One of the biggest shifts that happens as you mature and really get to know yourself is moving from trying to follow fashion rules to learning how to read your own body. When you understand what works for your unique proportions, you stop second-guessing yourself and start dressing with quiet confidence.
Kate recently asked me, “How do I figure out my best skirt and top lengths? I know some of my outfits work better than others, but I’d love to know the formula.”
It’s such a great question because it gets to the heart of proportion—the part of style that most women feel instinctively but rarely understand logically. And once you get this, it changes how you see yourself in the mirror.
Let’s walk through it step by step.
Step 1: Understanding Your Body’s Proportions
There’s a simple way to check your proportions. Ideally, our bodies are made up of two equal halves – from the top of your head to your leg break (that’s where your leg bends when you sit), and from that point to the ground. Here are my tips on how to measure your body proportions.
If your upper half is longer and your legs are shorter in proportion, you’ll generally look more balanced in shorter tops, jackets, skirts, sleeves and even shorter necklace lengths.
If your legs are proportionally longer, longer garments – tops, jackets, skirts, necklaces and sleeves- will harmonise beautifully.
It’s not about being “right” or “wrong.” It’s about visual balance. Once you know where your proportions sit, you can start to use clothing intentionally to create that sense of equilibrium.
Step 2: The Power of Horizontal Lines
Here’s where most of us unintentionally throw off our proportions. Wherever a horizontal line lands – like a hem, sleeve edge, or waistband – it draws the eye and visually broadens that area.
So, when you’re deciding where your top should end, avoid cutting across the widest part of your hips or waist. Instead, look for a narrower point: your waist (if defined), or slightly below your waist around your hip bones if your shape is straighter.
For H shapes and O shapes who don’t have a defined waist, this means ending tops at the high hip rather than the waist, or if tucking a voluminous garment, blouse the top over your waistband to obscure your waist.
For X, 8 and A shapes who have a defined waist, you can easily tuck tops. Now, if you have a shorter waist proportionally, you too are better off blousing your tops to elongate your upper body. But if you have a longer waist then a neat tuck works well.
The same logic applies to sleeves and skirts. Mid-arm sleeves that end at the fullest part of your upper arm can make that area look wider. That’s why ¾ sleeves are so universally flattering; they end at a slimmer part of the arm and create a graceful line.
When it comes to dresses and skirts, think about the shape of your leg. Legs have curves, broader areas and narrower dips. You’ll always look more balanced if your hem ends at a narrower part of your leg, not the widest.
That might be just above the knee, just below it, or even just under the calf muscle. Try standing in front of a mirror and noticing where your legs naturally taper, those are your sweet spots.
The width of a skirt or dress hem is also important. The more voluminous a skirt, the more obscure its ending point may be, and you may need to go slightly shorter as it will appear longer as we gaze from above (we are always looking down to see hems. A straight or pencil skirt, because of its tighter fit, its hem will be more obvious, and it will draw a more apparent horizontal across your legs.
Step 3: Fine-Tuning for Shoe Height
Your proportions shift slightly when you change heel height. A higher heel visually lengthens the leg, so your ideal skirt length might change too. I have a blog post that goes into this in more detail—look for the one on finding your best skirt lengths for different heel heights if you’d like to explore that further.
The Bottom Line
When you combine proportion and the horizontal line rule, you can easily identify where your hemlines should end, no more guessing, and no more “why does this outfit look off?” moments.
It’s one of those small tweaks that makes everything else in your wardrobe look more intentional, more polished, and more you.
Want to learn more about your best lengths, shapes, and styles for your body?
If you’ve ever wished you could stop guessing and start knowing what works, 7 Steps to Style is where it all comes together. Inside, you’ll discover exactly which shapes, styles, and lengths of tops, skirts, and dresses create harmony with your proportions—along with the colours, contrast levels, and design details that make you shine.
It’s a complete system that helps you understand your body, your style, and your values, so getting dressed becomes simple, confident, and completely personal.
Learn more about 7 Steps to Style here.
