A lot of fans have speculated over the past year or two that because of her physical defect, the oblong shape of her gemstone, Pearl isn’t capable of shapeshifting.

This isn’t entirely unfounded. As seen in Cat Finger, Secret Team and Keep Beach City Weird, Pearl has always deflected or made lame excuses instead of shapeshifting

Pearl: Amethyst, shape-shift! Get small or… something! Amethyst: I can’t! I’m freaking out! You do it! Pearl: I can’t concentra- (The hand releases Pearl, who spins in midair, then the hand clamps down tightly on her again.) Aah! Unh! This is all my fault! I never should have had that bubble! - Secret Team

Amethyst: It’s Steven Tag! Steven tagged you, now you have to turn into Steven. Garnet: It’s the rules. Pearl: Ugh. Oh, please. *puts on a face* Steven: *disappointed* Awww, no fair! - Keep Beach City Weird

That said, there’s kind of a big “but” to this

Steven: Can you shapeshift? Pearl: Well of course… (Amethyst butts in and shapeshifts into Pearl.) Amethyst: Well of course I can, I’m perfect! *hits her butt* WOMP! WOMP!

Pearl has outright said she can shape shift, but isn’t it weird how Amethyst teases her for it, especially since we’ve never even seen her shape shift? I suspect that a side effect of Pearl’s “defect” isn’t so much that she can’t shape shift, but that her ability is so impaired that the only part of her body she can consciously change is something we humans change on a (hopefully) daily basis:

Her Clothes!

As mentioned by Peridot in Log Date 7 15 2 gem clothing isn’t just something they store inside them. It’s a physical part of their body and is bonded to their flesh. It cannot be removed, and the very idea of removable clothing is something that fascinates homeworld gems

Pearl on the other hand has a larger number of uniforms than any other gem in the show, and many of them shouldn’t be physically possible if her outfit was an unchanging part of her body

Since Steven The Sword Fighter, Pearl’s outfit has included a high-collared shirt, pink socks and blue shoes.

Later on in Beach Party, she’s shown changing her outfit into a dress with no collar, no shoes, and no socks. It’s not like she could have slipped a stored outfit on over it.

She did this again in Hit The Diamond, and while she’s wearing much more this time around her high collar is nowhere to be seen and her neck is completely uncovered

So yeah, Pearl can shape shift her clothes, but that’s about it. No wonder her early designs (which are canon thanks to Steven The Sword Fighter) were so different from her and each other. Regenerating is pretty much the only chance Pearl has to change the way she looks. She’d probably want to get her money’s worth