I am a short guy. For the first part of my life, I have experienced those moments when I wished to look a few inches taller. As I know the struggle, I wanted to share some tips and tricks on naturally looking taller and more attractive. These tips are perfect for any guy who wants to maximize his looks. Let’s dive in.
How to look taller: Color Match Pants, socks, and shoes
Let’s start with matching colors. Match the shoe colors with the paint colors, or use the same color shades. The reason is that your shoes are the same color as your pants. What this does is that it creates an appearance of longer legs since shoes act almost as an extension to your pants.
Monochromatic Outfit
According to Wiki, the term “monochromatic color schemes” refer to colors derived from a single base hue and extended using its shades, tones, and tints. The best thing is to wear single-color clothes, but as stated above, matching similar colors works, too. If you want to look taller, a monochromatic outfit is a must.
How to look taller: Long Coats
This might sound surprising, but long coats can look very flattering on shorter men. Because of its continuous color and pattern, a long jacket can effectively elongate your body frame. So, for shorter guys, remember that solid colors are your best choice.
Use beard and haircuts wisely
If you play it right with your haircut and beard, you can balance out your body proportions and, with the right haircut, add a few cm to your height. Cut the sides shorter than the top and utilize 00 fades, especially if you have a broad head or round face.
Avoid Midi Length
Midi-length jackets or coats are among the least flattering for someone wanting to look taller. They are not short enough to show your legs and not long enough to create the unbroken vertical line a shorter guy needs. They can also draw attention to the mid-calf area.
How to look taller: High Rise Pants
High-rise pants are honestly a game-changer, gentlemen. Have you ever noticed a guy shorter than you but with a striking silhouette that makes you wonder what’s different? The answer, more often than not, is high-rise pants.
Opting for a high waist on any bottom is a surefire way to elongate your legs and enhance your height. High-rise pants and jeans can shift your perceived waistline higher than your natural waist. They do that by elongating your legs. If you want to read more about it, check the following article.
Jackets Above Your Belt
This is one of the easiest and classic ways to make a shorter guy look taller. Wearing jackets above your belt makes your legs look like they are longer. This hack is one of the easiest and works in winter, autumn, and summer.
How to look taller: avoid Ankle Pants
Ankle pants seem easy for guys with shorter legs, but they are one of the worst if you are shorter. When you wear ankle-length pants, your legs appear cut off – the opposite of what you want.
Flare Leg
If there is only one pair of pants you can own to make you appear taller, it has to be flare-leg pants. The flare leg is well-fitted on your thighs and gradually flares below your knees – a genius design that is highly flattering to men with shorter legs. Wear them long with a slight break over your shoes.
How to look taller: get in shape
So far, most of the tips have focused on clothes. The two most powerful ways to look taller are elevator shoes and, surprise, a low-fat percentage in your body. Gaining muscles and losing fat at the gym is the best way to get a thinner silhouette, balanced proportions of broad shoulders, and a healthy lower body that looks amazing from far and close.
Focus on working on your glutes, chest, and shoulders first if you barely have time to go to the gym. This will make your silhouette a lot more appealing. You should do as much cardio as possible for the rest of the time. And remember, the gym is only 30% of the fat-losing game. Rest is the food!
Tips for the food:
Food is everything; focus on finding and prioritizing high-volume, low-calorie foods like cottage cheese, egg whites, salads, pickles, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cantaloupes. Avoid high-calorie foods like chocolate and nuts.
Eat the same or similar foods day after day and switch them from time to time. The “Same plate” strategy will allow you to stabilize calories, ensure correct macronutrients, and build results with less time invested.
Set the right macronutrient strategy: 30% protein, 40% veggies, 20% carbs, and 10% fat. Test and refine it based on your needs and goals.
Eat at least 30 grams of protein per meal and at least 1 gram per kg of your body weight daily. Invest in a shaker bottle if you cannot get your protein needs with the meals.
Gym
Gym: If you have little time at the gym, focus on side-lateral raises, triceps, glutes, chest, lats and hamstrings. These are the biggest and the most visible muscles for a balanced silhouette. Once you have more time, focus on the back, chest, and arms.
Running: Focus on 30-minute runs every other day on the mill. Try to beat your time every running session you do. If you cannot beat your previous record, do a 40-minute run to increase your body’s capacity. Ensure slow but progressive overload in every area.
Forget about short-term results: gym is a 2-3 year project. Only accept results in 5 months if you are just a beginner.
