
Wearing a high-contrast belt on the natural waist shortens an already short waist. That way you’ll soften the cutting horizontal line across the body, thereby lengthening the torso in a subtle way. If you’re going to wear a belt on the natural waist with a high-contrast top, match the belt to the colour of the pants or skirt. The soft V-shape in front effectively draws the eye up and down. Soft skinny belts worn loosely around the waist so that they “dip” lower in front are an excellent way to balance out a short torso. Low-slung belts reposition the waist by lowering it, which lengthens the torso. Tying a scarf vertically so that the ends hang down, or wearing an infinity scarf, draws the eye up and down, which achieves the same effect. Wearing long statement necklaces, or necklaces with chunky pendants, visually lengthens the torso in a more suble way. Create Vertical Integrity with Accessories Tucking a top into a high-waisted skirt or pair of pants shortens a short waist even further. Short waists look best in skirts with shorter untucked tops. Untucked regular and tunic length tops effectively lengthen the torso and shorten the leg line, especially when you create a high contrast between the top and bottom. This is especially effective when you are petite with a larger bustline. V-necklines visually lengthen a short neck and short torso.

Semi tucking a top into a pair of mid or low-rise bottoms is a more subtle version of the same strategy. Regular length tops with diagonal hemsvisually lengthen the torso on the longer side, while the shorter side creates structure. Dresses with a defined natural waist can balance out the length of both a short and a long torso. Wearing dresses and tops with a dropped waist lengthens the torso because it draws the eye downwards. Wear Garments with a Dropped or Natural Waist Wear Mid or Low-Rise Jeans and Trousersĭropping the position of the waistband to below the natural waist visually lengthens the torso and shortens the leg line. For this to work you must showcase the waistband of the jeans or trousers by tucking or semi tucking the top. But what it actually does it hide the waist and create a different cutline across the body. This sounds counter-intuitive because you might imagine the empire cut will raise the waist, shortening the torso even further. A solid dress is an easy way to wear a column of colour. The column masks where your torso ends and legs begin. This means wearing the same colour on the top and bottom, or wearing a top that creates a very low contrast against the bottom. The wrong bra can make a short-waisted person seem even more short waisted, especially with a larger bust. Make sure you’re wearing the right bra size and are adequately supported. The right bra lifts the bust, creating a waistline while smoothing out the silhouette. Interestingly, the first three tips work equally well to shorten a long torso. They are also focused on creating conventionally flattering proportions, which might not be your style goal. But the guidelines do provide a solid starting point if your goal is to lengthen the torso to create a more balanced visual between the top and bottom parts of your body. They’re often very general and assume that the rest of your body has typical proportions. The guidelines for dressing short-waisted bodies can be less than useful when they do not take other body modifiers into account. And you can also be short in the torso and relatively short in the leg, but this is even more rare. More rarely, you can be short in the waist but long in the body when you have a very long rise measurement. Generally, short-waisted people have relatively short torsos and longer legs. If the former is shorter by about two inches, you’re short waisted. Measure the length from hip bone to just below the knee cap. Measure the length from shoulder to hip bone.Some of my clients can only fit one hand width into this space. If you can fit less than two hand widths, you’re short waisted. Stand up straight and see if you can fit two hand widths into the space from under your bust to your natural waist. Your fingers should not be spread.There are two ways to determine whether this is the case.

You are short waisted when the distance between your shoulders and waistline is shorter than average.
