I'm 5'4"—These Are the Only Skirts and Dresses I Wear

By now, I've been average height (aka 5'4") for a good 20 years. That's a long time, friends—plenty of time to figure out what clothing styles do and don't work for my quasi-petite frame. As I did recently with pants and jeans, I'm here to talk about the dresses and skirts that I wear (and the styles I forgo). 

Truth be told, I don't wear skirts and dresses all that much these days. I work remotely from home (on the East Coast) and keep it pretty casual day-to-day, but I think that makes me even more particular and thoughtful about which dress and skirt styles I choose to buy and wear. If I don't have a need for tons of them in my wardrobe, the styles I do buy should be ones I actually look forward to wearing.

So before we get to the skirt and dress styles that I do wear, let's talk about those that I don't. Basically, I skip maxi lengths in both skirts and dresses that err on the side of shapeless, as these tend to swallow up my frame. I also avoid knee-length styles, as I find that they make my legs appear shorter.

So now that you know which styles I avoid, read on for the six styles I find work the best for my 5'4" height. 

Given how long mini lengths make your legs look (no matter what your height is), short dresses and skirts are a petite girl's friend.

The two things I love about wrap skirts are that they define your waste and that they oftentimes have a bit of a slit, which makes legs appear longer.

Pleated skirts come in many forms, and I find most of them to work for every height.

I've always found that the body-skimming nature of silky slip skirts and dresses tend to make the wearer look taller—as long as it hits at the mid-calf point and not any higher.

When wearing something on the longer side, I like to show a little ankle, as maxi lengths that go all the way to the ground make me appear shorter. So tea-length it is.

Fit-and-flare dresses look great on basically everyone, so it's a no-brainer style no matter how tall or petite you are.

Next up, the best style advice for shorter women.