How to make your legs look longer…
If you’re petite or even average height, chances are that long, slender legs are one of the things that would be on your wishlist, should you ever bump into a fairy godmother. While we disagree about whether we’d like curly or straight hair, big boobs or small ones, I’d bet there’s hardly a woman under five foot eight who’d turn down the chance to add a couple of inches to her legs. Luckily – what with fairy godmothers being so thin on the ground – there’s lots you can do to make your legs look longer. So if nature didn’t give you legs that go on forever, try these tips and get the lean, leggy look for yourself.
• Avoid cropped trousers; the horizontal line where they end makes legs look shorter.
• High heels are an obvious way to make legs look longer, but only if you can walk confidently in them. If not, you might as well be wearing a sign saying ‘I’m quite short but I want to look taller’. If you tend to totter, go for a lower heel and a pointed toe instead, so there’s a nice tapered line down to the end of your feet.
• High-waisted trousers and skirts, which are in all the shops this summer, make legs look miles longer, just because they seem to start higher. Short jackets and tops can have a similar effect, as long as you wear them over a slim, sleek bottom half.
• Choose bootcut or straight trousers and jeans, and make sure they’re long enough to cover your shoes, so you get a long, clean line. Skinny jeans and flats are cute, but they will make stubby legs look even shorter.
• Avoid horizontal details on skirts, like dropped waists, tiers, or border trims. They chop you into sections so you look shorter.
• Wearing one colour from head to toe, or even just below the waist, means there’s nothing to disturb the eye, so legs look longer. For the ultimate leg lengthener, you can’t beat well-cut black trousers, or a black skirt and black tights, with black shoes.
• For summer, fashion editors swear by ‘nude’ shoes (that’s beige to you and me). Worn with bare legs or skin-coloured tights, there’s no colour break at your feet, so legs look long and slender.