Fashion Tips for Shorter Women
Dress for Your Body Shape – How to Lengthen Short Legs
Careful thought to hemlines, cuts, colors, styles and prints can do wonders for elongating your body. Not to mention the benefits of a pair of sexy stilettos!
How many times have you looked at the lanky models on the fashion runways and wished you had that extra inch or two? There is no doubt that if you have skyscraper legs and the stature of a basketball player, haute couture looks great on you!
Whilst we can’t all be willowy waifs like super models Kate Moss and Gisele Bündchen, you can learn to make the most of your body shape by cleverly making yourself appear taller.
Women's Fashion Tips for Lengthening Short Legs
Trousers and Pants
- If you have chosen your cut well, then trousers are your new best friend. They can also be your biggest enemy if you have opted for the wrong style. Tight trousers are a no-no and drainpipe or cropped trousers will make you look like a Hobbit!
- Fully-flared trousers and wide legged pants, just covering the shoe, will give the illusion that you have the leg length to rival Kate Moss.
- The most important thing when wearing trousers is to consider where the hemlines actually end. If they fall short of the ankle then they will give the impression of an even shorter leg and will make you look short and dumpy.
- Make sure you take advantage of this season’s trend in wide legged pants, wear them long and flowing and it will add inches to your stature.
- The current trend for Matador high waistbands will also lengthen your legs. Pinstripe trousers can also give you extra height.
Dresses and Skirts
- Empire line dresses are great as the waistband falls just under the bustline and creates a greater expanse of leg length. Make sure dresses end just above or below the knee, and not at your calves, chopping your leg into two pieces.
- Surprisingly, a maxi dress can also be very flattering as they disguise the legs and can lengthen them, with the right close-fitting cut. You can then hide a pair of high heels underneath giving you the extra height to carry it off.
- Choose skirts that flatter the legs rather than fight against them. This means avoiding calf lengths, which cut your legs in half, unless you can combine them with high-heeled boots of a similar color. Skirts which end just below the knee leave a large expanse of leg on show, creating maximum length.
Tops
- Very long tops worn over trousers or leggings give the impression of longer legs. "It is likely that if you have short legs, you’ll have a long back to compensate," say Trinny and Susannah authors of What Not To Wear (Weidenfeld Nicolson Illustrated 2004) “Your expanse of torso needs to be broken up with layering, which will automatically make your legs look longer.”
- Avoid short cropped tops exposing a bare midriff as this serves to emphasize your lack of leg.
- V-necks will make your body look taller too, as well as being the most flattering neckline for your bust.
Jackets and Coats
- Aim for long-line coats and jackets which show off as much leg as possible, rather than shorter cropped ones. Wear three-quarter length coats with heels to give you the extra height you need to carry them off.
Swimsuits
- High cut swimsuits will lengthen your legs. So will side string tie bikini briefs. Boys shorts will only serve to make your legs look chunky.
Colors and Prints
- When wearing trousers make sure you combine the same color socks and shoes as your pants. This serves to elongate legs by providing a single color block.
- Avoid tops and skirts/pants which have a big contrast in colours e.g. black and red. Similar colour tones or a one colour block will add extra inches.
- Verticle stripes on your lower body will serve to elongate the leg. Horizontal stripes will shorten them even more.
Shoes
- Avoid flat shoes with long skirts and maxi dresses at all costs. Ballet flats can look great teamed with mini dresses, but wear them only with dresses and skirts which finish above the knee.
- Go for pointed, feminine style toed shoes rather than rounded or squared ones, which will make you look chunky.
- Stylish and sexy stilettos will lengthen and flatter your leg and can be teamed with any outfit. Tottering round all day in a pair of Manolo Blahnik 5½-inch killer heels may be impractical, so choose a heel which gives you enough height that you can walk comfortable and confidently and save those killer heels for partying. A heel of at least 1½ inches will give you enough of a lift and still make you look slimmer.
- Use high-heeled boots to lengthen the leg when wearing a below the knee dress or skirt. But make sure they are the same color as your outfit to provide that block of color.
Handbags
- Short legs require bags and purses which are leg-lengthening, lanky styles rather than wide chunky ones. Go for something long and structured and avoid large oversized totes.
The copyright of the article Fashion Tips for Shorter Women in Women’s Fashion is owned by Gill Hart. Permission to republish Fashion Tips for Shorter Women must be granted by the author in writing.
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