I am 5’2″, and for years and years I have been struggling with pants shopping.
After years of trial and error, I have put together this guide with 7 best types of pants for petite women and what you should avoid.
Table of Contents
Styling goal
The key is to find styles that can elongate your legs and optimize your proportion.
No matter how tall you are, this should always be the primary goal when choosing pant styles.
Next, I’ll go over with you the most flattering styles of pants that I love.
High/Mid Rise Pants
In general, high rise pants are best for petites, because they can effectively elongate your legs. That is why they are my go-to.
The exception, however, is if you have short torso.Â
If you are petite and have short torso, high waisted pants will not work for you because they only make your torso look even shorter.
- The best pants for petite women with short torso are mid rise pants, which balances out your short torso and do not reduce your leg length like low rise pants do.
- Since shorter torso normally implies longer legs, you don’t have to worry about your legs looking too short, which is great news for petite girls!
- If you have larger bust, you may not want to wear high waisted jeans with a crop top because that will probably draw all the attention to your chest area.
Bootcut Pants
Bootcut is one of the most flattering styles for petites because they can make your legs appear longer.
Bootcut is a style of pants that are fitted on your thighs and widens under your knees.
The opening of the pants is wide enough to accommodate booties underneath, which is how it got the name.
The reason this one of the best styles for short women is the leg shape can effectively elongate your legs, especially when you pair them with heels!
Sailor Pants
These are high-waisted pants with decorative buttons on the waist. The reason they are so flattering to petite women is they draw people’s attention above your natural waistline and make your legs look longer.
Most sailor pants are full length, but you can also find some at ankle length. Whether you wear ankle-length or full-length, they will make your legs appear to be longer.
Wearing them with heels will give you the sexy vibe as well as double the leg elongating effect. If you want to wear them with flats, no problem, just make sure you wear flats with pointy toes so that you maximize your leg length.
Flare Pants
Flared pants are one of the most flattering leg shapes for petite women because they are fitted from hips to thighs, and start to widen under your knees, like these Petite Flared pants ($79.00)
The key to wearing flared pants is the pair them with the right shoes. In other words, you should pick the inseam for the shoes you have in mind to wear them with. For shorter women, it is best to wear flared pants with heels, if you want to benefit from the leg-lengthening effect to the maximum.
In terms of the inseam, you should avoid going too short or too long.
The ideal length of flared jeans should hit at the perfect midpoint of your heels, and that way your legs will look a mile long.
If you wear it with heels, you should avoid an inseam that is too short, otherwise, there is a potential risk your legs might look cut off at the ankle because of the flare.
If you want to wear flared pants with flats, the best is to pair them with those with pointy toes. Even without heels, pointy-toe flats can still make your legs look longer and make you look taller.
Full-length wide-leg pants
Yes, petite women can wear wide leg pants, but the most flattering are those with full length.
Talking about the best pants for petite women, one question that constantly pops up and is widely debated is if short women should wear wide-leg pants (also known as palazzo pants, a very popular search term in recent years).
It is one of the top trends right now that you see on lots of celebrities and many of your favorite petite bloggers.
The answer is yes, of course, wide-leg pants can work if you are petite, as long as you pay attention to the two most important things.
- Number one is the length of the pants.
- Anything wide will expand you horizontally, and (sadly) make you look shorter. Sorry, that’s just a fact and how our eyes work.
- But, what you can do to counter that is by going vertical.
- If possible, go with the longest inseam you feel comfortable with.
- Ideally, the palazzo pants should cover part of the heels so that your legs look extended by a few inches.
Black Dress Pants
Black pants are a wardrobe staple for women of any height, but they are especially important for petites because they are one of the best styles to elongate your legs!
When you wear black pants with either skin toe shoes, or black shoes, you will instantly look taller and your legs will look miles long.
Beige Pants
The reason beige pants are one of the most flattering for many petite women is that the color can blend with the color of your skin. Therefore, even if you are wearing ankle-length, they will not make your legs look cut off.
This is not limited to beige pants, rather, any color of pants that are closest to your skin tone can achieve this result.
This works especially well when you wear beige pants with skin color heels because that will double the leg elongating effect.
When you wear both, it will make your feet look like the extension of your legs!
That is the best combination for any petite woman who wants to make her legs look longer.
Cigarette Pants
Cigarette pants are a classic wardrobe staple that you should definitely own because it goes with almost any outfit (casual or formal) and it works on most petite body types.
The keyword here is “fitted” because short women should stay away from loose or slouch pants of any kind.
To find the best pants for petite, picking out the right length is important too. Ankle length will look good with almost any top, and it works with either flats or heels. In the fall or winter, ankle pants are best paired with ankle boots of the same color. That will make them look like an extension of your legs.
If you want an extra leg-lengthening effect, wear them with heels and go with a pair of straight-leg pants that brushes off the middle of the heels.
Anything shorter than ankle-length can potentially make your legs look cut off, so I wouldn’t recommend shorter than this.
Of all the petite celebrities, Victoria Beckham is the master of the straight leg style, and long pants are one of her most famous signature looks.
Most of the time, she wears really long pants and occasionally she wears them at ankle length. We have found the fitted long pants paired with stilettos most flattering to her. If she is wearing straight-leg pants with high heels, people may not notice if the extra height is coming from her shoes or if it’s just her legs!
Paper Bag Pants
Paper bag is one of the hottest trends right now, which is a great thing for us Petites because this is one of the best styles if you want to elongate your legs.
Paper bag is one type of high-waisted pants, but the waist goes even higher than the “regular” high rise.
A typical high-rise pant is around 10″ inches, but paper bag pants can add another 2 inches and make the rise up to 12″ or even higher!
That means it is going to create the visual impression that your waist starts much higher on your torso, creating the illusion of much longer legs!
Paper bag pants come with a belt, which is a great design for those of us who do not have much natural waist definition (like myself). Having the belt is going to give the eye a very clear signal of a defined waist.
The only caveat here is that if you happen to be a petite woman with a large bust and a short torso, then you probably want to stay away from this style.
The reason is the ultra-high waist of the paper bag pants is going to cut into even more space on your torso, making your torso even shorter than it already is.
If you have a short torso, you want to look more balanced, and probably not a good idea to look like your torso has “disappeared”.
Pants with Vertical Details
Pants with vertical hems are on our list of best pants for petite women as well.
The reason is quite simple. Short women need to create length through what they wear in order to improve their proportion and make their legs look longer. Vertical hem can achieve a lengthening purpose because they draw people’s eyes up and down.
Pinstripe pants
By the same rationale, pinstriped pants are also very flattering for petites.
Wearing vertical stripes doesn’t mean you should look like a zebra.Â
Instead, it’s recommended to go for more subtle stripes such as beige and white in the spring and summer, or navy and black for the winter. Loud patterns normally do not suit petite women, and simpler prints are generally preferred.
In conclusion
There is no absolute fashion rules, no matter how tall you are.
However, all the tips I share in this article will make sure you are well-equipped to find the most flattering pants for your shape.
Most importantly, wear any style with confidence and that is what makes you look your very best!
Melissa Misenheimer says
Do you have tips for pear shaped petite women with short legs and short torso? I’m doing a closet over haul and could really use some help!
Christine N says
Great article! Thanks for including the question on wide pants. What do you think about overalls on petites? Thanks!