Suzanne Carillo

Long vest smart choice for petite women?

I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.

It took me quite some time to get on board with the idea that a long vest could actually make me look taller and thinner.

I always thought I needed to show lots of leg to look taller and stop eating everything I love to look thinner.

Good news! You don’t have to do either.

I found this vest while thrifting and instead of dismissing it immediately, I took it into the change room just to “play”.  I already had the maxi skirt on in the fitting room and then rather than change out of it, just added the vest to my outfit. Long over long is not something I would normally consider, but… hey…I kind of liked it!

These photos were taken over a month ago, when Spring briefly appeared at the beginning of March. Since then Spring seems to have gone on vacation and winter is back. I cannot wait till it warms up enough to get back outside to take photos again.

The vertical lines in this knit vest are my best elongating friends drawing the eyes upwards.

The front slit on the skirt shows off my boots when I walk.

The single lean visual line of the long partially open vest manages to shave about 5 lbs off my frame.

Instead of seeing my whole body now you just see the small slice that I’ve left open. I probably should have closed the vest more in hindsight,  so you see less of the chesticles. They are starting to remind me a bit of this…

And if you’ve never seen that movie you’ve missed out on one of the scariest movies of all time.

The long denim trench covers everything but the fringe handbag, beret and boots keep it interesting…even from the back.

The long over long provides a sleek silhouette that the eyes read as one continuous lean line. Adding a small heel doesn’t hurt either.

This outfit really feels like me, which is odd because I never thought I’d wear a long vest with a maxi skirt.

But hey, I never thought I’d compare my chest to Jack Nicholson either so never say never kids.

Here are a few other petite ladies that wear long vests brilliantly.

Susan from Une Femme d’un Certain Âge is a pro at this look…keeping one long sleek colour underneath the vest is very elongating.

Sherry from Petite Over 40 is wearing a long jacket for the same effect with gorgeous long pearls.

She also showed this on her Instagram account, a long pink cardigan that she recently purchased.

Sherry said it was a saleswoman in Nordstrom that convinced her this would look great on her and she was right.  I think Sherry had the same preconceived ideas as me.

Even though as petite women we may be vertically challenged, it doesn’t mean our choices are limited. It means we need to exercise our creative brains a bit more.

Personal creativity depends on our willingness to be open and try new things while leaving our preconceived ideas and judgement behind.

Challenging ourselves to remain open to new ideas and combinations is what keeps our style fresh and our imagination stimulated.

You never know if you will like something until you’ve tried it, on your own terms, when you’re ready. Our eyes and heart need to be willing to accept the new reflection of ourselves in the mirror.

There are no mistakes in art, just as there are no mistakes in personal style, only different ways of interpreting what we see.

 

Linking up with Visible Monday, I Will Wear What I Like, Turning Heads Tuesday, Throw Back Thursday