9 Fashion Hacks For Petite Women - Striving For Felicity

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As someone who had finally decided around 18 years old that I had enough of feeling awkward with my style, I have done a lot of research on and experimenting with fashion hacks—especially fashion hacks for petite women like myself.

As a 5’0” woman, I know the frustration of having to look for shoes in the children section where everything is pink and glittery.

I know how endlessly annoying it can be to have all trousers, and all sleeves being too long if you can find your size at all that is.

I know how hard it can be to find pieces that you love, let alone have all the stars align for them to be in your size and actually fit.

Fashion surrounds us at every moment of our lives. It can boost our confidence or diminish it depending on how comfortable we feel in our clothes.

In my eyes, that’s more than enough reasons to finally get the hang of this fashion game and create your own style that makes you feel like Cookie Lyon owning the place.

Today’s list focuses on fashion hacks for petite women.

Later on, there will be a list of more general fashion hacks.

But for now, let’s get into it:

1. Tuck your shirt in

The first point on this list is so incredibly easy and for many people already obvious. Still, it was a real game-changer for me.

Ladies: Tuck.In.Your.Tops!!!

Most of us petite women don’t have the longest legs. Of course, there are different body types, and some people apparently can have a rather short torso compared to their legs.

If that is you, then your goal should be more on elongating your upper body.

Anyways, for most of us, it does wonder to tuck in our shirts. It’s truly one of those absolute must-do fashion hacks for petite women.

Just try it out and compare some outfits in a tucked in to not tucked in version with each other. I’m sure you are going to notice the difference.

2. Wear cropped tops

Alternatively you can just buy cropped tops so that there isn’t that much to tuck in.

Personally, I don’t really like the stomach-free look. So all the cropped tops I have are long enough for my petite body to not show the skin between pants and top.

That’s why I am always a bit hesitant to buy cropped shirts in petite sizes. Because they tend to be truly short.

3. Wear high or medium waist trousers

Another great way to elongate your legs is to buy high wasted trousers. They are also the perfect combination for cropped tops.

Low waist trousers are going to make your legs look even shorter than they already are. Simultaneously they’ll elongate your upper body, which poses for an unflattering combination for many petite women.

4. Try Monochrome outfits

The easiest way to wear monochrome is to go all black or all beige/nude (or at least all pieces within nuances of each other).

Just wear black shoes, black pants, and a black top paired with maybe a red or beige coat, and you’re ready to go.

Monochrome outfits generally are an incredibly effortless way to look stylish.

And we petite women benefit from it even more since the eye can smoothly follow that monochrome line upwards, elongating our bodies.

On the contrary, if you wear, let’s say, black jeans and a red shirt, there is a pretty harsh contrast between the top and the bottom.

And while it certainly can look stylish, our eyes get somewhat caught on that border between the two pieces. This causes visually a harsh cut through the midst of your body.

Of course, this description sounds exaggeratedly dramatic. I am not saying that you can never wear two different colors of top and bottom again.

Just try to be aware of these things.

5. No middle lengths

As mentioned before, it can make you look a bit smaller if your vertical line gets interrupted somehow.

Trousers, skirts, dresses, and coats that end somewhere around knee length can do just that.

I used to think those floor-length trousers weren’t for short people like me. But on the contrary, they are rather flattering because they make your legs seem very long.

Again, just try it out yourself. Dare to experiment a bit and keep those things in mind.

Soon enough, you’ll see what will work for you.

And don’t worry, we all make some poor purchases.

This list is not a rule book but a loose guideline that you can alter to your heart’s content.

6. No ankle straps

Ankle straps can also disrupt that vertical line a bit, so you might want to stay clear or choose nude/transparent ones.

7. Avoid big bags

You know how small people suddenly look like a midget next to tall people?

Well, if you wear a gigantic bag over your shoulder, it can have the same effect.

I get it. We Boss Ladies are busy. We have a lot of stuff to carry around: Laptops, tablets, big water bottles to stay hydrated …

Just try to not go overboard on your bag size.

8. Pointy Shoes Elongate

Pointy shoes can make you look just that tiny bit taller which is exactly what many of us are looking for.

Obviously, they shouldn’t be too pointy so that they’ll squash your toes.

But even just a bit of an elongated tip of your shoe can make a big difference.

I currently have two pairs of sneakers, which prove this very well.

One of them is very rounded at the toes and makes my feet size look like those of an elementary school kid’s.

While the other pair is a bit more stretched out and more oval at the front. This pair makes my feet look perfect.

This can be even more important for shoes with heels as they make your feet look even tinier.

9. Find petite fashionistas

You don’t need to come up with outfit ideas out of blank space. You can simply replicate some of the outfits you see online.

If you do that, it can be helpful to use petite women as inspiration. If something works for them and you have somewhat of the same body type, it should work for you as well.

Some (non) fictional inspirations could be: