How to Dress to Look Taller: 10 Essential Petite Style Tips & Tricks

1. Go for a crop top

For girls who don’t have long legs or if your legs are quite short relative to your torso, what you can do is wear a crop top instead of long tops.

You can also tuck your top inside your pants to create the illusion that you have a shorter torso and longer legs.

2. Fold up your jeans

The next tip is for girls who love to wear skinny jeans. What you can do is just fold your jeans up at the bottom, which will create the illusion that your legs look longer.

3. Opt for dark wash jeans

Replace your light wash jeans with dark wash jeans, as these will make your legs appear slimmer and visually lengthen them.

4. Choose your rise carefully

If you have a longer torso, then wear a high-rise cut. If you have a shorter torso and longer legs, then go for a mid-rise cut, which will then make your body seem more proportional.

5. Monochrome

Keep in mind that when a person is looking at you, they see you from top to bottom in a single line. Monochrome plays an important role in not breaking the line of vision.

Think of it in the following way - if you placed a yellow box on top of a black box, then there will be a breakpoint in the middle, but if you place two black boxes on top of each other, it will create a lengthier look that isn’t broken up.

Monochrome, therefore, makes things look taller than they actually are.

6. Footwear choices

For footwear, I recommend going for shoes with a pointed toe rather than a round one. Pointed-toe shoes help to create the appearance of longer legs.

Another tip is to go for transparent and nude shoes rather than colored ones. These types of shoes will blend in with your feet and, once again, create the appearance of added height.

7. The right length jacket

If you add a jacket to your outfit, then it should end at the lowest part of your waist. This is much more flattering for petite women than wearing a cropped jacket that will emphasize your short height.

You could also go for a long jacket, like this long shirt that I’m wearing, to help create lengthy proportions in your outfit.

8. Long pants

The next tip is to opt for a pair of long, flowy pants that fall all the way to the ground.

9. Vertical stripes

In case you’re wondering how to wear stripes, choose vertical ones instead of horizontal ones. The obvious reason is because horizontal stripes make you look wider, whereas vertical stripes make you look longer.

If you do want to wear horizontal stripes, you can, but they should be very thin.

10. Flowy skirts

If you want to wear a skirt, it is preferable to wear a flowy one rather than one in a bodycon style. Even if you have nice slim legs, a bodycon skirt can make your body look thick and small.

On the other hand, with a flowy skirt, your legs will look thin in comparison to the volume of the skirt.

The same rule goes for shorts. If you are wearing shorts that are very tight on your thighs, that can make your legs look shorter.

If you go for shorts in a more A-line shape, it will make it look like you have a very thin waist, and the looser fit on the thigh area will make your legs look longer.

How to dress to look taller

There we have 10 petite style tips! If you are petite, I hope you find these tips helpful and keep them in mind when getting dressed.

Following my advice will ensure that your body looks proportional, and it will also give you the illusion of added height. Just remember that there is nothing wrong with being petite, as they say - good things come in small packages!