necklace - vintage, great-grandmother's / pink striped sweater - H&M / gray v-neck - Target / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / jeans - UO / brogues - Primark
With this outfit I decided to challenge myself a little by highlighting something about my body I'm still working on really loving - my height. Or rather, my lack thereof. As a kid, I grew fast. I hit my current height at ten and was taller than everyone in my fifth grade class - and then, I just stayed there. At a little over 5'4" (I confess - my driver's license claims I'm 5'5"!), I'm certainly not unusually short, but I doubt anyone will be describing me as a 'tall drink of water' anytime soon. (Case in point: both these 'ankle' length jeans and my 3/4 sleeve sweater have to be seriously rolled up to fit that way!)
Since I'm not too likely to get another growth spurt, I've been working on getting more comfortable with my stature, and doing my best to resist the idea that looking taller (and/or thinner) should be my first priority when choosing what to wear. To that end, with this outfit I tried to break as many rules for shorties as I could - I've got horizontal stripes, a boxy top layer, a long shirt that cuts me off at the hips, cuffed jeans, and flat shoes. I even eschewed the lengthening effects of a long pendant in favor of a shorter vintage necklace. According to a million 'dress your figure' magazine articles, everything about this should be unflattering, but while I don't look tall, I do look like me.
(And for all my fellow arch nerds, that's Stephen Holl's Sponge Pavilion I'm standing - nay, trespassing - in front of. That's right, I will totally break the law for you guys.)
To learn more about Dress Your Best, and to find other bloggers who are participating, please check out this post at academichic.
28 comments:
I'm the same height as you and I never pay attention to rules for shorter people. Personally I think it's a bunch of bulls*** anyways, ha. I love this outfit and that sweater is so great!
Uh, nothing about this screams shortie. It looks brilliant and I would never guess your (lack of) height from the photo.
I'm about 5'4" as well, and I break the damn rules all the time!! I love this look: cropped jeans, brogues, and a cropped sweater, so chic! I think you should be able to wear whatever you want and not have to worry about whether it makes you look short/tall/curvy/etc. As always, you look so chic!
I'm just a little shorter than you and I would wear this outfit in a heartbeat! You look amazing in it!
Oh- I laughed when I read this, since I reached my full 5"3 and 3/4 at age 12 and then watched everyone overtake me...sigh.
I love your sartorial defiance of the laws here- I'm in love with low camera angles as magical height-givers now (it's always disturbing to me now to see pics taken by me boyfriend where I seem so short and miniscule!)
I get what you mean about feeling short! I'm 5'3" or on a good day, standing very straight, 5'4" and without heels my poor legs always seem stubby to me.
Definitely time to start appreciating the fact that: I always get to go to the front of crowds, I can fit into a child's size large (they have the best clothes), men are almost always taller than me (even with four inches added!), and I always win at hide and seek!
Shorties unite! (Of course, I'm 5'2" on a good day, so we probably should hang out so you feel super tall.) Also, you have been the source of mega outfit inspiration lately. :)
I will never understand women's magazines/websites that try to teach us how to look "taller" who cares? No one who is 6 foot tall is going to look at me at 5'2 and say, "hey she's dressed really tall today" YOU CAN'T HIDE height, you just can't. It is sane the amount of times I read something like that.
I wore a similar outfit out sometime back and was deeply traumatized by my own reflection at the mall... Apparently, I didn't look closely enough before I left my house. I'm 5 1".... The boxy top, horizontal stripes are not so much the problem as the shoes. now, it's cropped trousers with heels only. One shortening item at a time. Have you got a pair of heeled oxfords? I got a pair off etsy cos it was really pretty but realized it made my legs look stumpy... Argghhh ...
I wrote sort of a similar post a few days ago, but in the opposite way :)
But I think this outfit looks great on you! That sweater is a great color.
- Lauren
logicandlemondrops.blogspot.com
I'm the same height as you and often try to dress in a way to make myself look taller. At the very least I will avoid things that I think will make me look shorter. Your outfit looks so chic! Thanks for encouraging me to be okay with my lack of height! :)
emily, you look beautiful! you're photos from around the world are leaving me very jealous. the key to it all is to rock what you've got and i think your great sense of style will always catch someone's eye before your height. work with the things you can change.
The first think i thought when i saw the picture of the shoes was 'they're so pretty, but they look expensive..'
But they're from Primark, this is such good news! :)
http://oliviadollydaydream.blogspot.com/
I think the proportions of this outfit are fantastic! You look great. As someone who is tall (nearly 5'10), I find the grass is greener. I feel like a giant next to most of my best girlfriends who are all about your height. I tend to think they look adorable while I look, um, severe. I dunno, I guess we all have our quirks, and mine is I wish I was shorter! hahaha. At any rate, I think you should continue to break the so-called "rules"!
Ha! I think that is an excellent attitude, and one I should probably adopt more often myself. :)
Well thank you! I'm sure it's one of those things that's a way bigger deal to me than to everyone else, I just often feel like I'm staring at everybody's belly-button!
Aw, thank you! And I definitely agree with you about wearing what makes you feel good, not just what makes you look a certain 'ideal' shape.
Well thanks!
I think the saddest part was how often I was told as a kid that I'd be taller than my mom... but she's still towering over me at 5'7"!
And you're totally right, low camera angles are a must - not just for looking taller, but for overall looking proportionate! Fortunately my boyfriend is a real pro, he'll always bend way over (nearly to the point of falling down!) to get good photos. :)
Haha, so true! Those are definitely some great advantages to being pint-sized, I will have to keep those in mind the next time I gripe about hemming every pair of jeans I own. :)
Yes! We can start a club, and have a teeny, tiny clubhouse. :)
And thank you! I have to say, I have been super impressed by your hair lately - you have been managing that transitional grow-out phase so freakin' gracefully!
Haha! Yeah, like someone is going to be looking down at the top of my head and be fooled into thinking I'm 5'10"! In a way I think the 'dressing tall' thing is just a lazy way of trying to talk about flattering proportions, which isn't really the same thing at all.
Oh no! I've had that awful 'mirror moment' out in public too, it's so jarring when you realize the image in your head is just not what the world is seeing! But at the same time, I'm trying to expand my comfort zone with my appearance and to be more accepting of what I've got. :)
I just went and read your post - isn't it so funny that our self-image becomes so fixed while we're still so young? It's ridiculous that because I was a "tall" person when I was ten, I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that I'm not almost seventeen years later!
Thanks Angela! I definitely do the same thing, and there are certain styles (midi skirts come immediately to mind) that I like on others but am pretty wary of wearing on myself because of my stature. Still, it's definitely fun to throw that caution to the wind sometimes. :)
Aw, thank you! And I think work with the things you can change might just be the best advice I've heard generally in a very long time. :)
Yeah, I love these shoes - and they were only eight pounds! They've been holding up pretty well too, I got them back in February and I've been wearing them incessantly since.
Thanks Casey! Haha, yeah, I guess the grass is always greener!
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