You are short waisted when the distance between your shoulders and waistline is shorter than average. There are two ways to determine whether this is the case. 

•  Stand up straight and see if you can fit two hand widths into the space from under your bust to your natural waist. Your fingers should not be spread. If you can fit less than two hand widths, you’re short waisted. Some of my clients can only fit one hand width into this space. 

• Measure the length from shoulder to hip bone. Measure the length from hip bone to just below the knee cap. If the former is shorter by about two inches, you’re short waisted. 

Generally, short-waisted people have relatively short torsos and longer legs. More rarely, you can be short in the waist but long in the body when you have a very long rise measurement. And you can also be short in the torso and relatively short in the leg, but this is even more rare. 

The guidelines for dressing short-waisted bodies can be less than useful when they do not take other body modifiers into account. They’re often very general and assume that the rest of your body has typical proportions. They are also focused on creating conventionally flattering proportions, which might not be your style goal. But the guidelines do provide a solid starting point if your goal is to lengthen the torso to create a more balanced visual between the top and bottom parts of your body. Interestingly, the first three tips work equally well to shorten a long torso. 

1. Wear a Well-Fitting Bra

The right bra lifts the bust, creating a waistline while smoothing out the silhouette. Make sure you’re wearing the right bra size and are adequately supported. The wrong bra can make a short-waisted person seem even more short waisted, especially with a larger bust. 

2. Wear a Column of Colour 

This means wearing the same colour on the top and bottom, or wearing a top that creates a very low contrast against the bottom. The column masks where your torso ends and legs begin. A solid dress is an easy way to wear a column of colour. 

3. Wear Empire Cuts 

This sounds counter-intuitive because you might imagine the empire cut will raise the waist, shortening the torso even further. But what it actually does it hide the waist and create a different cutline across the body.

4. Wear Mid or Low-Rise Jeans and Trousers

Dropping the position of the waistband to below the natural waist visually lengthens the torso and shortens the leg line. For this to work you must showcase the waistband of the jeans or trousers by tucking or semi tucking the top. 

5. Wear Garments with a Dropped or Natural Waist 

Wearing dresses and tops with a dropped waist lengthens the torso because it draws the eye downwards. Dresses with a defined natural waist can balance out the length of both a short and a long torso. 

6. Wear Tops with Diagonal Hems

Regular length tops with diagonal hems visually lengthen the torso on the longer side, while the shorter side creates structure. Semi tucking a top into a pair of mid or low-rise bottoms is a more subtle version of the same strategy. 

7. Wear V-Necklines

V-necklines visually lengthen a short neck and short torso. This is especially effective when you are petite with a larger bustline. 

8. Keep Tops UN-Tucked 

Untucked regular and tunic length tops effectively lengthen the torso and shorten the leg line, especially when you create a high contrast between the top and bottom. Short waists look best in skirts with shorter untucked tops. Tucking a top into a high-waisted skirt or pair of pants shortens a short waist even further. 

9. Create Vertical Integrity with Accessories

Wearing long statement necklaces, or necklaces with chunky pendants, visually lengthens the torso in a more suble way. Tying a scarf vertically so that the ends hang down, or wearing an infinity scarf, draws the eye up and down, which achieves the same effect. 

10. Wear Low-Slung Belts 

Low-slung belts reposition the waist by lowering it, which lengthens the torso. Soft skinny belts worn loosely around the waist so that they “dip” lower in front are an excellent way to balance out a short torso. The soft V-shape in front effectively draws the eye up and down. 

11. Wear Self-Colour Belts on the Waist

If you’re going to wear a belt on the natural waist with a high-contrast top, match the belt to the colour of the pants or skirt. That way you’ll soften the cutting horizontal line across the body, thereby lengthening the torso in a subtle way. 

12. Wear Long Layers Over a Belted Waist

Wearing a high-contrast belt on the natural waist shortens an already short waist. By layering a long layer like a tunic cardigan over the belted top, you’ll visually lengthen the torso, offsetting the cutting line of the waisted belt. Belting at the natural waist over a longer jacket also helps to lengthen a shorter waist.

You can use a few of these tips in one outfit: combine an asymmetrical V-necked ink tunic with a pair of black skinny jeans and chunky pendant necklace. Or wear a low-slung, soft, low-contrast belt over a column of colour. Feel free to ask further questions on how to dress a shorter waist in the comments section.

Jeans that let you charge your phone, a documentary about British Vogue, H&M denim made from in-store clothing donations and more news that made headlines in fashion this week.

