Everybody and every body is different — that’s what makes our world such a beautifully diverse place to live. But for some women, dressing for their particular body shape is more challenging than others. For pear-shaped women in particular, the discrepancy between upper and lower body sizes can be frustrating. But with a little research, dressing for a pear-shaped body can be easy and fun.

Highlight Your Assets

Often, women with pear-shaped bodies have smaller upper bodies than lower-bodies. If this is true in your case, use it to your advantage by highlighting a trim tummy or great breasts. Choose tops that cling to your upper body while leaving your pant or skirt choices on the looser side. If you have a long, slender neck, highlight it with multi-strand necklaces that drape in rows to show off the elegance of having an elongated neckline.

Use Color to Your Advantage

A major mistake that both pear-shaped and overweight women make when selecting wardrobe choices is thinking that by dressing all in black, they will be creating an overall slim silhouette. While it is true that black is a slimming color, for pear-shaped women, dressing in a monochromatic color scheme of any color or shade can create a boxy effect. Instead, choose a bright color or interesting patterns in a top, shirt or blouse, and stick to a black, navy or dark gray pair or pants or skirt to create the streamlined look you want.

Dress Your Best

Dresses are the pear-shaped woman’s secret weapon. When selecting dresses, aim for an A-line style that is fitted on top and gives a slight flare on the skirt. Avoid fitted dresses or pencil skirts. The use of A-line or empire waist dresses camouflages wider hips and thighs that characterize the pear-shape. Thus, dresses give the illusion of having a figure that is as small as the upper body all over. However, pear-shaped women still need to adhere to the typical “light on the top, dark on the bottom” mantra of dressing.

Put Your Best Foot Forward

An often overlooked but seriously important part of making the most of your pear shape is your choice of footwear. Too commonly, women think that footwear has no impact on the appearance of their body shape, but they are woefully misled. The number one best choice in footwear for a pear-shaped woman is the pointed toe, which creates a nice, extended look to the leg. Stiletto heels will throw off the balance of your look, but other types of heels will help elongate the look of the leg. One shoe style that pear-shaped women should avoid at all costs is the rounded-toe style, which cuts the foot off and gives the appearance of stunted legs.

Embellish your clothing with a subtle nod to Valentine’s Day this February by sewing these understated leather heart patches to the elbows of a sweater. It may take a second glance for others to recognize you’re wearing a festive sweater, but you’ll know. If subtle’s not your thing, follow the instructions and use red patches on a pink sweater instead.

Supplies

To add your own leather heart patches to the elbows of a sweater you need: A sweater, leather scraps, an awl, a self-healing mat, scissors, heavy-duty thread, leather needle, thimble, and a pen. You can substitute synthetic leather, felt, or fleece for the leather scraps and you will not need to use the awl or self-healing mat.

Marking the Sweater

Put on the sweater, bend your arms, and make a mark on each elbow so you will know where to place your patches.

Cutting the Patches

Draw your heart shapes on the wrong side of the leather. Cut them out.

Making the Patches

If you are using a thick leather, punch stitching holes, roughly 3/8 of an inch apart, in the leather using an awl on a self-healing mat. If you are using a very thin leather or a fabric like felt or fleece, skip this step.

Sewing the Patches

Center the patches over the marks on the sweater and stitch around the edge of the patch, using your leather needle, heavy-duty thread and a thimble to protect your finger. Knot the ends of the thread together on the inside of the sweater.

The chances are, if you own clothing, some of it is made of cotton. T-shirts, athletic socks, jeans and numerous other articles of clothing are often made of cotton. The soft fabric, according to HowToCleanStuff.net, is quite durable and can handle a powerful cleaning. The best way to clean cotton clothing is a simple process.

Spot Treating

Check your cotton clothing for spots before washing it. If you notice any stains or spots, consider spot treating them. The best way to perform spot removal is to purchase a product specifically for spot treating; spot treatment products come in an applicator with a narrow tip to treat a small area at a time while working the stain out of the cotton fibers. Follow the instructions on the bottle before washing your cotton clothing. Spot treatment will allow you to remove stains that would otherwise not be removed with a normal washing.

Cleaning Agents

The best way to clean cotton clothing is through use of detergent. HowToCleanStuff.net recommends using regular clothing detergent with color safe bleach if so desired. For white cotton clothing, you may be able to use chlorine bleach; check the tag on your cotton clothing to determine whether or not bleach is appropriate. Also, to keep cotton clothing soft, use a fabric softener. If conservation is important to you, the best way to clean cotton clothing will include concentrated detergent (a smaller amount goes a longer way than regular) or an all-natural “green” detergent.

Washing

Using a washing machine is the best way to clean cotton clothing. For white or light cotton clothing, choose warmer water if you feel your clothing needs extra washing. For darker colors, always choose cold water because hot water will cause the dyes in the cotton fabric to bleed, leaving you with faded clothing. If your clothing is delicate (like lingerie), choose the “delicates” or “hand wash” setting; for other cotton clothing, HowToCleanStuff.net suggests the “normal wash” setting on your washing machine. For the green-minded, always use cold water to prevent using extra energy.

Drying

To dry your cotton clothing, TheFabricOfOurLives.com suggests hanging the following clothing to dry: embellished (like with beads or graphics), delicates or dark denim. For all other cotton clothing, TheFabricOfOurLives.com recommends following the instructions on the the care tag of your garment when determining the tumble cycle of your dryer. When in doubt, tumble dry on the “low” setting to prevent shrinking or fading.