How to dress if you're petite

It’s not easy to dress in up-to-the-minute fashion when you’re only around the 5-foot mark, but there are ways of dressing fashionably to get the illusion of height. Here are our dos, don’ts and tips.
  

Dos
- Clothes in the right size! 
- High-waisted, figure-hugging trousers. If you wear low-rise trousers, make sure they’re not too short
- Short jackets if you haven’t got a big bust, and longer, looser coats if you have

- High-heeled boots and minis

- Short dresses and skirts 

- Cut-away swimming costumes

- Heels, but not excessively high ones (5cm max)

- Monochrome tops and trousers (similar shades flatter petites)

- Small, preferably vertical prints and motifs 

- Belts the same colour as your skirt or trousers

- Little accessories

- Long dresses that fall below your knees

- Oversized trousers that hide your shoes

- Bermudas and shorts

- Built-up wedge heels that make your figure look out of proportion

- Thigh boots

- Shoes that break up the line of your leg, such as sandals with a strap over the ankle

- Huge bracelets and glasses: stay in proportion with your size!

- Tops that clash with your bottom half and cut your silhouette in two

- Horizontal stripes

 

- Wear open gilets 

- Wear buttoned shirt dresses

- Tie long, dangling skinny scarves loosely round your neck

- Emphasise other features such as your shoulders or décolleté to draw attention away from your lack of height

- Put your hair up in a bun or wear a headband to elongate your top half