Lots of fashionistas love showing off their legs in shorts and mini-dresses. Ladies with shorter legs can sometimes be the exception. If you are one of those women with petite legs, there are some things you can do to make your legs look longer.
Models often pull off an optical illusion in print ads that any lady can duplicate. When their legs look slender, they’ll look longer than what they really are. This trick will involve the use of the right footwear. Let’s begin with buying tall boots.
1. Find the Right Length
The first thing to look for in a tall boot is the right length. It’s best to look for boots that cover a good length of your legs. You don’t want ankle boots or anything that hits you mid-calf. They need to at least come up to your knee. The idea is the length of the material elongates the look of your legs. Most every fashionista will have thighs thicker than their calves, but if above your knee your thighs get significantly wider than your calves, steer clear of thigh-highs. Above the knee is fine but you don’t want a bright or light colored boot that stops and brings attention to the thickest part of your legs. This will make yours legs look shorter and chunkier.
Hearing that black is slimming is trite but true. You can pull of black tall boots in thigh highs even if you do have large thighs, just make sure the boots don’t squeeze your legs causing a bulge over top of the opening. This will attract attention to the wideness of your calves and counteract the lengthening effect of the boots.
2. Find a Slimming Fit
The second thing is to make sure the pair is slim-fitting. Baggy tall boots can make your legs look “swallowed up.” They can even make them look shorter than what they really are.
Finding a boot that fits you like a glove is simple. All you need is some measuring tape. Sometimes it’s better to shop online for boots than to go to a department store. Manufacturers list all the details like the shaft height and the opening circumference on their webpage in plain view usually. Getting all the info you need in one place can be much more efficient than watching an underpaid employee bring you out pair after pair of boots. Salesmen rarely know the measurements of each shoe off the top of their head. Keeping up with so many boots would be difficult for anyone. Even if he were to know the boots weren’t designed specifically for your leg shape, he’s likely to push you to buy them anyway because that’s what he’s trained to do.
Measuring Hints:
There are two measurements that you need to know to get a good understanding of how the boots will fit your legs before you ever place an order. First is shaft height. That’s the distance that longest part of the boots go up from the arch of the foot. So if the boot description says “15 inch shaft height” you’ll want to to take out your measuring tape and measure fifteen inches from your arch upward. Wherever the fifteen inch mark falls, that’s where the top of the boots are going to touch on your leg. Typically, they’ll also have the opening circumference listed. If the opening circumference is fourteen inches, measure from the same spot you just found around your leg. If your legs are also fourteen inches around in that spot, they should be a skin-tight fit. If your legs are any wider they’ll probably be too tight, so be careful while taking your measurements.
3. Find the Right Style
Next, keep in mind anything with a loud pattern will shrink the appearance of your legs. If your legs are short and slim overall, a loud color won’t make them look any smaller, but a neutral or light color can make them look longer. For ladies with fuller legs, darker colors are usually better for making their legs appear longer. I also recommend avoiding boots with a ton of embellishments. Too many rhinestones and studs are just like loud patterns, they will make you look wider and shorter.
4. Get a High Heel that works for You
Lastly, know that having a high heel will give the appearance that you and your legs are taller than what they really are. Stilettos are definitely sexy, but can be hard to balance in. If you are looking for more comfort, you can choose a chunky heel with no loss in the elongation benefit. The higher the heel, the longer and leaner your legs will look!
Now that you know what to look for, grab some tall boots and get ready to show off your gorgeous, longer-looking legs!
Lynette says
I’m almost 5’ tall. I’m tiny. I’ve always thought that shafts that come up to my knee would look wrong. The fact is that they mostly come up to at the edge of my knee or mid knee!
Does that give a sloppy look? I’m not interested in thigh high shafts. Last year I finally found a pair that sits right above my calf but after reading your post, maybe I CAN get away with the taller shafts.
Would love advise.