olivia wilde, more

I have written about Olivia Wilde before, and here are a few more photos that depict her proportions. Olivia is not not short despite appearing so in the photos, she is 171cm / 5.6, but her inclinations towards being pear shaped, or bottom heavy as is common with us makes her appear so. She is a cutie regardless, her legs remind me of mine.

Man who Thinks Short Legs are Hot

I came across your blog, and I found it quite interesting. The subject of women with short legs is not something that gets touched upon much in media at all, so it was interesting to read your take on the matter.

Personally, I have frequently feared that I might be something of a weirdo (and a potential pariah, if I were to be open about my inclinations), as I happen to find short-legged women rather attractive. As far as my past girlfriends in the past have been concerned, I have always found it best to steer clear of the matter (so I might say things like "Oh, you are so hot with your flat stomach and your beautiful face and the way we like the same books and can talk about them," but I have never dared to add that I also found their short legs (in comparison to the torso) attractive, as I was afraid she might think of me as some kind of perverse deviant (or - alternately: feel overly conscious about her own body).

I keep wondering, however, whether this is the right thing to do. I know you have no authority to speak on behalf of short-legged women at large, but as far as you may feel your view is worth: what is your opinion of this dilemma - i.e., if a man actually feels (like I do, and I believe other men do as well), that short legs are a plus in a woman' sexiness department rather than a minus, would it be best for him to say that outright, or would it be better if he simply didn't mention the matter at all (since it could send the wrong signals, as in making the woman think that maybe he is just some pervert who doesn't truly love her but is merely attracted to features that she herself is uncomfortable about)?

I don't know if my letter is too rambling to make proper sense of, but if I were to try to make it less messy, my question is something like this: for those men who find short-legged women attractive, how should we communicate this viewpoint? Should we simply keep it to ourselves? Should we be open about it? Should we be open about it in general, but not mention it to our (short-legged) girlfriends in order to not make them feel uncomfortable about it (after all, one would suspect that few women would enjoy the thought of their boyfriend being attracted to them due to what many may see as some weird fetish or something)? Or the other way around? Or should one behave in some other matter entirely? Or does it all depend on the specific situation?

I don't know if you would find it interesting or worthwhile to address this matter, but *if* you do, I would surely find it interesting if you wrote a blog post about it (as in "Men who think short legs are hot: what you should say, and what you shouldn't" or whatever else may suit best). Though, of course, I would appreciate if you anonymized my own identity by referring to me by some appropriate nickname like "Does not agree with the ideals of the fashion industry" or "Thinks short legs look good" or whatever else would suit).

I realize that this blogpost suggestion may be something of an intrusion, since the website is clearly directed towards women, yet at the same time I think it may be useful to address the fact that - while our culture as large seems to celebrate women with as long legs as possible - not all men are unison in their preference for this, and to discuss the matter of how these men should best relate to the fact that their taste may (or may not) be deviant without hurting the feelings of their paramours. Even if you yourself might not have any specific feedback to make about it, perhaps your readers have relevant experiences.

Either way, I eagerly await your views if you chose to address the matter.

Yours truly
One man (among more than one might have thought) who think the long-torso/short-legs build is not at all a turn-off.


Lady Short Legs: Thank you for sharing your positive opinion. In regards to your question, I think if a woman is unaware of having short legs, then you should keep quiet, and just enjoy her beauty without mentioning the length of the legs. However if she is aware of her shortish legs, and is insecure about them by voicing this opinion to you, then by all means shower her with lower limb adoration.

When did I first Know Reader 1

I guess I had some idea from an early age because, even as a child, my mom used to comment about how difficult I was to size; my pants always needed to be hemmed. 

However, I didn't really have any context for the implications of my proportions until the age of 10.  I was invited to the birthday party of a girl who had recently started at my elementary school.  I was the only new school friend she invited, the other dozen or so party guests were all from her old school and were strangers to me.  We were doing some kind of a game seated in a circle when my "friend" blurted out for the group "Doesn't Marie look like she was cut off at the knees?".  Lovely. 

The comments continued into junior high.  Another friend told me that she had asked her mother why I was built so differently.  Her mother, who was an RN, told her that some kids have chromosomal defects that cause the growth of their legs to stunt in adolescence.  What an ignorant and hurtful remark.  It's clearly genetic; my dad and all his siblings (male and female) have similarly disproportionate bodies. 

In high school the remarks intensified.  I did have a fair amount of friends and was even at times in popular circles.  I also had some boyfriends and was viewed as "cute".  But I was also shy and sensitive and made myself an easy target for all those kids who loved to bully.  I was teased daily about my body and was called "low rider" by the meaner kids. 

