Suz - I can so relate.
I took a pic of myself today (haven't posted yet) and ALL I can see is my thighs! As Beth Ann says, it is partly because you and I have relatively slim hips. It does bother me that that widest-hoizontal- line on the bottom half of my body is below crotch level.

And I am REALLY struggling to like most cropped top looks, not just this one.Very easy to look blocky. I mostly only like cropped over fitted, I think with possibly a few exceptions

Thanks for posting this, Suz, even though you didn't feel 100% awesome. That takes great courage and confidence!!!

I agree that the wide leg jeans were on the money!

Perhaps if the shirt was a little longer it would work with the cropped jumper and the skinnies?? I think this issue concerns proportions......

Great outfit lab questions!
I agree it's partly the cropped top which I think isn't shown to advantage with the skinny jean look.
And partly the shift toward jeans with more ease is affecting the " eye".
Playing with proportions may do the trick. Where does the waist go, where does the boot top hit, where are the color transitions or columns.

I'll throw in a personal preference and say I've tried a cropped sweater over a long shirt and I always feel a bit wrong with all those miles of shirt tails flapping about. Can't say why when the look seems to work on paper. I think it's to do with what Anne says about blocky proportions.

And I think we always wince a bit when we look at pictures of ourselves and our attention is drawn to one or other body part we feel self conscious about. You know the rest of the world almost never notices.

Anyway, you look lovely. I think you could look well dressed in a bin-bag. (But maybe not in a butt-vest...)

Whatever you felt, I wish I looked like you in this outfit! It's interesting to contemplate our "look vs. feel" balance, which I think is personal to each of us. I think I look best when I feel good in an outfit, but pictures don't always reflect that. And conversely, this picture says nothing to me about how you feel - if it stood alone, I would have expected a high happiness factor. Fascinating!