Officially categorized a "petite" by the fashion industry, anyone under 5'3 inches has a difficult job in grappling with many of today's runway-look styles and cuts.

If you stand shorter than 5’3”(1.64m) then, you must at sometime in your life, have heaved an enviable sigh at willowy waifs such as Kate Moss or Keira Knightly, whose towering frame can carry off almost any fashion trend with aplomb.

A number of brands cater for petite women, and commercial brands such as Evans (the plus-sized retailer) and Principles offer, for the most part, offer a stylish range. JC Penneys also have a range of pettie clothing for women, including jackets, tops, pants and skirts and online retailer, Asos, has their own, stylish, "Petite" range.

Gone are the days when you had to buy jeans or pants with a leg-length of a runway model, under the designer pretext that it was more cost effective to produced longer-leg lengths, and anyone else could just cut the excess off! This of course, can ruin both the style and the cut of the garment, as every outfit has been designed in proportion! When it comes to jeans, Levi, Lee, Gloria Vanderbilt and Cabin Creek are a few of the brands which offer a petite cut.

The secret is to learn how to create a taller silhouette by shopping and dressing smarter. It doesn’t matter what shape you are, be it pear, apple, or hour-glass (that’s an entirely different style issue), you need to create the illusion of length.

Whether you are a petite woman with a short waist or torso, or like many, hate having short-legs; the fashion tips below should help you develop an eye for what to buy, in order to create that all important taller silhouette:

Avoid Chopping your Body in Half

One of the most important criteria is to learn how NOT to cut your body in half. You need to create a sleeker, single-body look and this means shopping smarter. The golden rule is less width and more height!

One trick that can add the illusion of a few extra inches is by going for a single-color on both your top and bottom half.

Avoid mixing colors and prints if you don’t want to cut your silhouette in two. Monochromes are your best friend when it comes to elongating your figure as dark colors serve to give you a sleeker look.

Be Careful with Belts

Belts are a real danger area for short women. If you wear it around your waistline this simply cuts your body in two. This season’s style is to wear it just under the bust-line (empire-line), or wear it lower down on your hips. The size of the buckle, width of the belt will also play an important part in creating an overall effect.

Wearing Stripes and Patterns

Shorter, style-savvy women have learnt to avoid horizontal stripes, unless they are very slim. Vertical stripes serve to make your silhouette look longer and leaner, even a single vertical line (e.g on a swimsuit, top or skirt) works like a charm. Look for dresses with vertical lines rather than horizontal ones, you’ll be surprised what a different it makes!

The same applies to patterns and prints. Avoid wide patterns, small prints and big florals. Go for vertical-style prints such as a long paisley swirls or flowers with stalks, accending down the garment.

Footwear is Key

Footwear is critical when you are petite. A sweeping generalization would be, for the most part, to go for the highest heel you can bear, whilst still feeling comfortable. Not only does this give the illusion of height, but improves your posture, throwing you body slightly forward when you walk. It is impossible to waddle like a duck in 5 inch heels, whilst many flats or trainers. A high-heel shoes elongate the legs and give the impression of thinner ankles, providing you don’t wear ankle straps (which tend to thicken the leg). A higher heel makes you feel taller, boosts your confidence and improves your posture.

If you don’t feel secure teetering about in stilettos, then wedge-heels are easier to walk on and will still give you the necessary height, but choose a delicate-looking pair, rather than overtly chunky.

When wearing flat heels, a more pointed toe will give you more height than a rounded one. This year’s trendy ballet flats with chunky rounder/squared toes need to be worn with care, if you are going for an overall, head-to-toe, lanky look. If you have short legs and thick ankles, then here are some more tips.

Trousers, Skirts and Dresses

Tapered legs do no-one any favors, especially short legs; and skinny-jeans will work with high-heels but not flats. Your trouser length is critical as it can either make or break the illusion of height. Avoid wearing pants which sit above the shoe, or those who swamp them. Look for length, whereby the hem covered most of your shoe, but does not touch the floor.

When it comes to jeans, boot cuts and slight flares will make you appear taller. This season’s wide-legged, fluid pants can swamp your figure unless you get the length right and choose a style that is close-fitting. The more diaphanous the garment the shorted you’ll look! Forget oversized if you are short and go for something better-fitting.

Contrary to what you may believe, longer length skirts will not give the illusion of the extra height you crave. A skirt which sits just above the knee is the most flattering. Alternatively wearing a sleek-cut maxi dress (not a maxi-skirt with volume) with a pair of high-heels, will have an elongating effect, providing the dress is of a slimming color or print.

If you have good legs, then work this season’s mini dresses. Phillip Lim’s 3.1 collection has a great slim-cut, body-elongating Beaded Paisley Dress (£480 Net-A-Porter) , as worn by top 10 American Idol contestant, Carly Smithson. Lim's monochrome Bi-color crepe maxi dress would also work wonders for creaing a taller silouette, with it's flattering bodice and slimming skirt (£695 Net-A-Porter). Remember that by combining a great dress with the perfect footwear, you can add inches to your height.