"I learned I like the look of a longer torso" - YouLookFab Forum

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"I learned I like the look of a longer torso"

Mochi

Veteran

Angie said this just a few hours ago and I'm wanting to hear more! Everyone always talks about legs: leggy models, mile-long legs, showcasing your legs. I happen to also find a longish, tapered torso--in balance with leg proportion--very attractive--athletic, lithe, all that--but it's not really pinpointed in that way, is it? What are the advantages of making your torso elongated, especially if it means shortening the leg line?

For me it's all just curiosity. I am short, but really I'm also incredibly short-torsoed and any move at all to lengthen that works in very limited ways, and plus it cuts into what minor legginess I'm capable of. For me it's very much a zero-sum game! (I'm adding that extreme bustiness has eaten into a lot of what's my perceived torso area....so I it's almost pointless to try and dwell on making it look longer....apart from by losing weight, which would be a good idea anyway.)

Anyway, besides showcasing belts, allowing for longer tunics, etc etc, what are the factors that makes you suddenly want to bring this out, Angie?

Dressing

21 replies

Latest reply was from Clarissa

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I am short torsoed, so I get it. I'm lucky enough to have length in my legs, but I can look really out of proportion in high waisted looks. You'll notice that I wear a lot of lower rise pants or untucked shirts to lengthen my upper half.

Even though in theory one should look slimmer by emphasizing the waist, sometimes I feel like belted waists chop me in a place that actually makes me look weird. It's almost as though the eye stops at my little waist but then hangs up again on the expanse that is my hips. I don't totally get it, but I usually choose something with a sleeker fitted line through the torso instead. For me it's all about balance.

And then there's the matter of boobage. High waists make my boobs look low (which they are not in reality), so again I find an advantage in stretching out the line of the torso to either deemphasize or flatter the girls better.

Anonymous

Nancy, where did Angie say this? Can you give me a link? I bat for team Long Torso, and I will cling to any words that make this sound like a good thing, lol. Just the other day I marked myself in the mirror at the crotch point, and according to the length of my legs, my height should stop around my eyebrows in order for my body to be balanced. It's amazing what a three inch heel does for me. Pity my feet can't tolerate them.

ramya

Veteran

Claire here it is:

http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....w-necklace

Jsnet you echo my feelings :), boobs short torso but not the long legs

Diana

Veteran

I am curious to hear what Angie has to say about this too! I have a short torso (super short waist, although my rise is normal) and I would say that 90% of the time it is a blessing since it means I can do things like wear flatter shoes and layers on my bottom half while still looking long legged. Plus my proportions make me appear taller than I am. On occasion the short torso is an impediment (for example, I can't wear low-stanced jackets or wide belts), but on balance I really like it. Also, with my pear shape, I suspect that it is much better and easier to be long legged.

I can't really do much to lower my waist in any case since I also have high, prominent hips. I'd have to wear something really boxy to hide it. Even with something like my very low BF jeans, you can still usually tell where my natural waist is because it shows under my clothes.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Nancy, I had a re-epiphany about long torsos more than two years ago:

http://youlookfab.com/2010/04/.....-surprise/

I am very sensitive to "the short legged look" - and I do not wear high heels, so my aim in my own outfits is to create REGULAR balance. By this I mean that *a regular length leg line* is just fine. I like that aesthetic just as much.

I have regular length legs and a regular length torso (neither short or long waisted). So when I wear low rises with a tucked in top and belt, my torso is lengthened. I really like to wear low rise jeans and trousers with a tucked in top, and I do not like to wear high heels as you know - so my torso looks long compared to my legs in this pairing. So it's not elongating (which is always all the style rage) - but to my eye it's just flattering enough and I like it!

Hope that makes sense.

rae

(website)

Veteran

Ah, the zero-sum game! I know it well. The half-tuck was a godsend for me, since I feel it lengthens the leg and torso at the same time. But the short torso is also one reason why I love heels - by the time I've adequately lengthened the torso, I really need that extra 2-3" of leg to balance the torso out.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Or not, Rae. You could sport regular length legs and look great!

Aziraphale

Veteran

Like you, Mochi, I'm really short, so nothing's ever going to look super-elongated on me! But I find it's all about proportion. Here's the deal, for my shape and size at least. There is a trade-off between proportionally long legs or long torso -- lengthening one shrinks the other -- but lengthening the leg line seems to make me look, overall, taller and with better proportions. So if I have to choose, lengthening the leg line usually wins out over lengthening the torso. But tucking tops in to high-waisted skirts, which really elongates the leg line, can be problematic because it shortens my torso to the point where I look *really* out of proportion. So there's a balance. I err on the side of longer legs, but make sure I don't shorten my torso *too* much, lest I look like pair of boobs walking around on sticks.