I'm happy to say that the public commentary has declined in my adult years but there are still enough comments (from friends and from strangers) that I'm well aware my body hasn't actually changed.  Only the maturity of those around me has changed.  I do control what I can by keeping myself in much better shape than I was ever in as a kid, which helps to make my proportions less obvious.  I even enjoyed a few especially fit years where I was approached often with questions about my workout routine and diet and compliments about my shape.   Sadly, I've let my fitness level slip, I'm still lean but not nearly as fit, and my proportions have become more obvious again. 

To this day I am plagued by the memory of those many comments and I view myself as slightly deformed.  Though it reads as such mine is not a completely unhappy story.   I'm slowly learning to embrace other aspects of my body and to appreciate that I have always enjoyed excellent health and strength from this body.  I'm trying to take the good with the bad.  And, despite the somber tone of this email, I'm a happy (and sometimes funny) woman who is lucky enough to be surrounded by an amazing family and friends. 

I do believe that I would fit in among the more disproportionate of your readers.  I certainly hope that most, if not all, were spared the level of attention that I had to endure.  My hope is that sharing my story, will help your readers (and you) feel a bit better about their own experiences. 

Better Comments

We have a new commenting system DISQUS, which will be a great improvement to the previous. We can now reply directly to comments and have easy conversations amongst one another, without having to say "this is to the seventh anonymous commenter" and so on. You can still keep your privacy as before. Enjoy.

When Did You Know?

When did you come to the realization your proportions were different? Was it a slow development, or a distinct moment when you knew?


When I was about eleven, my legs were somewhat bowed, and since I was skinny, it was even more noticeable. A friend of mine at the time practiced ballet, and I remember how we did a leg test, you were supposed to be able to hold a paper envelope between your knees. With my feet and heels touching, and legs relaxed, there were a number of inches of air between my knees, whereas her straight legs held the paper with ease. I was not eligible for ballet!

Around that same time some, a guy once exclaimed with disgust at my crooked, knocking-knees legs, and thus I mostly wore jeans and trousers from then on, this was my first "legs" insecurity, and I had inward facing knees as well..

When I became a teen I was quite interested in fashion, and remembered reading about Elle Macpherson 44 inch legs, and I also believed I had lengthy legs since I was very tall. There I was lying on the carpet in front of our huge floor length mirror measuring my legs, and I measured them about the same 40 ish inch length. Looking back, I know I had wrongly measured with my feet and toes pointing long and forward (adding 3 or 4 inches), and not from the heel. And so for a number of years I had unknowingly deluded myself at having supreme long legs, however they were still slightly bowed, not as much as before, but I was still slightly unsure of them.

When I reached my late teens I had a very loving and wonderful boyfriend, who happened to adore my legs, he loved that they were crooked, and exclaimed at how boring straight legs were. These were the happiest times for my legs. They were toned, and I liked the length, and shape, and everything about them. (Most tops were shortish on me but I cleared it as just being tall.)

When my teenage years ended, I began to discover that my legs were not long, but slightly short for my height. There was no distinct moment, but a collection of happenings that brought it all about. I don't recall the the chronological order but here goes:

• My beloved brother, not being particularly beloved hinting at my having short legs.
• My hubby, telling me my proportions were slightly different.
• My having a baby, and the OBGYN, telling me I had a "nice long torso" with lots of room for the baby, and that being the reason why my belly never got very big. And how she (the doctor), with her petite frame and small torso had had a massive belly with her baby.
• Being told by a chiropractor I had a long torso, and a flat back. Double bad, and the reason behind my flat ass.
• Being measured by a pattern maker who calculated I had arms and torso longer then normal (I think she said by an inch or so) which explained how most sleeves were too short on me as well.
• Seeing my cousin for the first time in many years, and being shocked at how long her torso was, and coming to the conclusion that this was perhaps genetic. However my mother has long legs, so it all came from my fathers side.

Once I came to the realization I had these particular proportions, I was depressed and became obsessive at trying to hide them. I would stare at my self in the mirror with disgust. When it came to clothes all I cared about was whether I looked long torsoed or not, I did not care for pattern or color, or style. It was at this time I began this blog, because had I ravaged the internet trying to find info about this issue, and found so little that I decided to create my own. And the blog has attracted many more readers then I ever expected, and has been a healing process for me, I am no longer unhappy about my proportions, and I discovered they are not as extreem as I believed.


Would love to hear your stories.

Loony Comments

We get quite a lot of comments on here, and I do read them all with great enjoyment, and I have picked out some of the more unique ones. These are insightful and amusing and some slightly wacky. Is that really the reason Asians have longer torsos? Do our limbs stop growing at the onset of menstruation?


“Bloody hell, I'm looking at this pic of all these top models and thinking I see proportionally leggier girls every day at the train station lol.”

 “Anytime you lose weight, it makes the torso look less big and the legs look longer. You can really see it in extreme cases. For example, the morbidly obese always look like they have very short stubby legs. When they lose weight, it seems like their arms and legs grow longer.”

“Sometimes, I think it's what us, women, prefer or like in ourselves. Like long painted nails, eyebrow shapes/plucking, huge hooped earrings. All very intense intra-gender competition.”

