When the distance between your shoulders and your natural waist is shorter than average, you are short-waisted. You’re long-waisted when the opposite holds true. Being short-waisted is not to be confused with being short in the rise. When the measurement from your natural waist to crotch point is short, your rise measurement is usually referred to as “petite” or short (even if you’re regular height which is 5′ 4″ and above). To complicate matters even more, you are not necessarily short-waisted if your rise measurement is petite. It’s a miracle that that we find pants and skirts to fit us at all (which is why it’s essential to get your mind around having clothing altered if it doesn’t fit). 

When you’re short-waisted, you’ll want to wear clothing that elongates your torso. Here are a few guidelines:

• Wear a supportive bra. This empathizes your waistline and pulls everything into proportion.
• Wear pants with lower rises if you intend tucking your top into your bottoms.
• Choose paneled skirts with low slung waistlines and strong vertical seaming.
• Longer length tops and knee length A-line dresses are ideal. 
• Keep tops and tunics fitted on the shoulders and  torso to accentuate your shape. Refrain from wearing broad waist cinching belts over tunics and opt for loosely slung narrower belts instead.

My point is clearly demonstrated in the pictures below. The model on the left has effectively shortened her torso with the wide, cinched waist belt. The model on the right wearing the loosely slung narrower belt looks like she has a long torso because of the shape of the belt and the way that it’s slung.

Spanish actress and style maven Penelope Cruz and her equally gorgeous sister Monica uncovered their new clothing line in Spain last week. They’ve had a stab at designing part of an Autumn/Winter 2007 line for Spanish design house Mango (MNG). The collection is due to launch on 16 September alongside a fab advertising  campaign that features the stunning Spanish beauties themselves. Penelope Cruz has a superb sense of style and I’m champing at the bit with curiosity. I can’t wait to see these products hanging in one of my very favourite and affordable places to shop. Watch out rival Spanish retail giant Zara… Mango’s Cruzing with style.

When Kate Moss and Sienna Miller starting strutting their designer high-rise jeans around London at the end of last year, the writing was on the wall. This was a trend in the making. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before ultra high fashion retail chains like Zara, Mango, French Connection and H&M started dabbling in the look. What I thought was going to be another short lived ‘80’s fashion recurrence is clearly not the case. Rises are rising and we’ll need to start adapting the look. The good news is that fashion repetitions are always improved and updated. Pants with elevated rises can be fabulously flattering if you find a pair that fits (or are altered to fit).

I’ve had the best luck dressing women in these styles when I’m mindful of the following: 

• Keep the waistband above the hip bone and below the belly button. This seems most flattering across the tummy area.
• Opt for a flat, clean front. Stay away from pleats or pockets that add bulk.
• Keep the leg width flared and floor skimming for the longest leanest line.

Higher rises give us the option of tucking our tops, shirts and blouses back into our pants. It’s the perfect silhouette for waist-cinching belts and a nice change to flowy swing tops that are equally fashionable. It’s brilliant to have an abundance of choices!

High rise pants from Nanette Lepore, Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren (available at Nordstrom).

This invention blows me away. Have you ever longed for a shoe that goes from heel to flat at the push of a button? Well, apparently a British Insurance Company by the name of Sheila’s Wheels has invented just that. They’re called Sheila’s Driving Heels and the idea seems too good to be true. According to Sheila’s Wheels:

“The design concept is aimed at those 11.5 million women drivers in the UK who put themselves and others at risk by wearing the wrong footwear when they’re behind the wheel.”

I don’t think that the product is for sale, but it’s fun to think about. Thank you Elizabeth for sharing the info that you found on Gadgetcandy. With technology like this in the pipeline, who knows what’s in store for us next… look out, 007!