One-piece garments such as dresses, jumpsuits, and rompers can make a short person look taller because the continuous colors or prints can create a vertical line that lengthens your frame.
Compared with a separate top and bottom, a one-piece outfit does not emphasize where your torso and legs are divided, which makes it much less noticeable if you happen to have short legs.
This might sound surprising to you at first, but maxi dresses actually can look very flattering on shorter women.
One of the key factors in styling short girls is to create a column of colors. Because of its continuous color and pattern, a maxi dress can effectively elongate your body frame. For short girls, solid colors or small prints are your best choice.
The reason is shorts make it too obvious where your legs start, whereas skirts make it much less noticeable.
That is why skirts paired with heels are always a good choice for women who want to look taller.
Be very careful with large prints, especially if they are on longer garments such as maxi dresses or maxi skirts.
Large prints may look too busy and overwhelm a short person. It is critical to go with prints in proportion to your height.
The shorter your skirts or dresses, the higher they will draw the eyes, thus making your legs look longer.
Of course, that is not to say you should always go in the shortest dress you can find. You should balance out a short skirt with a less exposed top for a tasteful outfit and avoid a suggestive look.
Midi skirts and midi dresses are one of the hottest trends right now, but unfortunately, they are not the best length for someone who wants to look taller.
The reason is the midi length is quite awkward in that it is not short enough like the mini length to show your legs and nor is it long enough like the maxi length to create the unbroken vertical line needed by a shorter woman.
The midi-length can also draw attention to the mid calves, which are typically not the most slender part of our legs, therefore they are the least flattering length for most women.
If you want to look taller, then going high waist on any bottom is the best way to elongate your legs.
Doing so will create the illusion of a shorter torso and longer legs, thus it is very flattering for women who want to appear tall.
Ankle pants seem to be an easy option for women with shorter legs, but they are actually one of the worst pants if you are short. When you wear ankle-length pants, your legs will appear cut off. That is the exact opposite of what you want to achieve if you want to look tall.
Instead, go with full-length pants and wear them with heels. That is how you can trick the eyes into believing your legs are longer.
If there is only one pair of jeans you can own in order to make you appear taller, then it has to be flare leg jeans.
In fact, every time you put on a pair of flared legs, you will notice your legs instantly appear longer. The best way to wear them is to go for a longer length and wear them with heels. When your jeans cover part of your heels, that will make your legs look even longer.
Environmental Factors That Effect HeightAnything oversized can make you appear even shorter because they create too much volume and bulkiness. That means if you are not tall, you should stay away from the ongoing trends of oversized coats, sweaters and shirts.
Instead, opt for something well-fitted. Your clothing doesn’t have to be tight to make you look good, but they just need to be fitted.
Even though it might seem just a half-inch difference in the shape of your toe, it makes a whole world of difference.
Not only the pointy toe pumps and boots can elongate your legs effectively, but also the flats with pointy toes can make you look longer as well when you are not in the mood for heels.
Low vamp shoes are those which show a little bit of toe cleavage. The lower the vamp, the less covered your feet are thus the longer your legs look. That is why these are the most flattering shoes for women who want to look taller.
Many premier shoe brands really have mastered this kind of design, which is why you get the impression that more expensive shoes make your legs look better! That doesn’t mean you have to spend over $500 on a pair of pumps. You can find some more economical brands which have similar designs.
Ankle straps make your legs look cut off. Wearing shoes without ankle straps will make you look taller.
Ankle straps make your legs look cut off. Wearing shoes without ankle straps will make you look taller.
Even though ideally we should all opt for strapless shoes, it is not easy practically, especially if you are a petite woman with smaller feet.
If you are like me, your only choice might be ankle straps, but you can opt for skinny ankle straps closer to the color of your skin.
Take me as an example. For the longest time, I almost gave up on wearing pumps, because my feet are small and short and there is no possible way to wear them without sliding out. I tried all kinds of tricks I found on google and youtube and tried all the foot paddings, glues, and so on- nothing worked.
When you wear a cropped top, the eye is going to assume your torso is only as long as the length of the top, and automatically assume the rest of your body is your legs.
There is no way for other people to tell if you are short or not unless they stand right next to you.
The eyes and brain judge if you are tall or short based on your body proportion, i.e. how long your legs are relative to your torso. Therefore, the proportion is everything. We cannot change our height, obviously, but there is a lot we can do to improve our proportion and change our perceived height.
Always use lines and proportion to trick the illusions of eyes into thinking you have shorter torso and longer legs.
Gladiator sandals have been extremely popular in recent years. Although they can look very trendy and fashionable, they are not flattering to girls with short legs.
If you have short legs, any horizontal straps will make your legs look cut off, let alone gladiator sandals with numerous straps. The worst is the tall gladiator sandals which normally are the height of tall boots but they have straps all over. They will make your legs a lot shorter than they are.