Women with above or below average body height often have difficulties shopping: on very tall women, off-the-shelf items of clothing quickly look too short, while petite women in disadvantageously cut clothing look even smaller. Read here what both figure types pay attention to when styling and which looks you should avoid. Prominent women know how to skilfully conceal small vulnerabilities: actress Julianne Moore can hardly be seen at events and fashion shows that she is only 1.60 meters tall and belongs to the small women. With clever styling methods, even small women look fashionable – and visually – very big.
In the same way, even very tall women can dress skillfully if you follow a few fashion rules. While most dream of feet that are several meters long, they become a problem for women with an above-average body size: many items of clothing make their wearer appear disadvantageously lanky or ensure disproportionate body proportions. If you want to avoid disadvantageous clothes and bad purchases as a very big or small woman in the future or are looking for new outfit inspiration, we will show you the most important styling rules here.
Styling for tall women – the do’s and don’ts
If you are taller than 1.80 meters, you have probably already encountered involuntary flood pants, crop tops or mini dresses when shopping, which should actually be maxi dresses. Most of the clothing from popular fashion retailers are much too short or, despite the correct length, have inappropriate proportions. Nevertheless, there are also trend pieces and cuts that look particularly good on tall women. Here we explain which items of clothing shouldn’t be missing from tall women in the closet and which designs you should rather do without.
Styling do’s for tall women
Maxi length: While dresses and skirts in maxi length quickly become a stumbling block for normal to small women, tall women can wear the extra-long items of clothing wonderfully. Maxi dresses in hippie look or romantic maxi skirts made of chiffon help women over 1.80 meters to get a feminine look and can be styled with ballerinas, sneakers or loafers for everyday use. Even tall women with strong legs are attracted so well because the length of the lower part plays around the legs.
Long pants: Tall women are lucky enough to be able to wear any shape of pants without looking disadvantageous in them. They particularly like figure-hugging skinny pants or straight-leg jeans, which emphasize the legs and make them look almost endless. Models with wide legs like culottes, flared trousers or boyfriend trousers also suit tall women. For classic trousers, however, as a tall woman, you should definitely choose a special long size so that pleated trousers made of fabric for serious business outfits do not look like a shortened cropped model. Pants with flared, loose-cut legs like Marlene pants are ideal for tall, very slim women who want an hourglass silhouette. Styling trick: For well-balanced proportions, you should choose a figure-hugging top with loose trousers.
Eye-catching details: tall women quickly look masculine in sporty or androgynous clothing. If you want to avoid this, feminine styles such as flounce tops, floppy blouses, pleated skirts or floral clothing are just right. Blouses, shirts and tops with ruffles also visually shorten the upper body.
Waist belt: trench coats , dresses with waist lacing or a narrow belt on the waistband subdivide the silhouette and make the body size appear balanced. Basically, cuts and accessories that cause a break in the body course are particularly advantageous for tall women. A waist belt tied around coats, dresses or trousers defines the figure and places an accent on the middle of the body.
XL accessories: As a tall woman, you can let off steam with accessories as you please. While smaller women can quickly be overwhelmed by an XL-sized clutch, you can carry large handbags just fine. The same applies to scarves, shawls and statement chains: the bigger the better!
Large-scale patterns: Clothes with striking patterns are easy to apply to small or medium-sized women. Not so with tall women: show courage to extravagant, large prints such as large checks, block stripes, geometric shapes and flower prints.
Styling do’s for little women
Short trousers : 7/8 length trousers are usually of normal length for small women, and regular length trouser legs are much too long. Use special short sizes to avoid frustrating experiences when buying trousers. These special sizes are not only available from high-priced special brands, but also from affordable labels such as Topshop, H&M or Boden Direct.
Vertical stripes: While horizontal stripes tend to cheat a few kilos more on the hips, vertical stripes on blouses, dresses and the like are an easy way to cheat yourself a bit bigger and slimmer.
Ankle-free bottoms: If you have found a suitable manufacturer for trousers in short size , you are well advised with an optically stretching model in 7/8 length. Midi-length skirts that end just below the knee and expose the ankle area are also very beneficial for small women. Combine ankle-free pants such as loose-fitting boyfriend jeans, culottes or pleated trousers with pumps that stretch the leg even more.
Tone-on-tone: single-color outfits create a visually larger body size. Use this effect with a plain one-piece or dress. In the office, a trouser suit or costume in a uniform color makes you look larger and is also a good choice for festive occasions. With a tone-on-tone look made from a denim shirt and jeans or cream-colored trousers with a top in the same cream tone, you not only show more size, but also a flair for trends.
Pointed shoes: Pointed shoes make feet and legs look longer. You don’t always have to resort to uncomfortable high heels: pointy ballerinas, loafers or lace-ups have the same stretching effect.
Short jackets: As a small woman, you should avoid long coats. XL coats are trendy, but compress the silhouette and make dainty women look lost quickly. Instead, you are well advised to wear jackets in a short cut: short blazers, bolero jackets or short blousons ensure balanced body proportions and spice up simple outfits with patterns or striking details in an instant.
High waist: High-waisted garments balance short legs wonderfully and “move” the waist a little further up. High waist pants and skirts or empire dresses enlarge by a few centimeters. For blazers, coats and jackets, you should also make sure that they emphasize the waist.
V-neck: On tops, dresses and one-pieces, a V-neck brings a stretching effect for the upper body. A V-top looks even more advantageous in combination with a filigree, long chain that emphasizes the cleavage and additionally lengthens the upper body.
Mini cuts: If you feel comfortable in short trousers, dresses or skirts, you can also wear them with 40plus! In small women, mini skirts and dresses emphasize the legs and make the entire body look longer. Skin-colored pumps are an advantageous choice of shoes and additionally stretch the figure.
Figure-hugging clothing: Oversized cuts are comfortable, but unfortunately quickly become disadvantageous. Especially for small or curvy women, loose-fitting men’s shirts, XL knits or baggy dresses are not worn. Rather choose body-hugging dresses. If you feel uncomfortable in a tailored dress because of small love handles in the abdomen and hip region, you can wear shapewear under the dress – it puts everything in the right place and ensures a balanced silhouette. Shirt dresses with waist lacing are a comfortable solution if you like to wear your dress a little looser. Pumps or ankle boots make the casual look easy to take out.
Contents