For petite women, the art of layering chunky knitwear and accessories during winter time always seems like an unattainable luxury because of the limitation of the short frame. Luckily, there are tricks you can play around with to make you look less bulky and taller even during winter time.
Every beginning of the winter season, I always struggle to find clothes and accessories that not only match my style aesthetics, but also make me not look like I was swallowed by my puffer jacket. With years of trial and error, here are the hacks I’ve learned to layer up during winter time to keep myself warm without looking bulky.
1. Wear light colors
That’s right. Despite what common sense tells you about wearing dark clothes in winter makes you look less bulky, you should go for light color items. When you wear dark color clothes, it’s easy to keep on adding layers without having a clear picture of how bulky you’re getting. The lighter your clothes, the more conscious you are to assess your overall outfit’s level of comfort and whether it’s put together. Lighter colors tell you much more about your body proportion than darker colors. The former also makes you stand out a little more on the streets while everyone else is sporting the usual black, navy and brown.
2. Warm base layer
Never sacrifice warmth because you want to look less bulky. To get the best of both worlds, go for light-weight underwear that is made of premium material that can keep you warm. I always have my Uniqlo heattech undergarment and Icebreaker merino wool top layered underneath my wool jumper.
Whenever possible, get the base layer top that is in skin color so that the color of your undergarment won’t be shown even when you’re wearing a light color sweater.
3. Chunky sweater and skinny jeans combo
The fail-safe outfit combo for petite women under cold weather is a chunky sweater and skinny jeans. You can do the opposite too – a skinny top and wide-leg pants – but it’s less practical.
This is by far the easiest outfit combo that can keep your entire body warm without looking like you’re going on an expedition at Mount Himalaya. A sweater allows room for you to wear a (or a couple of) base layer inside.
4. Opt for high quality fabric
When I mentioned chunky sweaters, I didn’t mean bulky, heavy sweaters. We must understand that heavy fabric doesn’t always equal warmth. Especially for petite girls, choosing winter clothes in premium fabrics like virgin wool, merino wool and cashmere will get you really far. Those materials aren’t necessarily heavy weight in nature but they will for sure keep you warm. You only need a few pieces of very nice sweater in quality material to survive the winter.
5. Boots’ length matter too
If you’ve decided to go for the outfit combo I just mentioned above, do pair them either with a pair of ankle boots or knee-high boots, but not mid-calf boots. Petite women have shorter legs and you would look more put together while wearing boots that are more flattering to your body proportion. Both ankle and knee-high boots will elongate your body while mid-calf boots will make your legs appear truncated and look shorter. You can opt for over-the-knee boots too, but in my opinion there will be too much leather in the bottom half of my body which will make me look too stark according to my Kibbe body type analysis.
6. Play with proportion and emphasize the waist
Just as you can optimize your proportion by choosing the calf height for your boots, you can do the same with the top and bottom too. When it’s not critical to wear a big jumper that covers your hip, try the combo of crop sweater and high waist pants which will automatically elongate your body. It’s the golden rule for petite girls!
7. Clothes with fleece
This sounds like a no-brainer but make sure clothes with fleece aren’t just hoodies and sweatpants. I’m talking about high-quality, stylish clothes that are with fleece or some kind of warm material inside. For example, having a pair of winter jeans (those with fleece!) saves my life as I no longer need to wear merino wool leggings beneath my bottoms.
8. Monochromatic outfits
To elongate your body proportion further, try to mix and match your items into a monochromatic style. When your items are in colors that are in similar tones to one another in the color spectrum, not only is it more comforting for the eyes but also it creates a harmonious wholeness to your entire appearance. You will instantly look more put together. For example, a white wool sweater with cream color jeans and boots in chalk white, pair with a light camel wool coat.
I hope the tips are helpful to you. Let me know how you dress for winter to keep in style without looking bulky.
