Christina Ricci

Christina Ricci, is particularly short, and has short legs as well coupled with a long torso, although short people do not automatically have a disproportionate torso/limbs ratio. For example Kylie Minogue, is quite petite, but her legs are considered long, and desirable.
Christina is demonstrating the classic to clothing problem for us Lady Short Legs readers, our cardigans, and shirts, and tops rarely meet our jeans and trousers, so we have to wear some sort of a long tank top underneath to cover that expansive mid section area.

jessica szohr

Jessica, is an actress on one of my favorite TV shows Gossip Girl. She is apparently half Hungarian, and a quarter African America decent, but she certainly did not inherit her legs from her African side. Her disproportion is not extreme, but her legs are on the short side, I noticed this while watching her on Gossip Girl, however she is very pretty, and dating hottie Ed Westwick (as far as I know) giving us all Lady Short Legs readers a nice comforting feeling.

rosie o'donnell

Here is an amusing quote from Rosie O'donnell while attending the Martha Stewart show in 2009:

RO: [Sitting down] Look how much taller I am than you.
MS: I know!
RO: It’s because I have a very long torso.
MS: I need a couple of telephone books please.
RO: When my family would go to church when we were little, everybody would think, ‘oh, my god – they’re giants.’ And then we’d stand up and we’re pretty much the same height standing as we are sitting because I’ve got a 24 inch inseam…
MS: Mine’s like 40 [inches].
RO: Well, you’re a supermodel


Rosie's figure is not one to be particularly envious of, but she is still a very cool person, and that quote is hilarious.  Oh and of course Martha's legs are not 40 inches, perhaps 36.

keira knightley jeans

I just found a great quote from our Lady Short Legs queen Keira Knightley. It's from an article in a 2004 Cosmopolitan, a bit old to be considered news, but it's always relevant for us. Keira was nineteen at the time, and here is what she said:

"Jeans are always too long on me because I have a long torso and short legs, but Diesel makes great jeans for people with my body type. I also love Seven Jeans. They are unbelievable."

Hayden Panettiere & Shorts

Hayden Panettiere, is quite petite, and has very short legs as well, as pointed out by one of our readers.  In these photos above, her disproportion is clearly visible, she almost looks like a little person/midget. However she is attractive and considered sexy by most people, who don't notice her disproportion.

Here is a link with advice on how to wear shorts, and a photo of Hayden's legs looking proportioned thanks to her choice of clothing.

korean legs

Here is a fun post on Pop Seoul, a website dedicated to Korean celebrities. In this particular post titled "Short Legs Unite", they showcase before and after photographs of female Korean stars, and the Photoshop that has been used on their legs. Asian cultures generally do have short legs, so for them the fantasy of long legs is even more desirable and extream, hence the exaggerated lengthy legs in the after images.

alessandra ambrosio

This is our third Victoria's Secret model with a long torso, and this one is even an Angel!

Brazilian Alessandra Ambrosio's disproportion can be clearly seen in these photos. Interestingly I never noticed her long torso until yesterday, while I was searching for our mystery model in the previous post. However now that I am aware, I can't stop seeing it.

Therefor I can conclude this advice: don't ever tell anyone of your physical faults, as that will only draw attention to them, and then people will primarily focus on your problem area. People generally don't notice things on others, as much as they do on themselves. I am quite tall for example, and to everyone "tall" is synonymous with "long legs", however my height comes from my torso, not my legs, but most people don't notice that, so I don't tell them.

victoria's secret model

An astute reader of Lady Short Legs brought my attention to a model that we don't know the name of yet, but she is quite an exotic beauty.

"In the new Victoria's Secret catalog (the Spring 2010 Casual) there is pictured a lovely brunette model with a very long torso and short legs. She is on pages 13 and 17, and perhaps she is also shown elsewhere. I thought her addition was a refreshing detour from the perpetually long-legged models that are constantly showcased in that catalog."

In these images she does appear to have quite a long torso coupled with short legs, however it is not certain, as it could be that she is wearing the trousers very very low. I will be on the look out for a full body shot of her in a bathing suit, to truly determine if she is indeed proportioned like us. 


Images via Victoria's Secret.

clothing advice - bottom half

I began this blog because I am afflicted with the short legs/long torso thing, and could not find a site specifically focused on our issue, so I thought to start one myself. Here is my best advice that I have gathered over the years and experienced and tested on myself:

BOTTOM HALF DO'S:
My greatest advice is to wear all black on the bottom half of your body as this color lengthens, and narrows and distracts. Thus your shoes, socks, tights, leggings, skirts, trousers and so forth should be ideally all black, or at least a similar color like navy, brown, gray etc...

Try to wear some sort of a high heel, obviously spiky four/five inch stilettos are unreasonable, who wears those, I certainly don't. But a wedge, or a sturdy stacked heel by a brand that focuses on comfort is a very good idea. During summer when your legs are bare choose shoes that are nude colored to match you skin town. During winter tall boots reaching your knee or higher and very flattering, however never buy boots that are lower than the knee, either mid calf or those cute looking ankle booties.

Never ever wear pedal pushers, or capris, or cropped pants as this drastically shortens you legs. Thus either wear short shorts, (never below the knee) or long pants/trousers that touch the ground. Regarding waist lines, those low waisted jeans that sit at the hips or lower are extremely unflattering for us girls, so higher waisted ones are much better, but be careful to not go too high in the waist as that can draw attention to the problematic long back area.

When it comes to skirts, don't choose pencil or narrow tight skirts as this shows how low your rear end really is, so it is better wear high waisted skirts (at your belly button) that are very puffy, almost like a ballerina tutu, or like skirts of the 1950's which become an almost complete circle when you spin around. This way people are tricked into thinking our legs are long, and our behind quite high up. Also regarding skirts, A-line skirts are fine too, but stay away from dropped waistlines, the ones that are tight through the waist and buttocks, but then fan out. These can make a woman's behind look voluptuously nice, but this style will only accentuate a long back, shorten the legs even further.

My primary outfit of this winter is high heeled black boots reaching the knee, black thick wool/nylon tights, and winter short shorts, in black.

model torso

Model Marisa Miller is known for her toned body, and large natural breasts which are usually showcased on Victoria's Secret or in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. She does also have quite a long torso, which gives that tight flat stomach, while her legs are of average length. I would not say they are short, but they certainly are not long legs.

Imagine ladies, if a girl with a long torso is accepted in the fashion/modeling industry, it really is confidence inducing for us.