If you are looking for pants to make your leg look longer, you have come to the right place! I am 5’2” and I have been researching all kinds of fashion tips and tricks that can make your legs appear longer. I think most petite women would agree with me that is very important for shorter ladies.
Even if you are not petite, most women still want to know what kind of pants make legs look longer! That is what has prompted me to put together this list today so that you know what to look for.
Now let’s dive right in.
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Table of Contents
High Waisted Pants Elongate your Legs
If you have read my other styling advice or watched me on YouTube, you’ll know I’m all for high waisted style! High waist design is the easiest way to elongate your legs, and it should be your wardrobe staple for any women looking for pants to make legs appear longer.
The reason behind this is that high waisted pants sit higher than your natural waist, so that tricks the eye into believing your legs are longer than they actually are.
That explains why high waisted pants is the favorite pant style of almost every petite actresses from 5’3″ Victoria Beckham to 5′ Kourtney Kardashian.
My personal wardrobe reflects my belief- I own numerous high waisted pants, jeans and skirts. They are my go-to when it comes to the bottoms.
Another reason why high waisted pants are so flattering is also because they can smooth out your mid section pretty nicely. If you are concerned about a heavier mid riff and want to know how to hide your belly, then high waisted pants should be your number one choice.
Now, as much as I love high waisted style, here comes one caveat. If you already have a short torso, then you need to be careful with it. Some petite ladies are under 5’4″ but they have a long leg ratio, which means their legs are relatively long and their torso is short. In that case, if you wear high waisted pants, most likely it will make your torso look even shorter. So, for a more balanced look, you probably want to go with a mid waisted pants instead.
Flare Leg Make your Legs Look Longer
The flare leg is a heaven sent for ladies looking for pants to make your legs look longer! They are tight on your thigh and flares out under your knees. This kind of design extends your legs and make you look taller.
Every time I put on a pair of flared leg pants or jeans, I just notice that my legs instantly look longer! If I wear black color flare leg pants, they also make my legs look leaner. It works like magic.
Not all flare leg pants are created equally. Some pants have more exaggerated flare than others. If you are petite, make sure you go with a modest flare leg. If the pants legs are too dramatic, it creates too much volume, and that is the opposite of flattering for petite ladies.
The best way to wear flare legs pants to elongate your legs is to pair them with heels. You want to make sure your flared pants are long enough to cover part of heels so that your shoes look like an extension of your legs. I will elaborate on this point next.
Full length
The best pants to make your legs appear longer are those with full length, ie long hem. There’s two reasons behind that.
First, full length pants form an unbroken vertical line. The longer the pants are, the longer the vertical line thus making your legs look longer.
Second, when you wear full length pants,,especially if they have flare leg (combining the previous point I made), they can wear high heels and they will be covered by the pants. People will only notice your legs look longer, and won’t be able to tell the additional length comes from your heels!
So, whatever leg shape your pants have, whether they are straight leg, flare leg or even skinny leg, the best are those at full length in order to make our legs appear longer.
In comparison, pants with shorter inseam do not work as well to elongate your legs. If you are wearing ankle length pants, then your legs look as long as the hem of your pants. I am not saying ankle pants is a bad design, but it just doesn’t do what full length pants do to extend our legs.
If you are are looking for the most leg elongating pants, you should especially stay away from ankle length wide leg pants. The reason is not only the ankle length makes your legs look cut off, but also the wide legs really accentuate that horizontal line at ankle, making things twice as bad!
Black jegging
Jeggings are quite on trend in recent years. Although they could be made of denim, they don’t have to. One thing the jeggings have in common is they are normally made of stretchy fabrics so they hug your legs nicely. Typically jeggings also have pull-on style, which makes them very comfortable both at home and when you go out.
The reason I highly recommend jeggings, especially the black color, is that they are the best bottom to pair with boots in the winter. Jeggings plus high heel boots is every short girl’s best friend in the winter time!
I will talk more about how to wear the right pants with the right shoes in my last point. Keep reading.
Vertical design
The reason pants with vertical design is flatter to ladies with shorter legs is that they draw eyes up and down, creating the illusion of length.
When we talk about vertical design, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind naturally is the vertical stripes. Well, that does work, but it is not limited just to that. Any vertical design, such as vertical hem or vertical pattern, can all achieve the same result of leg elongating.
Pair your Pants with the Right Shoes to Double the Leg Elongating Effect
When we think about how to make our legs appear longer with pants, I have to mention an important, yet often overlooked, part of the equation. That is, the shoes you wear!
Pants and shoes work together and form our bottom half. So, if you wear the right shoes, then you can easily double the effect of elongating your legs.
Here is two simple rules of thumb.
If you wear black pants, wear them with black shoes. They way it will look like your heels are an extension of your legs- your legs will the effortlessly look longer!
I mentioned earlier jeggings could be very flattering to petite ladies, especially when you wear them the right way! The best way to have long legs in the jeggings is to wear black jeggings with blank tall boots. The boots could be over the knee or knee high, but the key is they should match the color of the jeggings.
If you wear lighter color pants, for instance, in the summer, we tend to wear linen, silk or rayon pants that are white, cream or other light color, then you want to pair it with nude shoes instead of black shoes. The reason you should not wear them with black shoes is that the contrast by the black shoes will make you look bottom heavy. That is the opposite of what we are trying to achieve.
Finding the best pants to improve our proportion is an on going effort that every petite lady has. It is not easy to find the pants that fit shorter girls, let alone finding the right style to flatter our height. With these tips in mind, I hope you will be able to find that perfect pair of pants and keep them for years to come!
