Does Your Height Matter if You Want to Dress Well?

Does your height matter if you want to dress well? To put it bluntly, both yes and no. We’ll explain why today!

Height is a key aspect of who you are, and while you can’t change your actual height, you can still impact how tall or short you might appear based on how your clothes look on you. So, if you’re looking to elevate your wardrobe to make the most of your height, we’ve got the best tips for you—and no, platform boots and shoes are not the answer.

This article is all about offering suggestions to make the most of your build and stature. We’re not saying you can’t wear something because of your height, and if you like how something looks on you, go for it. Our intention is always to give you confidence in your style and offer you a different perspective to get the most out of your wardrobe.

How To Make the Most of Your Height

1. Focus on Fit

Low-Rise Trousers with Short Legs

For example, if you have a long torso and short legs, choosing a low-rise pant draws unwanted attention to your legs and makes them look even shorter than they actually are. This is because the desired vertical line is in the wrong place; whether it’s your tie or your shirt front, having a long, unbroken line on your torso makes you look top-heavy and gives the appearance of tiny legs even though there’s nothing wrong with them.

High-Rise Trousers with Short Legs

You can flip this optical illusion to your advantage, though, by choosing high-rise trousers that will make your legs look longer. Whether you choose a pleat or flat front is up to you. With pants that sit at your natural waist, the resulting sharp crease that goes down the center of the leg is the goal because you’ll have achieved that long, unbroken vertical line in the right place.

Trouser Break

It’s also important to remember the details when it comes to your pants. A full break can help balance out your legs if you’re on the tall side, and opting for little or no break creates the cleanest aesthetic for those of us on the shorter end of things.

Jacket Sleeve Length

Thankfully, jacket sleeve length is a pretty universal rule regardless of your height. Make sure your jacket sleeve length is hitting just around the wrist bone and isn’t much longer or shorter than this. The overall length of your jacket can be a little trickier to get right, but the general rule of thumb is for taller people to go for a longer jacket length and for shorter people to go for a shorter jacket length. As long as you’re avoiding the extremes of length, you should be okay.

Figure out what types of fit work best for you is a personal journey, and there’s nothing wrong with experimenting with different types of fit until you find a solution that feels right for you.

2. Cut is Key

Often mistaken for the same thing, cut and fit are two different aspects of the clothes that you wear. In a nutshell, fit is how the clothes adapt to your body and is the aspect that is easier to alter. Cut is what the clothes are intended to look like and is usually unable to be altered after the fact, so being able to identify a cut that works well on you is key to looking your best.

If you have a short and slim build like Sammy Davis, Jr., take a leaf out of his style manual—narrower lapels, a trim jacket and pants, and an overall slim or aesthetic, and a two-piece suit will maximize and complement your appearance in a balanced way. For another example, let’s look at Cary Grant. By utilizing broader lapels, a wider trouser leg, and more drape throughout the garments, what could have easily been long and lanky becomes refined and proportionate.

These principles are absolutely still true with modern tailoring. If you’re a shorter person or someone with a longer torso and shorter legs, jackets, and suits cut in the Neapolitan style are a great option for you to try since they have more open quarters, a higher button point, and a shorter jacket for the upper half of your body. Meanwhile, the more classic British military style will look perfectly at home on you if you’re taller and broader.

So, it pays to do a little research on what types of cut you admire in others, which is why we use our celebrity examples to get you kick-started. You’ll soon have an eye for what works for you and especially what doesn’t. This is where thrifting or trying on clothes at different stores can be a massive benefit, regardless of your budget. After all, it always pays to get it right, right?

3. Embrace The Right Patterns

Patterns don’t just give your outfits added levels of personality. They can also help create optical illusions that help portray your frame in the best light possible. This power can be a double-edged sword, though, since it can either help or hurt your proportions.

This can be more complicated than simply avoiding horizontal stripes. For example, a bold window pane can help add width that adds balance if you’re tall and trim. But this effect only exaggerates your build if you’re short and stocky.

So, if the latter is true for you, you’ll benefit from the vertical stripe, while those loftier people should wear the same suit with caution. This is where the softer chalkstripe has surprising versatility across the board since the wider, less defined stripe exists in the middle ground—being neither too harsh nor too busy.

Combining various items with the same pattern at different scales is also a possibility or even different types of pattern at varying scales, but it can be a bit of a high wire act to perfectly balance without overwhelming your outfit. In a nutshell, it comes down to experimenting to see what type of pattern and at what scale works best for you. We’re all unique after all.

The best news is that once you’ve learned the effect of certain patterns, you can then optimize what looks best on you and help you to positively stand out.

4. Do It With Confidence

Finally, all the steps that we’ve discussed today won’t matter an inch if you’re not confident in yourself and, foremost, whatever height or build you have. You have every right to own it fully. Of course, remember the difference between confidence and arrogance.

In other words, you don’t have to be tall, athletic, or have a supermodel physique to dress well. What does matter is that being comfortable in your own skin will go miles in appearing well-dressed to others. Don’t forget, people notice your energy and body language—not necessarily the clothes you’re wearing.

Things like good posture also make a big difference in helping you to appear taller than you otherwise would be with well-fitting clothes and a cut that suits you, being the icing on the cake to give you an added level of confidence.

Conclusion

It’s important to remember that clothing doesn’t make you who you are, but it can certainly help you to create your best self. Understanding how you can use factors like fit, cut, patterns, and your own unique confidence will always show you in the best possible light. Ultimately, helping you to grow as an individual.

Do you have any tricks that we didn’t mention to help you appear more proportionate to your build? Let us know in the comments below.

Outfit Rundown

Today, I’m wearing a bright blue, vertical striped suit with a gray turtleneck, Fort Belvedere pocket square that happens to have a light blue background and a bit of a paisley pattern on one side, and the other side has these pheasants. Today, I’m doing the one with the paisley. And then, I’m wearing brown dress shoes and Fort Belvedere socks, and for the fragrance, I’m wearing Roberto Ugolini Oxford. If you want to see more accessories like these and the other fragrances from Roberto Ugolini, go to the Fort Belvedere shop.