• Barneys and the CFDA have  teamed up for a “Made in New York” capsule collection to promote the city’s manufacturing sector.
• BBC Two is making a documentary about British Vogue that will tie in with the magazine’s 100th anniversary in 2016.
• In September, H&M is coming out with 16 new denim styles made from in-store clothing donations.
• Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo and Theory, plans to try out a four-day workweek for about a fifth of its workforce.
• Both Patagonia and Stella McCartney have cut ties with an Argentinean sustainable wool supplier after a PETA exposé.
• Joe’s Jeans has released a denim collection that allows you to charge your phone by way of a secret compartment that fits a battery.

Fun Fashion Fact

Did you know that the Cabat bag helped save the Italian luxury goods house Bottega Veneta from banktruptcy in 2001. This woven leather tote was the first bag Tomas Maier designed for the company when he took over as creative director. It is woven by hand from strips of double-faced leather, and takes two artisans two days to complete.

I pinned this runway look from Ralph Lauren’s 2015 Ready-to-Wear collection because the colour combination is inspiring. Olive paired with a shade of white looks fresh, but it’s the addition of the orange that kicks the whole lot up a notch. Modern and Sporty. Choose burnt orange or rust for a toned down version if bright orange is not your thing.

Think of any way to combine these three colours. Olive comes in different shades — sour, muted and dark — so take your pick. It ALL works with orange and white. I’ll start the ball rolling with three renditions. All four pairs of shoes are interchangeable with each of the outfits. 

Olive Topper, White Bottoms & Orange Bag

This version approximates the runway look. Combine white trousers, jeans or a skirt with a white layering top and an olive topper. Use a cardigan or vest if a jacket is not your thing. Finish off the look with orange footwear or bag. Use white or metallic footwear if you prefer a neutral foot. I chose a self-colour white sandal with a high vamp to create a longer leg line with the white ankle pants. 

Olive Dress, Orange Shoes & White Bag

Combine an olive dress with white bag and orange footwear. Or choose white shoes and orange bag. A white topper works well over an olive dress, as does an orange scarf or necklace and metallic footwear. 

Olive Bottoms, White Top & Orange Accents 

Combine a pair of olive jeans, pants or a skirt with a white top and orange scarf. Finish off the look with metallic footwear and bag. A tonal white topper works well with this rendition. Or change things up with an orange topper and white shoes. Add jewellery, eyewear and watch as desired. 

You could also combine a pair of blue jeans with a white top, olive topper, and orange scarf and/or bag. Finish off that look with metallic, white or orange shoes. Get those creative juices flowing.

In this WWD fashion flashback with great picture gallery full of retro photos, top designers reminisce about what they wore in high school.

I was intrigued by something photographer Ayla Hibri said about the pictures she took of the welders of Medeber, a metal market in the capital of Eritrea:

“What stood out for me is the DIY masks that everyone was wearing. Each [man] had his own unique mask created with their own hands based on their own need and sense of style. There was the square one, the rectangular one, the cardboard one, the coloured one, the plain one, the one that has built in goggles… She explains that many of the metal workers ‘go all out’ with their masks: “it seemed like an extension to their practice, as much of a tool to them as the equipment they use.”

Fab footwear and marvelous floor patterns come together on the Instagram account I Have This Thing With Floors.

Fab Links from Our Members

Marlene loves Melissa McCarthy’s comments about how creating categories like “plus-size fashion” is marginalizing people. Enough is enough.

HiggsMistress is intrigued by Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, who lives in a 240-square-foot trailer and has only 4 pairs of shoes. She also enjoyed this post explaining more about Llamapolis, the community he built.

Robin really likes the honest discussion in this article about what’s working and what’s not working around the fashion industry’s inclusion of people with different and disabled bodies.

Sally shares how and why she tweaked the tattoo on her leg, which was inspired by stained glass panels. Angie likes the new black outlines, which to her eye work well with Sally’s refreshed wardrobe made up almost entirely of dark colours.

Vicki would like to share this story on womenswear label Co, who have teamed up with French jeans vet François Girbaud for a line of no-stretch raw denim. Here’s a closer look at the jacket mentioned in the article, and the pants are great, too!

Alecia is trying to live her values of quality over quantity and to reduce waste. With regards to fashion, this BBC article on what happens to your old clothes was more food for thought on that topic.

A list published in 2014 on what not to wear after 30 has recently caused a lot of reaction among style bloggers, which Peri thinks is fantastic, especially given the recent forum discussion of knees. Have a look at Judith of StyleCrone and Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb defying the list.