Help! Flats and proportions - YouLookFab Forum

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About: Team Heels or Team Flats

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Help! Flats and proportions

Chiara

I love the look of heels (say 2"), because they are an easy way to balance out my proportions. I'm 5' 8", long and narrow-boned torso and arms, long neck but average length legs (so I always need tops for talls, but regular trousers are usually OK). Having heavier thighs also visually shortens my legs. So heels have always worked well for me- with a high-waisted, straight or wide leg trouser and a full break (hemmed quite low on the foot), they elongated my legs so that my torso did not take over.
However, my finicky feet are voting more and more for Team Flats, and I'm less and less interested in arguing with them Plus I love being able to walk places without having to have planned my footwear beforehand.
So, please share your suggestions about ways to wear flats and still elongate the leg line...

Body Type

14 replies

Latest reply was from unfrumped

jussie

Veteran

Pointed toes or squared off rather than round, and shoes the same colour as pants are my best suggestions.

Meghan R

agree with Jussie, the color of the flats makes a big difference.

3style

Veteran

Personally if I wear pants with a full break at the bottom, it’s the one type of trouser where I don’t wear a standard ballet flat type of flat shoe. I’ll wear something with a platform or a low wedge or a bootie with a 1/2 inch heel. Anything that’s got a bit of bulk to it to continue with the heavy downward feeling of the full break. Pointy toes and so forth work better with pants that end at the top of the ankle or higher, imho.

Jen

I have a very similar situation in that my legs are short and torso long, meaning that I need some height to balance myself out. My advance to you is the following:
1) Flats in a nude-for-you shade that matches your skin tone are leg-lengthening.
2) ***Buy shoes with some kind of platform and then a low additional heel. Forgive me if I am over-explaining this, but I was surprised how few people mentioned this on the "Team Heels/Team Flats" post. Perhaps, as I did for many years, the word "platform" conjures up for them some giant 70s wood-heel wedge sandal. Actually it just means there is something elevating the *entire* shoe, say 1 inch, and then the heel part has say an extra inch elevated over that. So it *looks* like you are wearing a 2 inch heel, but your feet *feel* like you are wearing a one-inch heel. This is the key if you want both height and comfort. Look carefully under "description" on Zappos, Nordstrom, etc.: they will specify how much of the height is heel and how much is platform.
3) Finally, as others have noted, true flat flats, like ballet flats, are NOT friendly for problem feet. Try to find shoes with some arch support, and that will make even slightly higher heels much more bearable.

Joy

Veteran

Dress in a column of color, or neutral or low contrast . When cropped pants first came out, Angie suggested "closing the gap" at the ankle with ankle straps. I took that idea to heart. It seems to help lengthen the leg line visually.

cindysmith

Veteran

It looks like basics are covered: monochromatic colum of color, pointy toe flats, platforms/flatforms, ankle length pants

I think that sometimes, a wider leg on a trouser, even a properly hemmed one, actually adds width to the bottom half. If you have a long torso, sometimes a high waisted, skinny bottom can lengthen the leg line & balance out a long torso. Even with my bigger butt and thighs, I like the higher waisted skinny to draw attention down my legs instead of to my abdomen. I generally do a cute shoe to act as an exclamation mark or whatever, just to keep the eyes from settling on my newer expanded waistline (I hate menopause LOL)

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I'll write a post on the subject.

Chiara

Thanks all, and I am really looking forward to reading that post, thank you Angie!
Having had quite an 'organised' clothes buying strategy for the last few years, it's recently gone a little all-over-the place as I try to get my head around what to look for.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Low vamp, pointy shoes make a world of difference. Or higher vamp when it matches your trousers, stockings or skin depending on what you are wearing.

Adriana

Veteran

O Angie. Good news. I belong to this club too. Straight upperbody, long torso and sturdy tighs, and calves too. I especially find it difficult in summer with trousers. Sandals shorten the legs more. I want to bookend because of dark hair, what to do? In winter I wear dark trousers with dark booties or a skirt with dark stockings and black shoes. I know most of the tips but cannot all use them. For instance I need some contrast because of my coloring.

Gigi

Veteran

I find that metallics are helpful. They seem to be less heavy looking or something. I find that I can wear a round-toe ballet flat in a metallic and not look too stumpy.

rachylou

Veteran

This is a good topic, just wanted to say. I’m learning.

Nina

I second metallics, silver & rose gold, copper - whatever matches your skin tone better.

unfrumped

Veteran

Watching also. Good post.

And for non- pointy solutions. Pointy toe shoes in general are bad for my feet, though I have some PG ankle straps that work. The ankle strap- gap concept seems to work for me with cropped pants.
I also gravitate toward loafers with a lower vamp. May not be as modern, but seems to look less stumpy on me.