The Best (and Worst) Trends for Short Women Right Now

These are everywhere. But if you're petite, stop. Some of these trends immediately make you look shorter, and some of these just look cheap. So let me break it down for you the eight biggest trends right now, what I'm skipping, and what I'm wearing instead. Watch till the end. Number one trend is going to be shocking to you. So many petite women are wearing it. Actually, it's a big mistake. Links are down below for everything I'm wearing, and you can download my free ebook, Number eight is high front tops. This started to pop up a couple years ago, but this summer, it has become the dominant trend. Every single store I walked into have this kind of tops. Cute? Yes. Practical? No. This is designed for a very specific body shape. If you're extremely skinny, you have a small chest, and you have no tummy at all, you can't wear a bra. See, I'm a 34B. I can get away with no bra, but I wouldn't wear this kind of top because a lot of these are open all the way from the neck to the belly button. If you have any tummy at all, this is totally exposing it. So what I'm wearing instead, tops like this. Cropped peplum, which is also a big trend this summer, but this is way more flattering, especially for shorter girls. I bought several this summer, and every single one looks super leg elongating because of the shape. This one is from Aritzia linen, and this one is from Abercrombie. It's made of cotton. It cinches your waist, but it's sitting higher than your natural waist. That's what makes your legs look mile long. Plus, if you've got a tummy like myself, it's going to make it totally disappear. Number seven, jelly shoe. I talked about this in 2025, but this year, I spread it all over. Every single store is making them. The biggest problem, they look cheap. I am seeing so many people on Instagram, YouTube wearing it, but no matter how put together your outfit is, this kind of shoe immediately cheapens your entire look because it's got that plastic feel. Plus, doesn't this remind you of the water shoe? I immediately think of the water shoes my son wears when we go to the beach. So what I'm wearing instead, woven shoes. You can get woven flats or woven mules. These are the same concept. It has a very strong summer vibe. This lasts way longer. I don't think the jelly shoes is going to be a long lasting trend at all. I think very soon, people are going to outgrow it. But the woven, especially the leather woven shoes, they're here to stay. You can wear this much longer, wear all the way to the fall. Plus, it just looks way more classy. Make your outfit look way more expensive. Before we talk about the next trend, let me first thank Quinn's for sponsoring today's video. They're my go-to for wardrobe staples. Not necessarily trend-driven, but their pieces do come with a modern twist that makes you look more elevated. Cotton blouse, embroidered, Peter Pan colors, and little puffy sleeves. The texture is what makes you look designer. Pairing it with their white-legged linen pants, I have in multiple colors. They're not too wide, wearing a short inseam, 26 inches, goes with flats or heels. This skirt has been my recent favorite. It's a midi on the model, but on me, almost a maxi length. That's what I love about it. It gives you that very elongating look. In the front, it's a flat panel, but in the back, it's got elastic waist. Very accommodating if you happen to carry more weight in your midsection like myself. Pairing it with a halter linen tank, fitted top, flared out skirt, give you that perfect hourglass shape. So head over to Quinn's website now. You can scan the QR code or go to the link in my description, and you can get free shipping every order and 365 days return. Number six, baby doll. Okay, baby doll is everywhere this season, but I'm not going to make a blanket statement because there are certain styles that actually do work. But let me first show you what doesn't work if they look like this. This looks like you got out of bed, but forgot to change your pajamas. Because this design looks frumpy, has no waist definition, and it's going to make you look bigger. The kind that actually does work looks like this. It's got a smocking waist, and it flares out. This one's from Abercrombie, or look like this. No smocking, but it still cinches your waist, and then it's got a fade and flare shape. This one is from Kohls. Both of these technically still fall into the baby doll category, but the waist cinching makes the whole world of difference. Plus, these are shorter, so that combined with waist cinching is one of the best silhouettes to make petite women look taller and leaner. Number five, drop waist. You have seen this kind of dresses everywhere this season. A lot of them are combined with a corset, which is a very particular design, and you got to have a certain body shape to look good in this kind of dresses. Drop waist can work for petites. I've tried a lot, but most of them I had to return. The biggest reason is because that drop part is way too long. So if you're shorter like me, that looks really awkward. Now, I finally was able to find this one. It's actually from Kohls. Very, very affordable. So it's surprisingly flattering. The waist is not too long. That's the most important part. Plus, it flares out above my natural waist. That's really important because if you carry more weight in your midsection like myself, a lot of times we don't know if this kind of corset would work at all. But this works because it actually flares out way before it reaches the biggest part of your tummy. Every petite girl has a different shape and different height. To know if something actually works for you, for your specific shape, join my petite dressing club. That's my membership club for just $29 a month, and you can cancel anytime. You can get personalized style advice straight from me, not from a team member because we do two live calls a month where all of my members bring their questions about their shape, their height, and their specific wardrobe. And I can look at them on the Zoom call and give them advice right there on the spot. And the best part, you're also going to get full immediate access to Petite Style Masterclass. This is an entire system developed by me. It's my life's work. You're not going to find this elsewhere. In the last 10 years, through my own trial and error and styling petite models of all kinds of body shapes for my own clothing line, I put everything together, took me several months, into this comprehensive system. That is the reason I was selling the corset itself for $297. But even at a full price, I got a ton of five-star reviews. Not just this is helpful, but this completely transformed how I look at myself. I wish this existed 20 years ago. Full