Dressing for shorter legs | How to wear culottes

I love culottes although I know a lot of people with shorter legs would avoid them like the plague, but the key is to go for high-waisted to elongate your legs and choose your shoes wisely. Wear with a pair of black ankle boots such as these, which meet the trousers at the hem. This means your legs won’t appear to ‘stop’ where the culottes end et voila, no short leg problems!

I’m all for dressing in whatever you want and choosing to follow whichever trends you fancy, whatever shape/size you are but if you happen to struggle with #shortlegsproblems like me, give these a go. Just remember the key is to extend the appearance of your legs either at the top or bottom. If not both!

Do you have any tips on dressing for shorter legs?

So here’s my top 5 tips

1. Go for high-waisted. If you can, if you’re comfortable in high-waisted then having the top of your trousers/skirt/ shorts higher up will give the illusion that your legs go on for longer. A high-waisted skirt also means no-one knows where your legs end, again making them look longer.
2. Wear boots or heeled shoes. During the winter I wear heeled boots 90% of the time. Even my ‘flat boots’ have at least a 1 inch ‘heel’. Although you will catch me in loafers or trainers on the odd. Not a shocker, wearing heels literally makes you higher off the ground, obviously giving the illusion of longer legs.
3. AVOID:

•  Boots which stop at your calf (e.g those Yeezy sock boots the whole world is wearing /replicating) – these will cut your legs off and make them look as though they finish at this point!
• Low rise jeans/trousers paired with ankle grazers – absolute no-go when trying to make legs look longer. You’re essentially taking the length of your legs and ‘cutting’ them off at each end to make them as short as possible. Stick with one or the other.
• When wearing heels and bare legs, try to avoid ankle straps. An open heel will elongate your legs where as an ankle strap will cut it shorter.

4. If you’re wearing a long-line top, try tucking a section of the front in. Whilst the long top covers more of your legs, tucking it in and showing where your waist is brings back some length to your legs.

5. Wear the same coloured jeans/trousers as your shoes. E.g black jeans and black boots. Over the knee boots have the same effect. As there is no clear finish between your legs and your feet it will give the illusion your legs go on forever (one can dream).