How To Visually Lengthen Your Legs
For those are you that are lucky enough to be graced with long legs (hello Greetje) you don’t need any tricks or tips. Some of us vertically challenged people need all the help we can get. At 5’4″ I always looks better when wearing heels but the older I get the less my body tolerates heels for long periods of time.
With age comes wisdom and I now classify my shoes into five minute, thirty minute, three hours and all day wear.
The five minute shoes are AKA bedroom shoes. They aren’t good for anything other than taking photos or looking pretty while sitting or laying down. Why do you need to wear shoes when you’re laying down? I’ll never tell.
The thirty minute shoes are perfect from the car to the restaurant and back. If there is a long walk from the car to the restaurant I need to take an extra pair of shoes and have my shoe sherpa carry them for me.
The three hour shoes are quite comfy but after three hours they start to give me a headache. This is because there isn’t enough padding in the ball of the foot. As we grow older all of the cushy fat from our feet migrates upwards and plants itself firmly at our waists and hips making pants ill fitting and wearing heels agony. Imagine how much better it would be if the fat just did what gravity intended and vacated south to our feet instead clinging onto our waists and hips.
We would have tiny waists and be walking on pillows!
Instead of shrinking in height we’d grow taller with the extra fat on the bottom of our feet.
If only I were in charge!
Back to life…back to reality…
All day shoes are a rare breed and normally consist of a mere handful from my oversized collection.
Runners don’t count. I wear runners every day in my house for plantar fasciitis, yet another sexy side effect of age.
#1 Tip How To Visually Lengthen Your Legs – Flesh Toned Shoes
I scored these flesh toned low heel booties thrifting a while back and knew they would have an elongating effect without the pain of a higher heel.
Not only do the boots blend into my legs but the heels are transparent…so it looks like I’m floating.
These could be called the magic disappearing booties.
#2 Tip How To Visually Lengthen Your Legs – High Waisted Belt
I’ve added a high waisted belt which creates the illusion of longer legs.
It’s an easy trick I use all the time. It is also ideal for women with a curvy hourglass shape to define the waist.
Of course if you have muscular man-legs like me anything flat is only going to accentuate your massive calves cows. It’s only taken me fifty-two years to accept that fact.
#3 Tip How To Visually Lengthen Your Legs For Photos
Okay, this doesn’t really work in real life but we can totally fake longer legs in photos.
Position one leg in front of the other slightly, make sure to put your weight on the back leg, and then point the toes of the front leg.
Pointed toes will visually lengthen your body. That is why ballerinas are pointing everything all the time, hands, feet, arms, legs. Heck, they’d point their heads if they could. They want to look as long and lean as possible.
The toe pointing tip works brilliantly when you are seated.
The photo below shows me sitting with my weight to one side while stretching my legs and pointing my toes which is even easier when wearing pointy toed pumps. That is why any shoe that has a pointy toe will elongate your body.
Below I’m elongating my body by stretching my legs, pointing my toes, arm and hand while looking up at Sherry. That photo was from this fun post.
As a shortie I can use all the help I can get when taking photos for my blog or the Etsy store.
This 1970s crocheted top was a recent thrift find.
I thought it wouldn’t fit me and would be heading to the Etsy store right away. Uh…nope. That is the problem with trying on inventory, sometimes it is too good to pass on. It all balanced out when some other items I was sure I’d keep turned out to be destined for the store. I can hear my closet breathing a massive sigh of relief.
Do you use any of these leg lengthening tips? Do you have any of your own you’d like to share?
Linking up with Patti for Visible Monday, Turning Heads Tuesday and Fancy Friday
Yay, your humor is back! Great to hear you make jokes again. Having a spouse around must be lifting your spirits. These tips are all solid. I use many of them.
