Your Vertical Body

Vertical Styling Tips

Body shape is not only about width and curves - it is also about length, height and proportion.

What is Vertical Styling?

Vertical styling looks at how the eye travels up and down the body. It focuses on the areas that affect overall length and balance, such as height, neck, legs and the way different parts of the body relate to each other.

You may want to look taller, appear less tall, balance a long or short neck, make your legs less noticeable, or create better overall proportion if you are petite or tall.

The good news is that clothing can do a great deal to influence visual length. With the right use of line, scale, shape, color and detail, you can make the body appear longer, shorter or more balanced.

What can Vertical Styling help with? 

Vertical styling can help you:

• create the illusion of extra height

• soften the effect of being tall

• flatter a short or long neck

• improve overall body proportion

• dress a petite frame more effectively

• shift attention away from the legs if you prefer

The aim, as always, is not to change your body, but to dress it in a way that feels balanced, flattering and right for you.

How to improve Vertical Proportion

Vertical proportion is all about how long or short the body appears as a whole, and how balanced each part looks in relation to the others.  

A few useful principles are:

Use uninterrupted color for a longer line

• Wearing similar tones from top to bottom helps create a smooth, lengthening effect.

Break up the body line if you want to appear less tall

• Contrasting colors, horizontal detail or separate pieces can reduce the impression of length.

Watch scale on a petite frame

• Very large prints, oversized bags or heavy details can overwhelm a smaller figure.

Use hem lengths and waist placement carefully

• These can change the way your legs and torso appear in proportion to one another.

Use necklines and detail placement to guide the eye

• A neckline, scarf, necklace or trim can all influence where attention begins and ends.

Even small adjustments can make a big difference to the overall balance of your outfit.

Explore the tips below

Use the links below to find the vertical styling tips that suit your needs. 

• An elegant long neck
• Balance your vertical body
• Can you change your body shape over 50? 
• Dress to look taller
• Flatter a short neck
• Petite body shape
• Want to cover your legs?
• Tall lady styling tips

If your main concern is more about width, fullness or side-to-side balance, visit Horizontal Styling Tips.