My questions:
1) I'd like to ask you guys to share brands and styles you've found that fit pear proportions well.
2) Further, for those of you on the size cusp up top, which straight-size brands offer tops (or dresses) that work well for people shaped like us?
3) Finally, who carries nice 38DDD bras in-store in California? Lane Bryant almost always sells out before I can get my paws on them in person, and I can't afford to buy all my bras at Alla Prima. When I check the usual department store suspects, I find that they jump straight from 38DD to 40DD. Sometimes the forties work, sometimes they're too big.
My particular case:
As with most pears, my big issue is finding tops and dresses that fit around the shoulders and waist without squishing my boobs or gripping the shit out of my hips and ass. I've also got a weird upper left arm (I have a ridge of scar tissue that makes the arm almost two inches bigger around than my right), which means that I have to be careful with inelastic cap sleeves.
I'm 18/20 in pants, 14/16 in most dresses, and 14/16 on top (47-37-52.5). Many 1x tops (including many of the 14/16 knits at LB) are too big in the shoulders, arms, and waist. In theory I can mosey over to Misses departments and buy L/XL tops, but I'ved noticed that sometimes the proportions aren't quite right (sleeves are too short, necklines are wonky, hems are too short or cut into hips, no room for tits, &c.).
My discoveries:
- I'm really into those floofy fifties-style skirts, because they're hips-free. You can get a size that fits your waist without having to worry about your gut/hips/butt getting in the way. They look really cute with wide belts, too.
- Eshakti.com's custom sizing option = MY BEST FRIEND EVER. Just ten bucks and the world is YOURS, my hippy friends.
- I have noticed that Torrid's sizing runs a bit small, so their knit 1s work well. I luuuuuv their cropped cardigans because they eliminate a lot of complication. Their long, straight, nonstretch tops are a different story, though - sometimes I have to size up to accommodate my hips.
- Kiyonna 1s are almost universally workable for me, because they tend to avoid straight hip styles in nostretch fabrics. In the lace dresses, the 2s sometimes work better. They're pretty good about noting on the website when something runs small, though this isn't always the case - a friend of mine recently told me that a lace top she ordered was too big on top and kinda tight in the gut/hips.
- Igigi 14/16 usually works well. I have one dress sample that's a 12. Their shape stylist component is really, really helpful - just head for anything marked ok for triangles and you're pretty golden. I can get away with some of their hourglass stuff, too.
- Old Navy L tops work well, particularly in knits. Their XLs and 1x's sometimes work well. Other times they are too freaking big above the hips. I think everybody's bemoaned the topheaviness of the ON fit models at one time or another.
- Macy*s INC Plus and Misses tops are usually very workable. When I was riding the straight/plus line on the way up, the INC Misses 12, 14, and 16 dresses rarely let me down.
1) I'd like to ask you guys to share brands and styles you've found that fit pear proportions well.
2) Further, for those of you on the size cusp up top, which straight-size brands offer tops (or dresses) that work well for people shaped like us?
3) Finally, who carries nice 38DDD bras in-store in California? Lane Bryant almost always sells out before I can get my paws on them in person, and I can't afford to buy all my bras at Alla Prima. When I check the usual department store suspects, I find that they jump straight from 38DD to 40DD. Sometimes the forties work, sometimes they're too big.
My particular case:
As with most pears, my big issue is finding tops and dresses that fit around the shoulders and waist without squishing my boobs or gripping the shit out of my hips and ass. I've also got a weird upper left arm (I have a ridge of scar tissue that makes the arm almost two inches bigger around than my right), which means that I have to be careful with inelastic cap sleeves.
I'm 18/20 in pants, 14/16 in most dresses, and 14/16 on top (47-37-52.5). Many 1x tops (including many of the 14/16 knits at LB) are too big in the shoulders, arms, and waist. In theory I can mosey over to Misses departments and buy L/XL tops, but I'ved noticed that sometimes the proportions aren't quite right (sleeves are too short, necklines are wonky, hems are too short or cut into hips, no room for tits, &c.).
My discoveries:
- I'm really into those floofy fifties-style skirts, because they're hips-free. You can get a size that fits your waist without having to worry about your gut/hips/butt getting in the way. They look really cute with wide belts, too.
- Eshakti.com's custom sizing option = MY BEST FRIEND EVER. Just ten bucks and the world is YOURS, my hippy friends.
- I have noticed that Torrid's sizing runs a bit small, so their knit 1s work well. I luuuuuv their cropped cardigans because they eliminate a lot of complication. Their long, straight, nonstretch tops are a different story, though - sometimes I have to size up to accommodate my hips.
- Kiyonna 1s are almost universally workable for me, because they tend to avoid straight hip styles in nostretch fabrics. In the lace dresses, the 2s sometimes work better. They're pretty good about noting on the website when something runs small, though this isn't always the case - a friend of mine recently told me that a lace top she ordered was too big on top and kinda tight in the gut/hips.
- Igigi 14/16 usually works well. I have one dress sample that's a 12. Their shape stylist component is really, really helpful - just head for anything marked ok for triangles and you're pretty golden. I can get away with some of their hourglass stuff, too.
- Old Navy L tops work well, particularly in knits. Their XLs and 1x's sometimes work well. Other times they are too freaking big above the hips. I think everybody's bemoaned the topheaviness of the ON fit models at one time or another.
- Macy*s INC Plus and Misses tops are usually very workable. When I was riding the straight/plus line on the way up, the INC Misses 12, 14, and 16 dresses rarely let me down.
