5 Must-Know Hacks to Look Good in Maxi Dresses if You are Petite

I'm 5'2. For decades, I wasn't sure how I can pull off maxi dresses. But that is no longer the case. After numerous trial and error, I finally figured it out. And today I'm gonna share with you everything you need to know how to find the most flattering maxi dresses and how to look stunning in them, even if you are short. For maxi dresses to look good on somebody who is petite, here's four key things you must look for. The length, the shape, the color, and the waistline. Now let's get right into everything. First and foremost, the length. You want to make sure your dress is lower than your calf but higher than your ankle. This is the smallest part of your lower legs and it's a very feminine part. If it's longer than this, it becomes a floor length. It can work if you're petite but you're gonna need to wear high heels. And this is the length more suitable for formal occasions or nighttime. Shorter than this, it becomes a midi length. This length is a little harder to style because it can potentially make your legs look cut off. For everyday kind of maxi dresses, ankle length is the most versatile. You can wear this with either heels or flats. Now the two shapes most flattering. Number two, the H shape. When they're on the hanger, they look like the letter H. It goes straight up and down but when you're wearing it, it hugs your body closely so it shows off your natural curves. Very feminine. And number one, the A shape. Just like the letter A, they are fitted on your top and it flares out under your waist. This gives you a very natural waist definition using the silhouette of the dress and that is the reason why it's universally flattering. No matter what kind of body type you have or how tall you are, these are very flattering. If you are short, make sure you go to PetiteDressing.com and check out my clothing line for women 5'4 and under. Use code petite15 for 15% off your first order. Now let's talk about colors. If you like solid, these are the easiest to style. Choose anything you like. Because they have the continuous color from top to bottom, they're gonna elongate your frame and that's why they're always gonna look flattering on somebody who's short. But print is a different story. If you are a print kind of girl like me, you might feel like something is missing in your summer wardrobe without any prints. But here's the thing, when it comes to prints, we do need to be more selective, especially because of our height. The kind of prints that you want to stay away from, all over loud prints. They either have large patterns or they have very strong contrasting. If you're short, the maxi dress is already a lot of fabrics for your height. Besides, if you're also wearing really loud prints, that just looks overwhelming on the petite frame. Here's the three types of prints that always look better on a shorter girl. Number three, the smaller prints. These are in proportion to our height and therefore they will not overwhelm you. And number two are the subtle prints. Typically these are also small but they're on a lighter background. So there's not too much contrasting and they can look flattering without overwhelming a petite girl. And number one, the classic stripes. And these are my favorites. Because these are classics, you're gonna wear this year after year, they are never gonna go out of style. Vertical stripes, they're also elongating. Especially if you are wearing a maxi length dress, this is gonna double the benefit of making your frame look longer and leaner. Now, the waistline. My favorite subject. This is so important but very few people are paying enough attention to it. When you're short, the key is proportion. Doesn't matter how tall you are, if you are defining your waist, you're giving the eye a signal. Everything under that waistline is your legs. So when you're choosing the maxi dresses, you want to make sure the waistline is sitting higher on the dress. You want it to be at least above your belly button. The higher the waistline is, the more it's gonna make your torso look shorter and your legs look longer. And that is my secret sauce to find the most flattering maxi dresses for women with shorter legs. On the other hand, if you're wearing a maxi dress that does not define your waist, for example, the loosely fitted t-shirt dresses. These are very popular in the summer because they're comfortable but because they don't have any waist definition, this is gonna make your entire body look wider and this is also gonna make you look shorter. Necklines are very important to choose any dress and they're especially critical when it comes to maxi dresses. Universally flattering are the lower necklines. Whether we're talking about sweetheart neck, v-neck or strapless, these are the most flattering no matter what shape and what height you are. But when it comes to petite, lower necklines especially are flattering because most petite women have shorter neck and we have shorter torso. Lower necklines create space in your upper body and that is why they can make you look more proportional. Besides, if you also have a bigger bust, lower necklines really should be your go-to no matter what kind of dress you're looking at. Because it creates space in your torso, they are the most flattering. Another type of neckline that I recently just discovered extremely flattering for petite women, asymmetrical necklines. These will instantly make any dress, especially maxi dresses, look more chic. Besides, here is the important part. Unlike the traditional neckline which are horizontal, which draws the eye from left to right, asymmetrical necklines, they have a diagonal line and that is why they draw the eye up and down and that is why they are so flattering for somebody who is short. If you happen to be curvy or if you carry weight in your midsection like myself, you probably are staying away from any tighter fitted dresses but here's the good news, you don't have to. You can wear tighter dresses but you need to look for one thing, ruching. If you're petite, one of the main things to pay attention to when you're wearing maxi dresses is shoes. It's so important to make sure you're wearing the right styles of shoes. There are two types of shoes best for maxi dresses. Number one, slender heels or strappy sandals. These are lightweight and that is the reason they work the best with a long dress because your dress has so much fabrics, it's already adding a lot of volume. And number two, nude color shoes. These are my favorites. The reason they work perfectly with maxi dresses is because they blend with the color of your skin. The longer your dress is, the more you're gonna need the help of your shoes to elongate your legs and that's why nude color shoes work so wonderful. Because they blend with the color of your skin, you cannot tell any clear division line between your shoes and your dress and that's how they can make a shorter girl look elongated and make your legs look way longer than they actually are.