it possesses a lack of symmetrical proportions between the upper and lower body, it definitely has its own charming features.
Here are the characteristics to know about a pear-shaped body.
- Bottom-heavy figure.This is the pear-shaped body’s most distinctive attribute because of the fact that the hips and thighs are way more pronounced compared to the shoulders and bust.
- Narrower shoulders.The width of the shoulders is relatively narrower in comparison to your hips so there’s a clear size discrepancy between your upper and lower body.
- Gently sloped shoulders.You don’t have sharp edges on your shoulders, which also contributes to the soft curves of your figure.
- Elongated neck and slim arms.These are some of your figure’s best assets as their size are quite proportionate with each other.
- Small and defined waist.Your waist looks more curved due to the fact that your hips are way wider than your midsection.
- Heavier/bigger hips, thighs, and buttocks.These parts of your body are relatively bigger compared to your smaller bust because you tend to gain more weight around these areas.
- Longer rise.Pear shapes have a longer waist, which also causes the torso to look longer and the legs to appear shorter.
The attributes of pear body shapes are pretty much distinct, but they can sometimes still be confused with the other variety of body shapes because of how some characteristics may seem similar. This blog article will help you have a better picture of how the pear body shape is different from the other types of body shapes.
Pear vs Hourglass
The pear body shape and the hourglass body shape share some similarities, which can sometimes be confusing for some. And while they do have similarities, it’s important to know their distinctive differences as this can play an important role in styling both figures.
Similarity
Both of these body shapes are characterized by the presence of voluptuous curves and a well-defined waistline, which is one of the main reasons why having a pear body shape and an hourglass body shape can be easily confused with each other. With this mentioned, these noticeable curves significantly contribute to the femininity of these two body shapes.
They also share the same narrow and nicely defined waistline due to the obvious size transition from the midsection to the hips. Both silhouettes are deemed curvy figures, albeit in different ways and proportions so it’s also worth noting how they differ in such aspects.
Hourglass shapes usually have an even set of curves from top to bottom as both the bust and thighs are fuller in depth. On the other hand, pear shapes also have curves on the upper and lower body, but they are more prominent from the waist to the thighs because of the wider appearance of the hips and thighs.
Hips and Shoulder Width
The significant difference between the pear and hourglass body shapes is the proportions and width of their hips and shoulders. Both feature curves around these two areas but they have major differences when it comes to size and balance of the hips and shoulders.
The hourglass body shape features a symmetrical shoulder and hip width, which means that this particular figure is equally balanced from top to bottom. Due to the equal width that the shoulders and hips have, the slimness of the waist, as well as its definition is further accentuated.
The pear body shape doesn’t share this same balance as the width of the shoulders is relatively narrower in comparison to the wider scale of the hips. The waist definition is still apparent in pear shapes because of this clear size discrepancy, but this also means that a pear-shaped body will most likely look more bottom-heavy.
Pear vs Apple
Another body shape that’s easily confused with the pear figure is the apple shape due to the fullness of both figures. However, while they may seem to share similar attributes in terms of curves and weight, the two are absolutely different and so there are certain styles of clothing that would work for one but not for the other.
Similarity
One of the few (or maybe even the only) similarities between pear and apple body shapes are their shoulders that are softly sloped on the edges and their slender arms. Both body shapes don’t usually gain so much weight in these areas so they tend to look slimmer than the rest of your body.
While both the pear and apple body shapes share this feature, they can still slightly vary in terms of shoulder width and proportion. Pear shapes have narrower shoulders compared to their hips, while apple shapes usually have very well-balanced shoulders and hips that are both pretty much the same width.
Waist Definition
This is the huge difference between both body shapes, which is one of the key features that can allow you to easily tell if you’re a pear-shaped beauty or an apple-shaped lady. Pear shapes have a small/narrow waist while apple shapes have little to almost no definition at all.
The Pear body shape has a relatively smaller upper body and their big hips cause the transition curve on the waist to be more indented and defined. On the other hand, the apple body shape carries a considerable amount of weight in its midsection, resulting in the absence of waist indentation and definition.
Bust sizes
At first glance, it may be a bit tricky to tell the difference between a pear shape and an apple shape just by basing on the bust size. Pear shapes may seem like they always have smaller breasts while apple shapes have fuller breasts – this may not always be the case.
Pear shapes may look like they have small breasts because of the fact that their upper half looks relatively smaller and therefore can get easily overwhelmed by their big hips and thighs. But the truth is their busts can range from small to full, it just so happens that whatever their bust size may be, their hips and thighs will always be larger in comparison.
Meanwhile, apple body shapes are well-endowed and they usually have a fuller bust size (mostly at least a B-cup), which contributes to a curvy upper half. However, as they usually carry some weight in the midsection, the scale of their bust line and midsection may appear to be similar in size and width.
Distribution of Weight
Here’s another distinguishable difference between a pear body shape and an apple body shape and by identifying this, you can easily tell which one you are. Basically, pear shapes have a slimmer and more toned abdomen area while apple shapes are heavier around this midsection region.
Pear shapes may appear heavy too, especially when they start to gain more weight, but they usually carry this weight in their bottom half, specifically the hips, thighs, and buttocks. Because of this, pear shapes are also deemed to be bottom-heavy as they significantly have a bigger bottom half compared to their upper body.
For apple shapes, they tend to gain more weight in their midsection area and are therefore more prone to a tummy bulge. The weight gain is more focused on the center so this actually makes your hips, thighs, and legs look slimmer.
Pear vs Inverted Triangle
Now, let’s dive into another body shape comparison, but this time, it shouldn’t be too tricky to set the two apart. To sum it up, pear shapes are bottom-heavy, while inverted triangle body shapes are top-heavy.
Upper Body Prominence
As mentioned earlier, pear shapes have narrow shoulders, slender arms, and a bust size that’s smaller compared to the large size of the hips and thighs. This particular body shape doesn’t have much upper body prominence that’s why the upper body (most especially the upper half), can be easily overshadowed by the wider and heavier lower half.
On the contrary, inverted triangle body shapes have strong upper half features, specifically their shoulders. They have very broad shoulders and lean arms, and they tend to gain weight above the waist which makes their hips look narrower and their waist undefined.
Hip Width
Pear shapes have significantly wide hips, which are made more obvious because of their lack of upper body prominence. There’s a natural imbalance between the narrow width of the shoulders and the wider width of the hips in pear shapes.
In contrast, Inverted triangle body shapes have narrow hips, which are further made noticeable because of the drastic width difference between the shoulders.
Pear vs Rectangle
Pear figures are considered curvy in shape, while rectangle body shapes are more straight-looking, with little to no curves in their figure.
Waist Definition
Again, pear body shapes have a distinctively defined waistline, which is caused by the size discrepancy between the waist and the hips. This is what a rectangle body shape doesn’t possess.
Rectangle body shapes typically have a waist that’s almost the same size as the hips. Because of how close their widths are, the sides of the waist don’t have an apparent curved indentation.
Upper and Lower Body Proportions
In pear shapes, you can clearly see the obvious difference between their upper and lower body proportions because how the upper half is smaller and the lower half is bigger. It’s clear that pear shapes are bottom-heavy figures as they carry more weight in the hips and thighs.
On the contrary, rectangle shapes are deemed athletic figures so their frame proportions from shoulders to hips are very close in width. But because of how similar the size and width of their shoulders, bust, waistline, and hips are, they lack distinct feminine curves.