Elly

Veteran

Hmmm--- Long legs here, short torso. Almost never feel the need to wear heels except sometimes a lowish one for arch comfort.

I am not concerned with my legs looking short when I lengthen my torso, but I generally also don't worry about lengthening my torso--- I have a high natural waist pencil I wear tucked that I think looks great. I think part of it is that while I have a short torso, the upper part of my torso above my waist and the rise part of my torso below my waist are fairly balanced.

Although I have experienced the problems Janet talks about most of the time it doesn't bother me--- occasionally I will put on a garment or a combo and have it look really really odd though, and my own mother often says my ladies are really close to my waist, which can affect dart placement.

I do like the tucked look, into both natural waist and low rise garments. I think the tucked look, especially with the extra detailing of tucking and often wearing a belt creates a much more broken up below the waist silhouette compared to the super short tee of the 90s and early 2000s, which created a "long crotch" rather than "long legged" look on me since I didn't wear my clothes with the "skin belt" showing. That was a bad fashion era for me.

However, my long legs might be the reason that I've always enjoyed tunic length shirts.

catgirl

Veteran

Okay, being clueless and still confused about torsos and legs and short vs. long, can someone come up with visuals? Are we talking about a naturally long torso or an outfit styled to create that look?

Aida posted a visual of her in the same outfit except with bootcuts and BF jeans to illustrate leg lengthening. What was funny is that both Rae and I looked at the pictures and "saw" something different than Aida - objectively the leg lengthening was obvious but we both appreciated the BF look more (I think; Aida or Rae, correct me if I'm misremembering!). And that brings me back to the old debates re: objective/subjective definitions of what's "flattering" and personal preferences.

I so wish we'd done a measuring exercise in CA when I could maybe finally get some real input on proportions - I now know how to dress myself but still have no idea my legs and torso are short, proportionate or long.

*crawls back into bed*

Aziraphale

Veteran

Una, did you ever try that exercise where you measure your body in "head segments"? That should give you some idea of what your proportions are.

I always thought I had a short torso because of the way shirts fit (or, rather, do not fit), but after measuring my body in head segments, I could see clearly that my torso is actually quite proportionate -- but my waist is *really* high up. In other words, the distance from bust peak to waist is very short, but from waist to leg break (rise) is longer, so my torso overall isn't particularly short (although it's not long, either). Does that make sense?

catgirl

Veteran

I did, and it seemed to tell me I was proportionate. But I think actual measuring tape would be helpful. Maybe I can convince my DH to do it if I'm wearing something skimpy.

rae

(website)

Veteran

Ok, this is not the best visual, because there are too many variables, but I tried to highlight what I see when I change torso length and leg length. Tried to choose examples that were all a similar contrast between top and bottom, though it would be more obvious with a higher contrast.

Left: natural torso, lengthened legs. Waist looks to sit unnaturally high, causing proportions to look funny.

Middle: torso is lengthened, legs are lengthened, waistline is more ambiguous - which in turn makes the leg line a bit ambiguous. Both torso and leg line feel more balanced when I look at the photo.

Right: natural torso, natural leg length. My waist is naturally high because the torso is so short - so the legs look longer by comparison, even though I am wearing flats.

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rachylou

Veteran

I'm short waisted, have "more leg than torso" visually. In truth, tho, my legs are an average length. I'm only 5'6" (and this only if I stretch). I find trying to elongate my torso visually, say with an untucked top, a precision maneuver. Fraction too long and I look like I have stumpy legs. Fraction too short, and it just looks like my shirt got pulled out.

krishnidoux

Veteran

I realize now reading this thread that most of my life I have always focused my dressing on elongating the leg line. This as a priority, over any other, at any point in time. It is very much out of my comfort zone to do anything which may elongate my torso to the detriment of the leg.

Photo 1 below illustrates being out of my comfort zone. A pair of somewhat low rise, with the shirt tucked, and with a belt (therefore reducing even further the leg line). I really don't like myself in this. I didn't like it when the pic was taken, still don't like it when looking at it. It doesn't help that the hem is a tad too short.

Strangely, rolled BF jeans which should absolutely shorten the legs and elongate the torso, do not make me feel awful, and I even quite enjoy the look (photo 9). I feel good in it. ???

I know I have regular to short legs, and a long torso, but it is difficult for me to assess if I am short waisted or long waisted, because my natural waist is so high. You can really see it when I wear skirts (photo 2).

Regarding skirts and long-torso-short-legged, I just had an epiphany earlier this month, that it is much better for skirts to be shorter, either slightly above the knee (photo 8), frankly above the knee (photo 4, 5), tunic length (photo 6), or, at worse, at the knee (photo 2). Midis shorten the leg line when you are short with short legs. (photo 3).

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rachylou

Veteran

krishnidoux, I just have to tell you I love, love #5 and 8, and think you look well proportioned in #1. #3 is the only pic that stands out to me as "off". Skirt a bit too long and the sweater a bit too big for each other as well as you possibly.

