Dress for Your Body Type: Plus Size Petite
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The following guidelines apply to every plus-sized petite body type unless otherwise noted.
The Plus Size Petite Body Type Objective:
Besides dressing for your plus-sized body type, your objective is to visually elongate your frame -- and avoid styles that make you appear wider.
Add Visual Height to Your Frame with These Styles
Wear plus-size tops with...
- A deep u-neck to create a vertical opening at your chest area
- Vertical details such as seaming or stitching that draws the eye upwards
Wear plus-size pants & skirts...
- Hemmed to the knee to draw attention to your legs -- and make YOU seem longer overall
- With straight legs that create a long vertical line up your body
- With vertical stitching, seaming, or creasing that elongate your look
Wear shoes with...
- Heels. Open- or pointy-toed heels will visually draw the eye to the point furthest from your body -- making you seem longer! Just make sure they're not huge, chunky heels, which can weigh your look down. (Even a kitten heel can do wonders for adding height to your look.)
- A color that matches your pants to create one continuous visual line up your body
Say No to Clothes That Make You Look Wider (and Therefore MORE Petite)
Avoid plus-size outfits...
- With pieces in contrasting colors -- visually chopping up your body line and making you look shorter
- Featuring horizontal details that draw the eye from side-to-side
- Hemmed at mid-calf or ankle
- With flared legs drawing the eye to the ground and out
- That create a horizontal line at the ankle, such as flared pants, ankle-length skirts, or shoes with ankle straps.
- With heels higher than 3 inches, which will look disproportionate to your smaller frame.
- Accessorized with huge handbags that drag down your look
Taller than 5'7"? Click here for some special considerations....
Average height? Jump to your body shape dressing rules now.