Holidays

Merry Christmas to you all lovely readers.

Georgie Thompson

Georgie is an English TV personality and sports presenter. She is an attractive female with a normal sized and voluptuous torso quite adored by sport fans, however below the reporting desk she has extremely short legs, almost dwarf like which are rarely viewed by the public. She is also just five feet tall and is "addicted to high heels"

Interestingly, she owns a dachshund, those long dogs with extremely short legs, and you know what they say about dog's and their owners...(they look alike, and that people unconsciously choose a dog that looks like them).

Nonetheless Georgie was voted as 52nd sexiest women alive by FHM magazine a few years ago.

Gwyneth Paltrow

I like Gwyneth, despite quite a lot of people not liking her, so I am overjoyed to discover she too has our sort of physique, some of you even said my body proportions are like hers. The reason I had not noticed her lengthy torso is that one, she always wears very high heels, and two, it appears her legs are longer from ankle to knee, and shortish from the knees to hips. These long shins of her's give the appearance of lengthy legs, when she wears dresses.

When Gwyneth is with her children however, she chooses sensible shoes and clothes, and this is when we can glance at her true proportions, which are not extreme but nonetheless a lengthy torso with medium legs.

By the way that bikini of her's is very wrong for her body type, it's too tiny and too low down, she needs to chose a higher rise bottom, other then that her fashion choices have been quite good, she does mask her proportions quite well.

Marilyn Monroe

Ah Marilyn Monroe, a vision of beauty and sexiness, the ultimate beloved icon!

And yet, she might as well be the Lady Short Legs, or at least the pin up for Lady Short Legs. By today's standards she is indeed considered short legged and plump, however she is nevertheless still adored. In this article the writer speaks of "Monroe's unruly breasts, her wide bottom, short legs, cellulite-dappled thighs and rounded, womanly stomach" I find the article a bit vulgar, nonetheless we can take pride in having the body of one of the most desired women of modern time. 

brave reader 2

Here is our brave reader number two, she says: "Many of the women you have posted have very long, lovely legs!  Or perhaps that's just compared to me.  I have very, very short legs.  My inseam is 23 inches, and my full height is five feet and one inch.  I've always heard that dreaded comment from friends: "You have a great torso BUT....your legs are too short."  Oh, I know.  I've forever hoped that I'd have a miraculous growth spurt and catch up with my peers at their 5'8'' or 5'9'' statures.  But no, I've always been the small one.  My short legs make it impossible to "work" an outfit like my long-legged friends.  I've been left in their shadows for far too long (Figuratively and literally)! Of course, I'm the short one in the photos.  I kept some of my friends in for contrast."

Dear reader, by looking at the photos I can see you are indeed short, however, your proportions appear close to balanced, your legs are not "very, very short", only a little bit short, it's your overall height that is petite. In fact your proportions are almost the same as your tallest friend where both of you are on the beach, with her everything is long (torso & legs), with you everything is shortish (torso & legs). Besides you have a nice body, slim yet curvaceous, with a very pretty face (I've seen it), so stop your insecurities.

I think in many cases we see ourselves much more disproportionate then we truly are, that is how it is with me, and the first photo submitter and you too.

edita vilkeviciute

I adore discovering successful models, who have more normal proportions like us, and I know you enjoy reading about them too, as it's an extra special boost of comfort and confidence. Here is Edita, a model from Lithuania, who does a lot of fashion shows and has an abundance of major campaigns in her resume. I think I first noticed her proportions in the all-white photo with Alessandra, and from there I found more photos to support my opinion, that she is not particularly long legged, in fact I would say she has a slightly long torso and normal legs. Take note that in all the photos she is wearing high heels, but her longish torso is nonetheless noticeable. In the last candid beach photo, she is obviously not wearing high heels and one can see her proportions are not otherworldly.

brave reader 1

Here is our first brave reader to share images of herself with us. We shall call her "photo submitter 1" and she writes:
"I have forever been self-conscious as the result of a comment my voice teacher made once about my "disproportionately short legs." I'm not sure about the angles at which some of these were taken, though I am on stage in the one with jeans, thus the photograph was taken from the audience at a lower level."

Dear photo submitter 1, you have a great body and that blue dress of yours is gorgeous and entirely ideal for the LSL type of body as it visually raises the level where the legs begin. The tight dresses do flatter your slim and feminine waist, however they do show that your hips are a little bit lower down then average, and I mean only slightly, and only if I am looking at you in a critical manner. Otherwise you appear close to normal. However looking at the photo in which you are wearing jeans you appear very long legged, due to the low flattering angle. Really you have nothing to be insecure about.

Jodie Foster

Here is Jodie Foster in a number of dresses and we can see how short legged she is, especially in the photo from behind. When looking at the image of when she was a young teen she appears to be quite long legged, making me wonder how it is that her proportions changed.

Does it have to do with how our buttocks sag with age, making the back appear longer and legs shorter? I am not saying Jodie has a saggy butt (well its normal for her age), but I can certainly say that about myself. When I look at myself in full length in profile (from the side), it's my butt that separates the back from the legs, and my butt being flat and not perky it does bring down the length of the back. However when I flex my butt, thus brining it up, my torso is suddenly shorter. In conclusion I think it can do wonders to work on your buttocks to make them perky and raised.
I will perhaps include a photo of myself from the side as evidence.

height & leg poll

As suggested by one of our readers:
What would you rather be?

Very short like Kylie Minogue, but with proportionally long legs
or
Tall like Keira Knightley, but with relatively very short legs?

more elongating tips

Here is a video I found with tips to elongate legs, it's was made this past summer, but the tips are timeless. Here is the link.

measurements & proportions

Quite a number of you have asked me whether you are proportioned or if your legs are short. Here is an optimal at home method for measuring your trunk and leg proportions (Anthropometric).


This method is called The Cormic Index (Sitting Height):
1. Sit on the floor by a wall, with legs straight out and flat.
2. Have your bottom, back, shoulders and head straight and touching the wall, and your eyes gaze forward, and sit as high as you can.
3. With a hard book, or box placed on the top of your head, have someone make a small marking with a pencil underneath the book/box, or just keep holding the book/box. It is best to have someone assist.
4. Measure the distance from the floor (where you were sitting) to the pencil marking on the wall or to where the book/box is still being held. This is your sitting height, in other words the length of your body.
5. You can measure your total height as well if you are not aware of it.

With these measurements you can determine how long your legs are, by subtracting the sitting height from the total height.

My measurements are:
Height: 175cm  (69 inches)
Torso: 90cm      (35.5 inches)
Legs: 85cm        (33.5 inches)

Leg ratio 48%
Sitting height ratio: 51%

Apparently the average woman has legs that are at least 45% of her total height. 48% and up is considered aesthetic and preferred. You can figure this out by dividing your leg length over total height. (You multiply this by 100 to have a whole number if you wish)

To determine your torso proportions do the same as above but with the sitting height

One knowledgeable commenter went into great detail in this post here.
" If your torso ratio is .52 or .53, you are completely within the normal range, and also very average too by the way. You should have a longer torso than your legs by the way, most humans do. If you're below .52, then you have very long legs for your torso. Usually, only some select Africans and Aborigines from Australia have ratios below .52. Africans and aborigines can have averages of .49 to .50 although the range of their ratios will follow other human populations."

I also found this quote in one study: "The mean Cormic Index for European and Indo-Mediterranean populations is about 0.52. Africans have proportionally longer legs, in general, with ratios around 0.51. Asian and Far Eastern populations have proportionally shorter legs and means of 0.53-0.54 (Pheasant, 1986)."

However I do not entirely understand how the sitting height can be used as a torso height, as it includes the neck and head as well? And according to all of this my proportions are in fact normalish. However I am not entirely convinced.
How are you all proportioned?

Lastly, legs which are 1.4 % (Nicole Kidman ) of the total height are regarded as perfect.




More info:
Valdosta University Georgia USA sitting height data
Another measuring method video
Feminine Beauty site

AnnaLynne McCord

AnnaLynne McCord is a young Television starlet, who I know form her role in Nip/Tuck, and is currently one of the leads in the new 90201 series, prior to acting she was a model. AnnaLynne has a feminine long torso, with a beautiful waistline.

Take notice how the position of the camera has some effect on body proportions, if a photo is taken from higher up, her legs appear even shorter (striped bikini), whereas if the camera is positioned lower to the ground, the torso is shortened by way of perspective. Therefor if you would like your legs to appear longer have the person photographing you crouch on the ground

message

Hello Ladies,
Just want to apologize for being away from the blog for quite some time (started a new job), however I have been reading and enjoying all your comments, and there are two great ideas I plan to follow through regarding the sharing personal photos and related experiences. And secondly sorry for changing the background so much, I keep trying to find the Lady Short Legs look, and am not entirely sure I know what it is yet. This one is ok for the time being.
Love ya all.

not just ladies

There are men with long torso just like us females, take for example Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, his torso is endlessly long, thus being the ultimate swimmers body. However  I could not find a full length photo of him besides an ugly wet suit one. All the focus is on his magnificent torso.
I sometimes envision myself being an athlete, with this torso and lengthy arms I have, I could be an Olympian too, if only my parents had signed me up for swimming classes.

Here is a humorous write up by a man on the topic of freakish extend-o-matic torsos.

However I don't think there is an actual medical "long torso syndrome"

more Alessandra

Here are more photos of Alessandra Ambrosio from some recent shows at Fashion Week. The top photo is especially relevant to our blog as her proportions are very visible.

model torso

Update: Found a better photo.
Here is Alessandra Ambrosio in a recent Dolce & Gabbana fashion show, she is in the front row second from the right. They appear to all be wearing the same footwear, thus we should be able to properly compare the models with one another. I do feel Alessandra's legs are a little shorter, and torso a little longer then the other girls.

Polls?

There has been talk of having Polls on this blog, to survey and compare the prorpotions of the celebrities/subjects of Lady Short Legs. There could be two types of polls:

-One would be included in every post, questioning how the lady in question is proportioned. Meaning is she (in your opinion);
normal legs with normal torso
normal legs with long torso
short legs with long torso
short legs with normal torso

-The second type of poll, would be comparing two celebrities who are of similar height or build, for example Rachel Bilson with Christina Ricci, or Keira Knightley with Paris Hilton, or Jessica Simpson with Hayden Panettiere, and so on.

You can now vote in the poll to the right to let me know how you feel.

nicole scherzinger

  

I have always considered Nicole Scherzinger as having a nice waist and stomach, and now it ties together, her legs are a bit on the short side, and her torso is beautifully feminine. In her music videos and her general style, focuses quite a bit on her stomach area, showcasing her lovely torso, perhaps we too should take example and not try hide our proportions all the time, but put them proudly on display once in a while. 

Lily Aldridge

Our Victoria's Secrete mystery beauty has been identified at last by one of our observant readers. Her name is Lily Aldridge, and although she looks Brazilian, or Spanish or something exotic of that sort she is in fact from Los Angeles. She has started working regularly with Victoria's Secret and is on the rise.
She is apparently 5'8" or 5'9", and by observing more photos of her, I feel she is not as disproportionate as we first believed (it must have been the clothes), however I still feel she is not long legged like say Gisele, instead being normalish, or a little bit long torsoed.