Gaylene

Veteran

As a long-torsoed, short-legged woman, I envy those whose proportions fall with a "normal" range because they get to experiment with so many different looks and proportions. And, Una, as for trying to figure out whether or not you have a long (or short) torso, I'd say if you have to measure to find out, you probably fall within the normal range.

How I know I have a long torso:
(1) Belted items ALWAYS encircle my rib cage instead of my waist. Removing belt loop is the first thing I do if I purchase an item with a belted waist. As for designs with inset waists, I'm speechless if I find one that even approximates where my waist is located.

(2) Low-rise jeans are a cruel joke unless I choose to expose at least half of my butt and nether regions to the world. My low-rise pants are everyone else's medium rise. I'm fascinated by pictures of Angie in her low-rise pants because I can't figure out how they stay up on her body.

(3) When I was told that, when I got older, I'd need a good bra to make sure that my bust lines up with the mid-section of my upper arm, I started laughing. Even sagging, my boobs would have to grow another 6-8" to reach my elbows--and I'm in a D cup!

(4) The 31" inseam legs that accompany my torso mean that I need to dress the lower half of my body quite carefully unless I want to spend my life in 6" heels. At sixty, with wonky knees, that isn't an option that I can contemplate. Wide-legged, baggy pants, midi skirts, cropped pants, colored tights, and contrasting footwear all come with a huge CAUTION--DANGER AHEAD sign. Even sales staff have been reduced to giggles when I try on these items, acknowledging that "maybe they just don't work"-- a massive understatement.

There are some things that I do enjoy about having a long torso. If I wanted to, I could still wear a bikini at 60+ as long as I kept up with my abdominal crunches. I don't have to worry about appearing large busted even in a D cup. Tunics and skinny-legged pants are my friend so I don't worry about surrendering my waist. And I rarely, even at 60, have to worry about skirts being too short.

In my dreams, I sometimes wish I was a long-legged creature with a short torso who could run around in ballet flats and floatly, longer skirts. But, for all of those who are wondering about their torso length, I figure that if you are outside of the "normal" range, you don't have to measure to know if you have a long (or short) torso. The mirror tells you every day.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Gaylene, you are a hoot!

It's six of one, half a dozen of the other, isn't it? I guess not many of us have it all. If my boobs were to drop by six inches, they WOULD be at my waist. But low-rise pants stay up just fine on me, without exposing any plumber's crack.

One of the other nice things about a long torso is that you can wear awesome wide belts.

Ariel

Gaylene, I agree with you. It's really something you only worry about if you've got to worry about it. If you don't look in the mirror and see that you're long waisted or short waisted, you're very probably normally proportioned. I knew I was short-waisted before I knew there was a term for it. I googled one day "my waist is three inches below my breasts," and found out this is a common phenomena known as short-waistedness :p

It's so funny you take the belt loops off belted garments. I go through the opposite problem--the waist nips in at my waist and thus makes the top half of the garment look sack-like because there's way too much of it draped over my tiny torso-- and do the same thing to solve the problem. Silly built-in belt loops. Most other shirts and dresses I just can't buy without taking them to a tailor.

But to be on topic for a minute--for some people including me there is no long-torso-look option. It's either barely proportional or long-legs-short-torso. I know this from experience. And I think more people are short-waisted. Maybe that's why you hear more about lengthening the leg ... For some it's the only lengthening option.

Aida

Veteran

Interesting post! I have a proportionally longer torso (with a shortish, well-defined waist) and shorter legs (and I'm short!) so when I first started working on improving proportions while dressing I really focused on leg lengthening. However, I still liked wearing low-rise bottoms and rarely liked shortening my torso by tucking things into a band that actually sat at my waist (especially as an IT!); the only torso shortening I enjoy for myself is wearing cropped jackets over longer tops, but it doesn't really shorten me all that much.

In this past year it has finally dawned on me that rather than my goal being as simple as "leg lengthening" it's really that I want "torso balancing" while leaving my torso generally its proper length. Which means that I either have to be OK with "normal" leg lengths OR I have to add a few inches to my legs to balance, both of which I do. (The semi-tuck works wonder for me too, Rae!) It did take me quite a while to be OK with "normal leg length" outfits that also featured my longer torso, but I am now equally happy to don a low-rise jean and a tucked top with both flats or heels. Which directly led to me to drop my average heel height from 4" to 2.5"-3", and I'm quite happy with that as well

Clarissa

I've heard that a longer torso makes our waist look more defined. My torso is a little longer than my legs I think ,and my waist is very defined so maybe that has something to do with it other than measurements. Like if two people have the same size waist the person with a longer torso's waist will appear to be smaller because it has more room to dip in. I know many people dislike being long-waisted but that's one positive about it