How to Choose The Right Clothing Length

 

When you dress your body shape, in addition to silhouette, fabrication and sizing you all need to think about choosing the right clothing length for your body shape.

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How to Choose The Right Clothing Length

All I could think of as I typed this post’s title was singing “It’s all about the length” to the beat of “It’s all about that base.” It’s certainly a good little tune to sing while you are shopping, because of the HUGE impact it plays when getting the right fit! So, before we started a new dressing for different body shapes series, we wanted to give a little halt and discuss something that is really important in making shopping decisions – length! The things is, the right clothing length is really dependent on your body shape, not just your height.

If you’re unsure about your body shape, since that’s how we’re breaking down how to choose the right clothing length below, check out our main post about dressing for your body shape and you will find our entire dressing for your body shape series helpful, too (because we go through fit for each shape for every article of clothing!).

Tips for finding the right clothing length: by body type

Clothing length can play a pivotal role in so many different articles of clothing such as sleeve length, skirts, short, pants – everything! When dressing for different body shapes, you need to keep an eye on where different clothing is falling on your body to get the overall perfect fit and love everything that’s hanging in your closet. And sometimes, all it takes is a trip to your trusted tailor to make your wardrobe dreams come true!

Apple Shape

Whenever it comes to skirts for this body shape, keep them knee length! This goes for pencil skirts, bias skirts, or A-line – they can all look fantastic on this shape! (Hint: You can also add a bit of volume in your skirts to help balance off your top-heavy silhouette.) Pants should always be well tailored and fall right below your ankles no matter which shoes you are wearing! A longer blazer, jacket, or top will help elongate your appearance, but make sure the sleeves hit right at your wrists.

Pear Shape

Since pants and jeans that are flared can be great for this body shape, pears can opt for longer length here, but make sure to stay away from any type of pleating.  Skirts should always fall at knee length or right between the knee and the calf. For jackets and tops, you want to make sure to choose pieces that end past your hips, similarly to the apple shape as that simple thing will help elongate your figure. Focus on jackets that have a little bit of volume in the shoulders and end right at your wrists in sleeve length.

Strawberry Shape

Choose tops, jackets, and blazers that hit at your hip or run a little bit shorter, helping to create a curvier illusion as well as making your waist appear smaller and more definite. As always, a well tailored top – whether it be a jacket or blouse – always looks much better whenever the arm length hits at your wrist, where it should be. Longer length skirts and pants help balance out your broad shoulders and give the appearance of being more balanced.

Rectangle Shape

To create the illusion of a waist, rectangle shapes should wear unstructured blazers or tops, hitting at the hip in length. Avoid anything straight up and down in the pants department (i.e. pencil skirts, overly structured work trousers), and focus on boot cut, flare, wide leg pants, and A-line skirts. Pants and skirts should always be tailored to partner well with the shoes you are wearing with them! Because of the straight up and down silhouette, pants and skirts can be cut on the shorter side.

Hourglass Shape

Last but not least, the curvy hourglass shape! Sleeve length on tops, jackets, and blazers should be at wrist, 3/4 length or capped sleeve. For skirts, the hemline is most complimentary whenever cut at the knee length or longer. When choosing pants, opt for options that are fuller on the bottom and hit right at the top of whichever shoes you are wearing them with. Classic, clean styles overall help balance out all those sexy curves, which makes clothing length even more important!

Want to hear more about not only clothing length but dressing for your body shape as a whole? Visit our full guide here and learn how to master every body shape for every single piece of clothing. Shopping has never been so easy!  Join our fashionable banter on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest , YouTube & Instagram for fashion fun all day long!

Fashionably Yours,

Allison