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Dress to Flatter Your Short, Hourglass Shaped Figure

By , About.com Guide

5 of 7

Skirts That Flatter Your Hourglass Shaped Figure

Silk Georgette Skirt from Petite Sophisticate

Image Courtesy of Petite Sophisticate
Try A-line styled skirts or straight skirts that are well fitted - neither too tight nor too loose. Skirts with princess seaming will enhance a vertical line.

Consider the length of the skirt because when the hem of a skirt falls across a thick part of the leg, either thigh or calf, it makes you look wider and shorter. So avoid mini-skirts unless you have slender legs, and keep the skirt length around the knee at the most flattering length. In most cases, the best skirt length for short women is just above the knee, at the knee, or just below the knee.

Most short women should avoid bias-cut skirts because they cling and show everything. If you are slender and want to really show off your figure, a bias-cut skirt or dress will certainly do it.

If you wear boots with a skirt, the boots should be high enough and your skirt hem low enough that there's no gap between them. This gives you an unbroken vertical line and helps you look taller.

In our example above, the printed silk georgette skirt from Petite Sophisticate (Vendor's Site) flows gently over the hips without over-emphasizing them. Godet insets at the hem add a bit of flare, and the print motifs are not too big for a petite woman.

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