7 Tips for Petite Girls to Look Taller and Slimmer

A petite stature has its advantages. For instance, you always look younger than your actual age. But there are drawbacks as well: you need to carefully choose your clothes and accessories because an unsuccessful combination can easily "shorten" your figure and deprive it of its gracefulness.

The editors of Bright Side asked top stylists for advice on how to properly accentuate a petite stature and checked out their recommendations with the help of a charming model.

Tops and skirts

To look stunning, you mustn’t forget about maintaining the right figure proportions. Your choice of clothes plays a significant part in this. Wearing your top loose “cuts“ your figure in half, making your torso look bulkier and longer while ”shortening" your legs. It’s better to wear the top tucked into the skirt as this will highlight the waist, “lengthen” the legs, and generally make your figure more fragile and slender. Another option is to wear a cropped top and skirt set.

Belts and shoes

If you like wearing shoes or sandals that buckle at the ankle, make sure the straps match the tone of your skin. When it comes to shoes, clashing colors or bulkiness can make your legs appear much shorter. You should also avoid wide belts. The photo on the left shows a belt creating a visible horizontal line, thus making the torso look wider. Meanwhile, vertical lines (a dress without a belt, lighter-colored shoes) make us noticeably taller and slimmer.

Jackets and blazers

Petite girls shouldn’t wear voluminous or elongated jackets, suits, or blazers — they visibly shorten the legs and make the silhouette blurred and unwieldy. It is advisable to choose jackets and blazers that are small in volume, cropped, and fitted up to the waist or slightly below.

You should also be careful when it comes to choosing your bags. The best option for petite girls is a small bag of a width not exceeding 10-11 inches. The currently fashionable shopper bags are likely to make your overall image more cumbersome. If you prefer backpacks, they too should be small and have neat geometric shapes.

Cardigans

Long cardigans present an easy solution to "adding" a few inches to your height without the help of high heels. Such clothing does a perfect job of creating that all-important uninterrupted vertical line, which visibly enhances your stature. Of course, your cardigans mustn’t be too bulky or have conspicuously large details, such as sizeable patch pockets.

Dresses

Voluminous dresses look best on tall girls. When worn by miniature beauties, such items appear to “press“ the wearer’s figure down to the ground, shortening the silhouette and, in particular, the legs. On the other hand, waist-fitted sheath dresses suit petite ladies just fine, giving correct proportions and ”stretching" the silhouette upward.

Contrasts and monochromes

Contrasting colors in clothing, such as a bright top and dark bottoms, separate the figure in half, creating a pronounced horizontal boundary line that emphasizes your lack of height. In comparison, monochrome sets noticeably lengthen the silhouette. Moreover, please take note that brightly colored clothes look more voluminous: in the photos, the same sweatshirt in a different color (left) appears a little larger.

Jeans and tops

A cropped top is the perfect choice for women of small stature. Combining it with high-waisted jeans helps to significantly lengthen the legs. Another option is to wear a cropped top and skirt. Give it a try, and the results will leave you pleasantly surprised!

Model: Adelina Taktarova, Stylist: Elmira Latypova, Stylist: Anna Bazhenova, Photographer: Roman Zakharchenko

exclusively for Bright Side