Nada Saves Style | Torso Length & Aging Bodies

I’m switching things up a little this time and giving you the mic. Not literally, of course, because my mic is pretty heavy, but figuratively.

I’m letting you pick the topics.

I’ll be answering more of your questions in future episodes of Nada Saves Style, so send me your style conundrums to support@nadamanley.com and I’ll include them in a future video (and only use your first name.)

In today’s video, I share questions from Sara and Mary, who both have long torsos/shorter legs on otherwise very different bodies. Sara is a 32-year-old tall hourglass who has been living in skinny jeans and flowy tops for a while now and is ready for an update. Mary is 5’1″ and at 79, has just lost 50 pounds with 50 more to go. She has short muscular legs that are “lumpy” from multiple surgeries and a tummy that she would like to minimize.

Even though they are of different ages and stages, these two women have similarities when it comes to their vertical proportions. They both have longer torsos and shorter legs, and so some of the same principles apply to both. However, there are no real generalities when it comes to vertical proportions, so to get your proportions perfect, consider checking out the Fashion Fit Formula. It’s a game-changer!

How To Dress A Long Torso / Short Legs

One of the miraculous things about clothes is that they can dramatically alter your appearance, making you look taller and slimmer and more proportional. They are a tool, like anything else, that we can use to control the image we present to the world. If you have a long torso and shorter legs, your proportions can roughly be described as 2/3 to 1/3, with the top two-thirds being your torso and the bottom third your legs.

Wearing long tops does nothing to balance out your vertical proportions, and instead accentuates them. Also, the long top over skinny bottoms feels a little stale and not very contemporary right now.

While there is nothing wrong with either of these outfits, they emphasize a long torso and shorten your legs. Instead, flip the long over short proportion and make it short over long, as in these two classic yet contemporary looks.

Both of these looks feature high waisted pants and shirts that hit at the waist to lengthen the legs and create a more flattering vertical proportion.

Mary was asking for specific suggestions for pants and jeans. A classic straight-leg jean or pant with a slightly higher waist will hold in the tummy, skim over your muscular legs and flatter your vertical proportions. You can find all of these styles in this catalog.

The following videos can also help.

How to Dress Fashionably With An Aging Body

Tracy is struggling to find styles in stores to flatter her aging body, something that is a struggle for many of us. My first suggestion is to get an accurate idea of your body type, or your silhouette. Do you have more shape in the lower half of your body, or are you proportional in the hips to shoulders? Or maybe you are straight up and down? Knowing what you’re working with and using some of my body type guidelines can help you flatter your body and pick the right clothes for it. Here are some other pointers:

Try, Try, Try

The more styles you try on, the more you will learn about your body and what works from the available offerings in stores. Trying on a bunch of clothes, from the ordinary to the outlandish, is the best education you can give yourself about your body and what is flattering.

Snap A Selfie

Make it a personal policy to never try on another item of clothing without first snapping a quick picture. There is a degree of objectivity that you can only get from looking at pics of yourself (as opposed to looking at them in the mirror). It also gives you the ability to walk away from an item and assess it later, at home, and not make a buying decision in the heat of the moment.