“A guy friend once remarked to me that a short waisted girl often looked under developed to him kind of pre-pubescent girl. And it's true, while the limbs grow prior to puberty, it's during puberty that the torso grows and becomes more womanly.”

“When we grow, our long limbs grow first (our legs and arms) and then our spine last. Actually in women, usually after our first period, the only part of our body that grows vertically is our spine. This is why pre-teens are often quite leggy and gangly looking.”

“The angle of women's legs from the hips can actually make women's legs look longer than they are from the front.”

“Asians usually have a long torso due to their vegetarian style since ancient times. They have long intestines to digest vegetables which makes their torso long.”

“About longer intestines, I've read an article about it on an Asian website, regarding the difference between Agricultural Tribe (East-Asians) and Hunting Tribe (Europeans). It is same as animals, such as Goat and Lion. Goats have long intestines to digest leaves.”

“The Hunting Tribe had to have shorter intestines because meat (food) rots inside the intestines, and would cause them to be sick if they had long intestines. But the Hunting Tribe is muscular which works for athletics/bodybuilding.”


“Do you think the lack of the waistline is because of the shortness of the torso, or because a lack hips and curves?”

Irina Shayk

By Kacy
Hello Readers,
I’ve thought that Irina Shayk has had the long torso/ short leg proportion for awhile now, but I thought I was alone until I saw someone in the comments say the same thing. So I now have the confidence to try write a post on her.
 
You might recognize her from the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition this year, after appearing in it for the past FIVE years. Because of her long torso, she has the small waist that goes with it, and the automatically sexy body that goes with that. Like Lady Short Legs said before, we have what seems to be the preferred swimsuit model body type. :)
 
Oh and she’s dating Cristiano Ronaldo. Some think he’s greasy, I personally think he is a pretty darn handsome athlete. Either way, he has his pick of the ladies from all over the world, and he picks the long torso/ short legged Irina!

Note by LSL: Irina has a great body without a doubt, however her legs are average and her torso longish, especially the waist/pelvis area. You can see how the space form her belly button to her crotch is lengthy, and she also has a sort of low seated butt, as in not a high prominent one that begins at her tail bone, but a lower and flatter one starting from below her tail bone. I think this may be a common feature with us girls, well at least mine is that way. As I have said before, working on our Gluteus(buttock) muscles really can do a great deal to even out our proportions, or at least we can arch our back more (as models do) for an "S" curve appearance.

Contributers Welcome

As you surely have noticed I have not been writing very regularly or frequently as of late. I do adore this blog, however life has been keeping me busy. Therefore I am making it official to you all that you can contribute to Lady Short Legs by submitting articles to me.
All that is required is some text and photos which are relevant to the subject of the blog, and if you like I can then link to your site/blog etc... An good example of a submitted "article" is the one below, on Princess Kate.
Topics do not necessarily have to be on celebrities, they can be about scientific/medical findings, polls, advice, theories and so on.
This is for free of course.

Submissions are to be emailed to my regular contact info: LadyShortLegs@gmail.com

Catherine Middleton

An observant reader wrote in letting us know of Kate Middleton's proportions:

After the engagement was announced I found myself looking through some candid's of her and noticed that her proportions are not as "leggy" or "willowy" as reported in the press. 

Because she is so tall (5' 8" - 5' 10''), the appearance of length in her legs is naturally assumed, however in most pictures she only looks proportional when wearing high heels, and when in flats she does not look very tall...  I don't think her disproportion is as extreme as Jessica Simpson or Rachel Bilson or Katie Holmes, but she does have a very long torso compared to her legs.  She also seems to be aware of it and hides it very well in loose wrap dresses with high waist ties, she seldom goes out in flats and most of her tops are fitted quite high on her waist.

She is one to watch, because she really does mask her proportions well.  

Oh I love it, our own lady short legs royalty!

office chair issue

A reader writes in with a question:

"Everyone always envy's my body for the tiny waist and womanly curves, but its because I hide my short legs with long boot leg pants and high heels."

However she continues: "My biggest issue is that I have a desk job in which I sit at a computer for 8-10 hours a day.  My head towers over my coworkers if I sit up straight because of my long back. That causes me to slouch down and now I have neck and back issues. I tried to lower my seat all the way down but it doesn't go down far enough. I was wondering what other people that are built like me do when they have desk jobs?"

Having your office chair lowered all the way down is certainly your best step, however slouching is not good for your health, as you said, and sitting up straight is always elegant regardless of how long your back is. If it really bothers you, you could look into office chairs that can go down even lower then your present one, however I am sure your co-workers don't take notice these things, and besides siting up high is nice, sort of regal like.  

What are your thoughts?

Update: A kneeling chair is one of the better options for our body type, as it keeps the spine in proper alignment, and helps you to sit up straight. A good source for such chairs is: ErgoDepot.