Each body has its own special characteristics. This means that each body requires a different style of swimsuit when heading to the beach. Since we all come in different shapes and sizes, dressing for our bodies is a great way to highlight our best assets, making us feel more comfortable and confident!
Generally, bodies are most commonly divided into four body shape categories: apple, pear, hourglass, and rectangle. Each of them has specific traits that define them and a style that suits them best. In this post, we’ll be looking at what makes an apple-shaped body special and how to work with it when getting ready for your next beach trip!
The Different Body Types
To get a better understanding of how diverse the body types are and how the apple shape body is different from the other types, we’ll go over the other body types and their characteristics.
First, we have hourglass bodies that tend to be cuvier. They have a proportional hip to bust ratio and well-defined waists, which is a good asset to highlight. Their upper body is normally balanced with the length of their legs.
Apple-shaped bodies are known for their broad shoulders, with similar measurements through their shoulders, bust, and waist, and similarly sized or potentially smaller hips. It’s normal for this body to feature a shorter, softer waist and slim legs.
The rectangle body type, also referred to as the athletic body type commonly has a narrower silhouette in the hips than the shoulders. Their waist tends to be the least defined of the body types, and they normally have broader shoulders.
What Is a Pear-Shaped Body?
Pear-shaped bodies tend to have a triangular shape. Typically they feature a smaller upper body and larger hips and thighs. This means they generally have a smaller bust and narrower shoulders in proportion to their hips. Their hips, butt, and upper thighs are wider compared to their upper half, a small to medium bust size, and a well-defined and curvy butt.
How To Choose a Bikini for a Pear-Shaped Body
When dressing for your body type the main point you’ll want to focus on is balancing out the proportions and emphasizing your strongest features. Pears normally have a heavier bottom half. When it comes to working on balancing out your proportions you’ll want to focus on adding more curves and volume to the upper half, creating a narrower waist and drawing the attention away from the hips. This can easily be achieved with specific swimwear items.
Best Bikini Types for Pear-Shaped Women
While you can wear whatever style of bathing suit you feel most comfortable and confident in, going for a specific style will help you draw attention to the best your pear shape body has to give! We’re going over what to look out for specifically in each category of bathing suits for apple-shaped bodies to get you ready for your next beach trip!
One-Piece Swimsuits
Finding a one-piece that fits you well as a pear shape can be hard because of how they can be too tight below and too loose up top. A good alternative is tankinis. These allow you to buy the appropriate size for each part of your body. This doesn’t mean you can’t find good one-pieces for your body type out there!
Going for suits with detailed necklines and ornaments on top is always a good option. Try out our In Full Bloom Off Shoulder Ruffle One Piece for a great example of a suit that will easily balance out your proportions with the off-the-shoulder ruffle detail. Another great option is swimsuits that combine light colors and patterns around the chest with solid, darker colors at the waistline.
Bikini Tops
Generally, pear-shapes tend to have smaller chests, which allows for more bikini top options since support isn’t as big of a consideration. A flattering style to try out if you’re pear-shaped are bandeau tops. Padded bikini tops and push-up bikinis with bold patterns, elaborate styles, and sexy and revealing necklines are a great way to highlight what you naturally have. Bikinis with textures and ruffles are also a good way to add volume up top. Our Tranquility Palm Shirred Strap Cross Back Top is a great option to go with its shirred detailing.
Bikini Bottoms
Going with a high-waisted style bottom will help emphasize the natural curve of your waist and give you a stylish retro look. Go for higher cut bottoms since these will help elongate your legs. Our Eclectic Shore V-Front High Waist Bottom is perfect for this effect and has an added V-shaped cut at the waist which is super flattering. Bikinis with a thinner hip band are also a good option. Since the bands are thinner they won’t draw as much attention towards your hips. Check out our In The Tropics Reversible Cheeky Hipster Bottom for a great option with a thinner waistband.
Bikini Types To Avoid When You Are Apple Body Shaped
For pear shapes, it’s best to stay away from any hardware, ruffles, or bulky details around the hip area. These will only increase their proportion in comparison to the rest of your body and draw attention toward them.
What Else?
There are a couple of other tricks you can try out if you have a pear-shaped body when it comes to your swimwear and making it work in your favor.
- Thick over thin: When looking at strap size, it’s best to go for thicker straps on your bikini tops and one-pieces. Narrower straps will make your shoulders look even narrower, making your proportions more unbalanced. By going with a bathing suit with wide straps you can manage to balance out your hips and look more proportionate. The Island Goddess Twist Front Crossback Top in our collection is a perfect option with its thick straps and twist detail.
- Deep V: A bathing suit with a deep V neckline as we’ve mentioned above will create an elongating effect by drawing attention to up and down with its vertical orientation. This will make you look overall taller and longer, balancing out your wider parts. It is also a great way to accentuate your bust.
- Try out print: Prints can help create certain effects on our bodies, for example, vertical stripes and small prints can help minimize areas and horizontal stripes and bold prints will emphasize them. So using them to your advantage to create the proportions you’re looking for is a great way to play with patterns. Our Capri Stripe Plunge One Piece is a great option that has stripes on top and a solid bottom.
- Side details: Bathing suits with sheer sections or lace-up sides are also great at creating the illusion that an area is narrower. Going for bikini bottoms that have gaps on the side or one-pieces with sheer panels is a good way to play with your proportions. Check out our Terra Italia Reversible High Waist Bottom with cool side cutouts or our Island Goddess Side Shirred Bottom for a textured moment in a high or low waisted version.
Conclusion
While it may seem like a complicated concept at first, finding swimwear for your own body type isn’t that hard. Following these tips on how to pick out the best bathing suits for apple-shaped bodies will guarantee you’re highlighting the best assets of your body!
Remember that looking for swimsuits with interesting necklines and more volume up top will help with balancing out your proportions. So investing in pieces with ruffles or sleeves are great to achieve the balance. Focus on pieces with wider straps and fun prints on the top half. Padded options are also great at creating more volume on your upper half.
High-cut styles are great for lengthening your legs making you seem taller and longer overall. Creating these illusions is all a matter of proportions, so figuring out what it is that you want to achieve will better inform how you can play with the proportions of your body to get your desired effect and look.
Even though these tips are all great for getting the desired effect you might want to create for your body, they are in no way compulsory. The best swimsuit for you will always be the one you like most for whatever reason it may be. Above all the most important thing is wearing what makes you feel comfortable and confident and a bathing suit you love! This is what will make you stand out and look and feel your best!
Sources:
THE MOST FLATTERING SWIMWEAR FOR PEAR SHAPES | Niki Whittle
Women's Body Shapes: 10 Types, Measurements, Changes, More | Healthline