I'm 2 inches shorter than you and twice your age. I can assure you, when you are short, there's very little you can do to appear taller.... I've tried. :-)

Actually you can look taller in photos - with nobody else standing around you for reference - but I don't think that's what you mean. You want to look taller to others, right?

Or is it that you want to look more age appropriate? Because they are two different things. If so, I would suggest searching the site for Angie's smart casual formula, and emphasizing jackets whenever you can. A jacket will give you a stronger shoulder line and more "presence."

For your new job, (congrats, btw!) choose quality fabrics (budget permitting) especially for your knitwear (no cheap cotton tee shirts - those scream college student).

As for shoes, heels can give you a bit of height but don't go too crazy. Personally, I always thought 4 inch or higher heels make us short people look silly, like we're trying to hard or something. A moderate heel no more than 2.5 inches works just fine and saves your feet and back too.

Otherwise, learn to enjoy your height, since it's not something you can change. For example, did you know us shorties have a dating edge? I don't remember where I learned this (I think it was a PBS special), but apparently when men are scouting for women in a bar or other type crowd like a party where singles meet and mingle, they naturally look down, not up. So they will not easily notice any women who are taller than they are. But this means that all the men taller than 5'2" in the room will lay eyes on you. That is probably all of the men, so your chances of meeting someone and your choices are greater than those of your taller peers.

Sorry my taller friends!... but heck you get greater choice with clothing, so there has to be *some* advantage for us short people! ;-)

Shiny, you're so funny! I can't agree with you more.

I'm 5' tall, and I hated it when I was your age Katmaddy. I remember that I vented it to my Dad, who's not tall (guess where it came from? :). My Dad said to me: If you dress proportionally to your height, you'll be fine. That's probably the only advice my Dad gave me fashion-wise, but it's so true.

My advice is stand tall and accept the fact; pay attention to the proportion, shop in petite section, make friends with a great tailor and you'll be fine.

Hi Katmaddy and welcome to the forum. Shiny and Julia have you sorted and I have nothing to add but that dynamite comes in small packages. Shiny and Julia are proof of it.

I can't emphasize posture enough. I have horrible posture so I shouldn't be the spokesperson for this, but it makes SUCH a huge difference to stand tall and hold your head high. You might surprise yourself.

Thanks everyone!

I actually love being short, sorry I made it sound otherwise, I just mean that some times the clothes i wear, I feel, don't look elegant because I look just short and it doesn't flow? I'm not sure what I'm trying to say.
And yeah my boyfriend is 6"2 (a whole foot taller!) but we fit together so perfectly and he loves me being tiny =) I swear, short ppl allways seem to end up with tall ppl.

I guess a better question is, since I'm so small, and look youthful, people always think I'm really young. For my job, I would like to look more my age and also nicely dressed, is there a way for my clothing to be more mature.
I know there is and I don't have a bad fassion style at all really, I like to look classy.
Shiny- I think your tip on no cotton T's and such (not that I think those are really fancy looking anyway for a job) is a good one =) Thanks a bunch everyone!
Sorry if I ended up not really having much of a question.

I think clothing from Express is probably the most representative for a young professional look. However, you can of course accomplish business casual without spending big bucks. Some nice investments that I've found:

- Suit jacket (for the "casual" look, wear a camisole underneath)
- Suit/dress pant (pair it with a dressy top/blouse for a more "chic" look, or wear a collared shirt with a nice belt & accessorize with a long necklace -- but don't overdo the colors with accessories)
- V-neck sweater (easy to get different looks with different shirts underneath)
- Skinny belt (use it over a tunic or flowy tops to give a more structured look)
- Cardigan (great for layering over spaghetti straps)

Fitted baby doll tops and t-shirts are probably no longer appropriate. If you have halter/spaghetti/camis, they will see great use being layered under cardigans, jackets, tunics. I'm no expert in dressing business casual, but hopefully it can help you get started.

Poor posture might make people to think that you are smaller than you really are. From years for martial arts training, yoga and doctor's orders following a spinal fracture, I have quite good posture. This has actually fooled people into thinking that I am at least two or three inches taller than I really am (which is five foot nothing). One of my friends has quite poor posture, and people tend to think that she is smaller than me when, in reality, she is two inches taller than me.