5 Ways to Make Your Legs Look Longer

What a week! After attending a birthday party last weekend for one of his friends, my youngest came down with a nasty stomach virus that he promptly passed to the rest of the family. Yuck! The only thing worse than being sick, I've discovered since becoming a mother, is being sick AND taking care of a sick child. I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the "Mom" job description ... Anyway, we're all on the mend and should be well again soon.

I've been chatting with fellow Delaware image consultant JoJami Tyler and think I may have convinced her to both offer her "Ultimate Cure For the Dysfunctional Closet" organizing DVD to you again (the few she offered last November quickly sold out, as you may recall), AND to join me in a teleconference to share even more tips and take your most pressing closet organizing questions. We haven't worked out all the details yet, but will in the next few days. Look for more information next week.

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One of the mothers at my son's preschool almost always dresses in 2" heels and chic, monochromatic outfits. Black, red, gray, or whatever, she always looks long and lean and like she's ready to walk a runway.

So imagine my surprise when I was talking to her one day and noticed for the very first time that even in heels, she was nearly a full head shorter than me - which would put her somewhere under five feet tall. If you had asked me before then to state her height, I would have said between 5'4" and 5'6". Obviously, Amy knows a thing or two about dressing.

Unfortunately, most women don't. Whether they're petite, average, or tall, many women wear styles and accessories that visually "chop up" their bodies and make them look shorter and wider than they are. For some, that's a plus; for most, it's not.

If you've never given the matter much thought, or if you wish you could look longer and leaner from the waist down, here are five ways to make your legs look longer, whatever you height (if you're very tall and want to look shorter, do the opposite of what I suggest here):

1. Look for Vertical Details

Opt for stripes, piping, center closures, and the like that draw the eye up and down and make you look long and lean. A row of buttons visually elongates, for example, as do pleats and creases (keep pleats off of tummy area, however, as they'll make you look heavier).

La Redoute

2. Avoid Horizontal Details

Cuffs, patch pockets, border trims, tiered ruffles, horizontal stripes - all draw the eye from side-to-side instead of up and down. If you have short legs and wide hips, avoid low-rise waistlines that put a horizontal line at the widest part of your body.

Chadwicks

3. Try Asymmetrical Hems

Why put a defining horizontal line on your leg with a hem when you can use an asymmetrical hem so much more effectively? Try handkerchief hems, wrap skirts, palazzo pants (careful with these if you're really petite) and the like to draw the eye up and down and blur where the fabric ends and you begin.

La Redoute

4. Go for Monochromatic Looks

Wearing all one color from head to toe draws the eye up and down and makes you look tall and thin. You can match the same color from head to toe, or opt for slight variations of the same color family. Light and bright colors will make you look bigger; dark and muted colors will make you look smaller.

Coldwater Creek

5. Opt for Flesh-Colored Shoes

You can visually add inches to your leg length by pairing flesh-colored shoes with your bright and light clothes. Yes, matching clothes to shoes can be very eye-catching, but it can also visually "chop you up" if you're not careful. You also can't wear color-specific shoes with other clothes whereas flesh-colored shoes can go with lots of things. Opt for low-vamp styles with no ankle straps for a long, lean look.

Nine West
Gotham City

See? There are lots of ways to visually elongate (or unknowingly shorten) your body with clothes. You don't have to be a model size or height to look it; you just have to know what you have to work with and dress it appropriately. A few sleight-of-hand tricks are all it takes to look runway chic. Try it and see.