price, real life petite, but they said it's worth every penny. But right now it's inside the club and you can access right after you join the club. Besides, you're also going to have access to my exclusive guides and tips only for my members. And you're going to be surrounded by women that's on the same journey as you. Once you finish the masterclass, you're going to notice your style has transformed from average to stunning. Right now, I'm having a limited time promotion. If you join today, I'm also going to give you a thank you gift. This large raffia tote worth more than $90. So that's more than your three months cost inside the club. I don't have that many bags left. So join today before this offer goes away. I will see you inside the club. Number four, scarf or belt. Have you noticed this summer a lot of women are using scarf in a very creative way, using it as a belt. The first thing come to mind is this is a very anthropology vibe. It's a boho thing. I have nothing against boho. I actually love some boho pieces. It can work no matter how tall you are. But that's not even what I'm talking about. When you tie a scarf around your waist, you are basically inviting everybody to look at, focus on your waist. See, that's where it becomes tricky. One, if you've got a thicker waist, or like myself, I don't have much of a natural waist. That's not where you want everybody to keep looking at. And two, if you're shorter, if you've got shorter legs to begin with, tying a scarf on your waist, because it draws attention downwards, that's cutting your legs off, making you look even shorter. Now, if you do have a slender waist, if you do want everybody to pay attention to your waist, and if boho is your thing, this can very well work out for you. But as for me, what I'm doing instead is just to use a regular skinny belt. The belt I use the most is the one I'm wearing right now. This one's from Raze. It was out of stock for a very long time. I'm so glad they brought it back. It's really classic, goes with pretty much everything. I love to pair this with my pants or a skirt. Or you can go with a belt that's got a little twist. This one I bought it from Mango. Got a metallic accent in the front. It can make any of your outfit look more elevated. This is sold out at Mango, but I found a very similar one from Nordstrom. I'll leave the link down below. Number three, balloon pants. The first time I noticed balloon was about a year ago. It just looks ridiculous. So I have been hoping it would have died by now, but nope, it's still there, still going strong. And this season I see more stores have different balloon pants and I see more people wearing them on Instagram or YouTube. To me, this is one of the most unflattering trends going on right now because it's so wide and it's got that tapered leg. Everything together is just designed to shorten your legs. Now if you already got plenty of straight leg, narrow leg jeans or pants and you want something that looks a little different, that looks a little edgier perhaps, then I recommend you try barrel. I know barrel is probably the most controversial topic on my channel. Whenever I talk about barrel, there's always going to be that heated discussion in the comments area. Most of you are saying, no way Qi, I'm never going to try it. But I also noticed some of you, after you actually do try it, start to like it. The thing is barrel today is very very different from when they first came out, probably three years ago. Today you have a lot of options for petite size. What makes a big difference is petite size are narrower and they're shorter. The best length for barrel, if your legs are shorter to begin with, you want to go with right around the ankles. You don't want it to be longer than that. And you need to pair them with slender shoes. You don't have to wear heels. Heels are best but it's not mandatory. What I default to in the summer are these shoes. These are the tiki sandals. They're almost invisible nude strappy flat sandals. They go perfectly with barrel. And these are my favorite pair of barrel pants recently. They're from Spanx. Petite size, I'm wearing extra small 26 inch insane. Number two, dress layering. I don't know who started this trend. I don't know when they started. But I do know a lot of people are still layering like that. And it kind of bothers me. Whenever I see a video, one dress, ten ways. I guarantee you one of them is going to be layering a spaghetti strap dress on top of a t-shirt. Why? This is the kind of layering that makes zero sense. Absolutely zero sense. It kind of reminds me of wearing a short sleeve t-shirt on top of a long sleeve t-shirt. By the way, do people still dress like that? It used to be super popular when I was going to grad school. In the dorm, you're going to see a lot of people dressing like that. But okay, they are grad students, right? They don't have much of a fashion sense. It's more like a convenient thing, kind of keep them warm. But why would you wear spaghetti strap dress on top of a t-shirt? So instead, I don't actually have any instead. Just wear a dress like they're supposed to be worn, not on top of a t-shirt. I'm so glad you're staying for this part of the video. We're going to talk about the number one trend, clear shoes. Have you seen a lot of people wearing them? I have on YouTube in real life. One of the biggest reasons, actually, a lot of these are shorter girls because they want to elongate your legs, which I do give it credit for. Because whenever you're not covering the top of your feet, that's what these plastic looking things do, right? They don't cover your feet, so they do elongate your legs. But this is at a price. It comes at the cost of making your entire outfit look really cheap. If your goal is really just to elongate your legs, there are numerous other kind of shoes that can serve the same purpose, but looks way more classy. And they're going to last way longer in your closet. These clear looking things, my prediction, it's going to be a short-lived trend. I've talked about this in numerous other videos, but I have to talk about it again. To elongate your legs, you don't need those clear shoes. Just go with nude color shoes. It doesn't matter if it comes with heels or maybe they're flat shoes. As long as they match your skin tone, doesn't need to be strictly matching. Just make sure they blend with the color of the skin, and that is the secret to make your legs look mile long. I'm so glad you finished the entire video. My channel is about all things petite. If you haven't signed up yet, make sure you sign up for my newsletter below so that you can receive free styling tips straight to your inbox. And you can also download my free ebook, The Top 10 Petite Essentials. I will see you on the next video.