Petite Boot Tips

Boots that work well for petite women:

• Booties
• Ankle Boots
• Knee high boots
• Over the knee boots

For ankle boots, it is important to pay attention to shaft height.  Keeping the ankle boots right at or just below the ankle bone really helps elongate the frame.  Higher shafts on ankle boots start to visually cut off your legs and make the legs look shorter.

Knee high boots are a gorgeous option that are fantastic for us petite gals! However, it is fraught with challenges.  We must find a shaft height that hits right under the knee.  But when you’ve got short legs, this is difficult.  If you can find a boot with a shaft height under 15.5 inches, give it a try – especially if your petite body type has long legs.  If your legs are short, (like mine)  a 14-15 inch shaft would be much better.  Finding a knee high boot with a shaft of 15 inches or less is very challenging – look very carefully at the boot description for its shaft height.  Many times the shaft height will increase as the shoe size increases, so this is something to keep in mind as well.

Boot circumference is another detail that should not be skipped.  For example, I have small calves, and oftentimes narrow calf boots are still too large for me.   I have come across boot companies that make extra slim options, but finding a short enough shaft is a challenge!  If you have wide calves, be sure to measure to determine if the boots will be spacious enough.

As for over the knee boots, these boots can visually elongate the legs and look great with a shorter dress or skirt.

Boots to avoid:

• Slouchy boots
• Bulky or chunky boots
• Midcalf boots

As with your shoes, choose boots with pointed toes and either nude colors or colors that match your pants.

Here is a photo of midcalf slouchy boots.  This is just not going to work!