Dressing a long torso

I'm not a short lady at all. I am 5' 10". But compared to my Other who is the same height, I have a much longer torso. That is to say, standing side-by-side, we are the same overall height but his hip goes up much farther than mine does. He is long legged, I am long torso'd. You can play up or play down your physical attributes easily depending on the type of clothing you wear. Today I'm going to address one that I specifically deal with on a day to day basis because I have one! How to dress a long torso!

Okay, first off, let's see some side by side comparisons. Here is me and Tony showing off our hip height.

Ok, he may be about an inch taller than me, but no more than. And yet his butt sits on top of my butt. He has long legs, I have a long torso. Hilariously, we have a very similar walking stride (when I am not wearing heels or have an injured knee).


Make it look like your legs are longer:
Wear high waisted pants or skirts with a shorter top. Possibly even a cropped jacket. If you can get pants that are high waisted and go all the way to the ground, even better. I mean, you don't want them dragging (though I sometimes am guilty of this - only when my pants waist are too big, I swear!) but a little gather on the top of your shoe won't kill you. Making your bottom half have more fabric on it creates the illusion that you are covering more leg even if you aren't. You are hiding that long torso! Some fashionistas will also recommend a pointed toe shoe. As tall as I am, I skip this option. Plus I find pointy shoes to be uncomfortable.

Left: I'm wearing a high waisted (damn near underbust) skirt while Sarah is wearing straight up underbust JSK. Both of us have seemingly super long legs! 
Right: My short vest and high skirt make me look like I'm longer on the bottom than I actually am.

Above: Even a floor length skirt works here because visually it mixes in with the corset. The white top is small, breaking up my long torso.


I also don't normally wear belts to work, but a belt worn high (I'm high waisted in addition to being long waisted) helps create the illusion of a longer leg. I also find wearing a belt helps define my waist, but again, that might be more because I'm high waisted than anything. It helps define the difference between my under bust and waist (which actually aren't that different).

Above: I find that I can get away with wearing some pretty short skirts because it makes my legs look normal to long in length when compared to my long waist.My boots are making my legs look a *little* stumpy in this example. Heels/Heeled boots would have been better.



Make it look like you are proportioned:
Wear a shirt that goes a little longer. Usually touching the top of your hips. Wear pants that are hemmed appropriately, basically just down to the top of your shoe when standing. The longer shirt is going to hide your long belly and the normal pants are well, just normal. Longer shirts are actually really easy to get right now, they seem pretty popular. I see tunics everywhere. If you can't find them, you can shop for tall shirts but good luck. I can normally only find pants in tall. Petite ladies have it made, I swear! Sorry I can't find a pic of me in a tunic. They aren't my thing really. I like making my legs look longer.


Don't hide your long torso at all:
This should be the easiest option as most normal shirts aren't going to fit you! You will find your belly button is easily visible and doesn't meet the top of your pants. Even when you didn't buy a cropped top/jacket. If you want to embrace your long torso, then do so! I personally have a handful of shirts I probably should never wear with low waisted pants, but sometimes I do. These normal shirts usually function as a crop anyway, and simply by changing to a higher waisted pant, you've balanced yourself out. One thing I'd probably advise against is to wear is capris that stop between the knee and ankle. They look a bit goofy. Again, I have some, but I try to avoid wearing them in public.

See how normal shirts just don't quite cover my belly? Whatever, the outfit still looks good.

 In retrospect, these wide leg capris were a bad idea.