Hey Imogen! I’ve read a lot about body shapes on your site and I’m already much wiser! But something still confuses me: I am petite (5’4”), very (!!!) short waisted and also a distinct A shape. And what I’ve learned about dressing these three characteristics seem to conflict. For example, a short waisted women should wear their belts on their hips, but A-shapes should wear them in the waist. There are also other contradictory advice on these three traits. What is true for me?
Thank you very much, I appreciate your response!
Love, Sarah from Switzerland
belting for short waisted by imogenl featuring a red shirt
The thing is, there are no hard and fast rules, and you have to take:
- Your body shape
- Your body proportions
- Your body variations
into consideration when putting together outfits for your unique body. All the ‘rules’ you read are guidelines and they just give you a starting point, not a set of never fail instructions.
In many ways, you need to decide what you like and what works for you.
- Would you prefer to highlight your small waist? If so, belt on the waist.
- Would you prefer to look longer waisted? If so, wear a curved hip belt, that comes from the sides of the waist but curves downwards at the front.
- Would you prefer to look taller? If so, don’t belt at all and wear a column of color.
Top 5 Belting Tips for Short Waists
- A narrow belt won’t take up as much space as a wide belt – so if you’re belting at the waist, wear only a narrow belt.
- Hip belts may sit lower, but ideally look for one with a curve so it sits closer to your waist at your sides and curves down at the front, this will make your torso look longer, but not highlight your hips.
- Think about the color of the belt. A contrasting color will make it more obvious, toning the color in won’t highlight a short waist, but will still define your waist.
- Belting over a coloumn of color won’t make you look as petite or short waisted, as belting over a top and bottom of different colours.
- Wear your top out, then belt over the top either with a narrow waist belt or a curved hip belt to create a waist focus, but the color keeping on moving past your waist will help to balance your short waist as the belt provides an accessory detail but not a cutting off point.
The most important factor I find when belting is trial and error. Just try different belts on with different outfits and discover what you like, what works for your body. Many of the women doing my Evolve Your Style program have discovered that by taking photos (and posting them in the Evolve group where they get feedback) that they are now much more aware of what works best for them. But different outfits will belt differently. There isn’t an ‘only one way to belt’ rule to follow for any body shape or proportion!
