THE ALLPETITES STYLE JOURNAL

Petite Tips In A Nutshell

By Jessica Walls

Founder of AllPetites · 5'2" Petite Woman

The key piece of knowledge to dressing as a petite woman is this: you must start thinking VERTICALLY.

This is an art form. You must visually elongate yourself in the vertical direction. Avoid things which break up the vertical silhouette you are trying to create. Bringing in horizontal lines in the wrong places will be your undoing. Vertically elongating your look is not about wanting to be taller or thinner. The idea is to create balance through your clothing choices. Dressing to visually lengthen the legs is one of the most ideal ways to accomplish this.

Strategies to vertically elongate:

Wear one-piece styles like jump suits or dresses
Choose high waisted pants and skirts
Elevate the waistline with A-line, wrap, empire waist, and high belted styles
Embrace monochromatic dressing (wearing the same color or color blocking on top and bottom)
Match shoe color with pants color, or wear nude shoes with shorts or shorter skirts and dresses
Incorporate vertical details such as slits
Wear well fitted styles and consider cropped outerwear
Choose full length pants in styles such as flare, bootcut, straight, and jeggings. Try wearing them with boots!
Wear shoes with heels. Pumps and sandals are your friends.

Things to avoid:

Low rise pants, skirts, and shorts. These will make your legs look even shorter.
Cropped pants, especially wide leg cropped pants
Slouchy boots
Oversize or puffy coats
Patches, holes, and bling on jeans (a solid wash will draw the eye upward)
Pants with wide flares (if you must, try a flowy fabric to obscure the width)
Large, loud, and busy prints
Big, bulky, chunky shoes

Here is a photo showing a woman with a hem of her top that is far too low (lowering the waistline), and another hem of her pants that is too high on the leg. The visual effect is a very short leg. Don’t wear this.

Woman wearing a long patterned top with a low hemline and wide-leg cropped pants ending high on the leg, illustrating proportions that can make petite legs look shorter. — What not to wear! The hem of this top falls far too low, visually lowering the waistline, while the cropped pants end too high on the leg. Together, these horizontal breaks create the illusion of very short legs—the opposite of the elongated look we’re trying to achieve!

Here are some good examples of monochromatic dressing. The high waistline of the jumpsuit is doing a great job of making the legs look longer.

Three women wearing a coral jumpsuit, red maxi dress, and green gown with a slit, demonstrating monochromatic dressing and vertical styling. — Here are some great examples of monochromatic dressing! The elevated waistline of the jumpsuit is doing a fantastic job of making the legs look longer. The solid-colored dresses create a beautiful, unbroken vertical line, while the slit in the green dress draws the eye upward without introducing any horizontal breaks. These are excellent examples of how dressing vertically can create a beautifully balanced look!

The print of this dress below is too large – the eye is drawn to the huge print instead of the person wearing the dress.

Woman wearing a dark floral midi dress with oversized flower prints, illustrating a pattern that can overwhelm a petite frame. — The print of this dress is simply too large! Instead of drawing the eye to the woman wearing it, the oversized flowers steal all the attention. Large, busy prints can quickly overwhelm a smaller frame. Consider choosing smaller, more delicate prints that complement your proportions rather than compete with them.

YOUR PETITE SHOPPING SHORTCUT

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