clothing advice - dresses

The greatest piece of clothing for us ladies is the dress, as it magically hides the exact place where the torso ends and the legs begin. However not all dresses do this, ones that are tight all over, particularly in the bottom area, only display how low down our butts really are. The best, most flattering dresses, are ones that are tight up top, drawing the attention up, showcasing good shoulders, arms, decollete, a small waist and so forth, but flowing and billowy and from the waist down. So empire waist dresses are perfect as well as those just at the waist, but never below. As for the hem of the dress, either at the knee or a just a little higher or lower, or a maxi dress reaching all the way down to the ground.

When the weather is cooler, pair your dress, with slimming solid-black tights and black heeled boots, or other such shoe-wear. When it is summery and you are bare legged, chose skin colored shoes.

Here's our Keira Knightley in a variety of appropriate dresses.

clothing advice - top half

The biggest taboo for us ladies, is the turtle neck, this item of clothing must never be worn, unless you are camping in cold weather, and with relatives. The only way it could possible be permitted would be if it were worn with a large scarf or poncho to mask the neck part. Basically all high  necklines are bad, as they enhance the length of torso, in fact even a basic tee-shirt is not so good, as it has a highish neck line. More feminine tee-shirt versions that have some buttons in the front to be left unbuttoned are a suitable alternative the regular tee. 

The optimal neck line, is a V neck, or other such low and open necklines, as these do not have a lengthening effect. If the weather is chilly you can wear other visible clothing underneath the V-neck but in a different color. In fact a tube-top is the ultimate torso shortening top, but one needs to have supple teenage breast to pull of this bra-less, no strap clothing item on its own. Otherwise wear a tube top over a shirt for example, sort of like a corset for a great all breasts type look. 

Layering is a very necessary practice for us, as many pretty tops are too short, thus equip yourself with basic tank tops in dark hues, that are long in length for layering under everything. This under shirt or tank should always be darker then the top layer shirt. This way it creates an illusion that your top half is shorter than it is, as the eye sees the end of the lightly colored top half clothing item as the end of the torso. Which brings me to one mistake some long torsoed females make, which is to wear just a long lengthed  top, or a tunic reaching the hips or thighs. Simply put, wherever your top clothing item touches your bottom clothing item is where the eye perceive the end of the torso and the beginning of the legs. So you want this important line to be relatively high, and if your trousers and your top do not meet then you bridge the gap those basic dark long tank tops.

Regarding color and pattern, the top half of the body is where you can go all. Keep the bottom half entirely black or dark, and the top half light to draw the attention up to your face and not down to your legs. You can have fun with color and patterns here, horizontal lines the the obvious best, and jewelry is also a good idea, especially earrings. 

Coats are best long to the knee with an elegant high waist and an A line spanning from the waist down to mask where the butt ends. They should be figure hugging only in the top half. Regarding short jackets, well they look very good with a dress, however when it comes to wearing them with trousers or jeans be careful of the length, it should not be to the hip, but higher.


Another cool optical illusion is long hair, as it covers the back, hiding its true length. Say you have your hair out and it reaches half way down you back, this really mask everything going on back there! So very short hair while being good for petite females as it does enhance the neck and make them seem taller, it is not good for us as it showcases our long backs. 

Also check out clothing advice bottom half

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.