HOW TO LOOK TALLER

 We will get into what bottoms are best for looking taller and slimmer, but almost every body shape can benefit from adding a thin belt to highlight their waists.

 Adding a visual cue to focus your outfit helps draw people’s attention to your waist which elongates your legs, gives your outfit definition and makes you appear slimmer by adding focus to this thinner part of your body.

 For this styling tip to work best, opt for a skinny or thin belt, something under 1.25” in height. A wide belt can throw off your proportions or make your middle appear thicker than it naturally is.

 Belts also assist in getting those pant gaps to disappear, and to literally cinch in your waist. And if you don’t want your belt to be a focal point, but you want the slimming effect, opt for a belt that matches the color of your pants for a more discrete iteration of this tip.

 In the above image, you can see how much the thin black belt helps define the waist and give some definition to an outfit that has a lot of baggy pieces.

 side by side comparison of style tip to look taller and slimmer. left side: all black outfit that makes you look long and slim. versus a multi-colored outfit that doesn't extend your proportions in the same way

 Monochrome is a style secret that not enough people talk about. Tonal dressing, monochrome, or column color outfits are some of the easiest outfits to pull off.

 Dressing to look tall and slim is about layering properly (avoiding those bulky layers that widen you) and about color. Using color to elongate your body shape and keep your outfit distraction-free is key.

 Darker tones and black work very well to slim you out. They provide less opportunity for wrinkles or pulling to show, and they create a streamlined silhouette. Because your outfit is all (or mostly one color) there is nothing distracting the eye when the outfit is being taken in.

 While I love an all-black ensemble, that is not your only option. Navy, burgundy and any darker hue would also work well. However, if you have areas in your body you want to be more discreet about ( think a belly you want to hide or thighs you want to slim out) avoid tans, whites, or high-saturation colors. These colors will tend to show off those areas more because the shadows easily created on lighter color backgrounds.

 If you have your heart set on a lighter color monochrome outfit, make sure the pieces are less body-conscious and it should work successfully.

 If you look at my example image, you can see both outfits work. However the jean outfit, with many colors and textures creates stops for your eye. Because of this it does not have the slimming and lengthening effect like the monochrome outfit.

 example of side by side tip: wear cropped tops or cropped jackets to dress slimmer and taller. Gabrielle arruda in cropped jacket versus longer, oversized blazer

 When dressing to look taller and thinner, it is all about making your legs look long and your upper body appears petite. So crop tops and cropped jackets will be a huge asset. This does not mean you need to show your stomach (totally your call). If you want to have a more modest iteration of this, a crop top could also be paired with a high waist pair of pants to avoid any skin reveals.

 You’ll see in this example above how the cropped jacket makes my legs appear longer and highlights the vertical notes of my outfit. Whereas the longer jacket (while stylish) does not make my frame any taller or thinner.

 Remember that each outfit you create does not HAVE to make you taller or thinner. These are tips to use to enhance an outfit, or boost your confidence when you need it. I would still wear both of the outfits in the above example.

 And in the above image you can see how the use of a crop jacket makes my waist appear higher than it is, and my torso shorter, which gives the illusion of height. For reference I am 5 ft 6 in.

 gabrielle arruda in crop top and high waist trousers to show how wearing a crop top can make you appear taller/slimmer

 How people process an outfit has a lot to do with the visual cues of the outfit. Where there is detail or emphasis, the eye will stop to take in it. So any vertical stripes, seams, or prints help the eye to move from top-to-bottom of the outfit, as opposed to horizontally. This helps with appearing thinner and taller.

Does Stress Effect Height Increase

 My favorite option to do this is a wide-leg pant with vertical stripes. They are classic, can be dressed to match many fashion styles, and can still be a foundational piece to your look (instead of the focus).

 how to look taller and slimmer using a high waisted pant/bottom. side by side of gabrielle arruda wearing high waist black jeans versus low rise leather pants

 As much as we tried to avoid it, Gen Z has brought back low-rise pants. And if that is your jam, by all means, go for it.

 However, if your goal is to look thinner and taller, low-rise pants are not your friend. Not only do they make your torso appear longer, and your legs short, they often cause your stomach to be more prominent and kind of spill out of the waistband (even if you have a very flat stomach).

 Low-rise pants are just hard to style for length or svelteness. See the image above on how different my body looks with low rise versus high rise pants.

 Tucking in your tops, or doing a french tuck will help define your waist and upper half. This is one of the easiest ways to appear slimmer and let your body shape shine. It will also help you dress in the ideal proportions, and not cut your body up in half.

 tuck in your tops to help lengthen your legs and give definiton to your waist. side by side of tucked and untucked top on gabrielle arruda

 tuck in your tops to help lengthen your legs and give definiton to your waist. side by side of tucked and untucked top on gabrielle arruda

 Pointed shoes, especially pointed heels, help your feet have a definitive stopping point. The sharp end to your outfit coming to a point feels conclusive. Whereas a round or square toe does not create a visual stop.

 You can see this in the above image that also references tucking in your tops. While my square-toe heels have triangular straps, which help to draw the eye downwards, the pointy toe is more lengthening overall.

 A pointy heel is like a sentence that ends with a period. A round toe is like a sentence that ends with a…..

 Flares are just flattering. Their proportions make your legs look long and thin, and they draw your eye up. It’s a jean style that never seems to fade from popularity because they make your waist seem small ( in relation to the wide flare hem) and they look fantastic with a pair of heels or heeled boots.

 Because flares always hit the ground, they draw your eye down to the floor, whereas a cropped ankle might disrupt this.

 You could also try a jumpsuit that has slight flare. Jumpsuits, when they fit correctly, can help elongate your body and give that column-color approach we discussed.

 While I love a good print, large-scale prints provide multiple places for you eye to lose focus. Which means they do not embrace a vertical impression.

 As you can see in the image below, the large-scale print has your eye darting back and forth horizontally to take in the print. Whereas the fine stripe (or no print) outfit has your eyes take things in from top to bottom seamlessly.

 side by side of busy print dress versus pinstripe dress so you can see how the stripe dress lengthens my body and the busy print (while cute) tends to overwhelm