As I’m vertically challenged, I’m always in for tips to make my legs (and myself) look taller. I must be doing something right, as I’ve been wearing my flesh coloured booties a lot lately. OK, they are not really flesh coloured (if I’d had to match them to my skin, they’d have to be almost white 😉 but they almost matched the skin coloured tights I was wearing. I had a good chuckle (but also nodded in agreement a lot) when I read your shoe classification system. So me! I’ve been suffering with the disappearing padding in the balls of my feet too. It’s hell, but at least now I now where all the extra padding on my hips is coming from. It’s wasn’t chocolate that did it after all. Phew! xxx
Ha ha ha! I’m so glad you mentioned the art of lengthening legs in photos because that’s what I was going to say! “Have a photographer follow you around at the ankles as you drape across velvet couches and pose in well-lit corners.” It works every time!
By the way, did you notice in that one photo that we’re both pointing our toes? Like, exactly the same direction??? We’re so artsy. And cool. 🙂
Also, total agreement on the time limit for different shoes! Great way to categorize.
– Sherry
first – love that look! retro, quirky, colorful – simply fab!
and you share some great tips!
i have another one: tights & shoes AND a high waisted skirt in the same color or very low contrast. without tights one have to wear a pale skirt thought……
xxxx
Faboo tips Suzanne. I love your shoe categories. I’d always wondered if blogging meant forcing ones self to wear a higher heel for photos. Some reality does bite. Those stupidly migrating cat pads for instance.
I love this outfit, I think the hat makes it! The top is fun, and I have always admired that skirt, such a great colour for Autumn too. X
mwhaha, I really enjoy your posts! and your advice is brilliant!.
I’m not so much vertically as ‘horizontally challenged’, ;DDD
Anyway, I’ve tried some of these tips by myself, particularly #1, but wearing same color shoes and tights. I think that it makes such a difference!
The crocheted top is a fabulous piece! love it!
besos
My mom is all about these tricks, Suzanne. Even though I keep telling her she should embrace her height (or lack of it)….and heck, she’s taller than I am. At least for the time being!!
I’ve started to give away those 5 minute shoes. As much as I love them, I just don’t have room in my closet. Plus, I’ve gotten spoiled with the comfy and stylish ones that I’ve found lately!! It’s about time that I can wear all my shoes mostly all day!!
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Very original and funny classifications. I use a similar system but I don’t have as many categories. Sometimes I can find the perfect shoe with a platform that is soft enough for me to actually wear and not get a headache – or backache as in my case..
You look beautiful in these original pieces.
The fitted red skirt is stunning on you, and I agree about the nude colored shoes and boots .
Fat migration..so that is how it works, lol.
❤️❤️❤️
Elle
https://theellediaries.com/
Ha! I love your shoe comfort classification!
I’m having a major hip flare up at the moment and there’s only a handful from my collection of boots I can wear.
I’d give anything to be six inches taller than my pathetic 5 foot three and a bit inches. Empire line maxis or proper floor length dresses/skirts are my go-tos for looking longer in the leg in the absence of platforms and massive hair and a hat help add a few inches to my height, too.
That blouse is gorgeous! xxx
I Love the colors in your outfit. I call the 5 minute shoes my sit down shooze and only wear them when I know I will be sitting plenty.
I grinned when I saw you mentioning me (thank you). It is true, my legs are my assets. My flaws are your strong points.
You explained it perfectly. This is how you create long legs. And that shirt?? I love it. The minute I saw the first photo I wnt “Ohh.. nice!”
Great outfit, truly you: brave colours, mixing them all together like a pro.
Greetje
I would gladly put you in charge if you could figure out how to get the fat to migrate to our feet (tiny waist and pillow feet would be our mantra). I have a few pairs of 30 minute shoes that need to find a new home because it’s too depressing to keep them.
I’ve been lucky in that I am reasonably tall (5′ 7 1/2″) so I don’t really worry about leg-lengthening or looking taller in photos.
Love how you’re wearing your beret in this outfit. It finishes off the look perfectly!
Yeah, if I were in charge, things would be different as well! The fat of my belly would sit on three other places: breasts, buttocks and balls under the feet. Indeed!
I love that picture of you in the checkered dress, the leggings under it and the gorgeous blue shoes!
Toe pointing is often a good thing, like in dancing tango.
But for the rest, I’m not good at thinking about these things. I look what I look like and I usually forget to do anything special for pictures.