Do bulking and cutting separately; do not try to do both simultaneously. If you are a beginner, save yourself time and do not try to do something that only a few can achieve—have separate periods when you try to gain muscles and when you try to lower your fat percentage.
Avoid Oversized Anything
Oversized clothes can make you appear even shorter because they create too much volume and bulkiness. However, it’s important to remember that fashion is not one-size-fits-all. If you feel comfortable and confident in oversized garments, go for it. If you have yet to wear oversized clothes successfully, opt for something well-fitted.
To summarize, if you tailor oversized clothes correctly, you can make them look fantastic. Otherwise, avoid oversized garments if you do not know what I mean.
Special tip: avoid undersized anything
Tight clothing is a hard-to-come-by rule for looking taller, but as a rule above, only do things that break your silhouette. Clothes that are too tight do not look good and should be avoided at all costs because, surprise, surprise, they also break your silhouette.
The problem is that tight clothes make your body parts stand out, and unless you have body fat under 13%, trust me, there is nothing beautiful to see there. In addition, it will focus on the completely wrong things (i.e., your beer belly or notches on your clothes). Remember, looking good is all about subtle details; nothing should scream too much in your silhouette.
How to look taller: Use thinner materials
Using thinner materials is a somewhat interesting point I have not noticed before, but I realized the effect only when looking for a hoodie. My bulky fit made me uncomfortable wearing thick hoodies until I found this hoodie from a thin polyester that subtly improved my silhouette.
I suggest testing and experimenting with thin polyester. As long as it is not too tight, it might completely change your appearance, even if you have excess fat. Trust me, I still notice the effect when I wear this hoodie to my gym.
Pointy Toe Shoes
Pointy and thinner shoe platforms elongate your body. Even pointy-toe casual shoes or boots can elongate your legs when you aren’t wearing dressy footwear.
Avoid belts
Belts break vertical lines and your silhouette. Avoid them at all costs. A better idea is to go to a tailor and add side adjusters to your pants. Avoiding belts is an excellent hack to look taller and more comfortable than wearing a belt.
Cropped and short Jackets
How do you look taller in jackets? The best jackets are cropped lengths! When you wear a cropped jacket, the eye assumes your torso is only as long as the jacket and the rest of your body must be legs—an instant height boost.
One tip: if you cannot find a short jacket, ask your tailor if they can fix your bulky old coat. They can often make minor improvements, like thinning the waist or shortening the coat, saving you money.
How to look taller: focus on Proportion
How can you look taller and more charming at the same time? Focusing on the proper proportions is their most important rule. Height is relative – no one can tell if you are short without someone tall beside you. The eyes judge if you are tall based on your body proportion – how long your legs are relative to your torso. We can’t change our height but can use proportion tricks to appear taller.
Most guys look short because they have a long torso and short legs. Use your outfit to create the illusion of a shorter torso and longer legs. If you have short legs, invest in subtle elevator sneakers or shoes. Do not buy elevator shoes over 2.75 inches or 7 cm in height. You will look ridiculous.
How to look taller: avoid Horizontal Stripes
Horizontal stripes generally make you look shorter. That’s not to say shorter guys should avoid them altogether—just keep the scale of any prints proportionately to your frame. Smaller, closer-set stripes are better for slim builds, and wider stripes are better for stockier guys. Avoiding horizontal stripes will make you look taller.
Vertical Prints/Stripes
Wear vertical stripes and prints. This way, you will create an illusion of a longer silhouette.
How to look taller: Invest in elevator shoes or sneakers
Elevator shoes must be the most powerful way to add height to your silhouette—that’s because they actually do add height! Platform shoes can also work, but elevator shoes offer thinner invisible platforms, adding that extra length to your legs. Long gone are the days when elevator shoes were considered a niche fashion. Nowadays, subtle elevator shoes are used by many influencers and Hollywood stars.
Curious about elevator shoes? Check out our comprehensive review: Elevator Shoes review (2024): are they worth it?
Avoid Long Tops
Longer tops can make your torso look longer than it is, therefore making your legs look shorter! Avoid any top that passes your hips to elongate your legs. It can also look sloppy.
How to look taller: good posture is critical
While this is often the most overlooked tip on how to look taller, the thing is, it is the most effective, if not the most effective, way to improve your height. Keeping your head up, walking, and sitting with a good posture affects your height by a couple of inches, giving you more confidence.
If you feel it is hard to maintain reasonable posture, see a physiologist to check if you need to work on your middle body strength and glutes. This is usually the main culprit behind bad posture, as we often allow computers and sitting to ruin our core strength.
One Piece Outfits
Rarely does anybody wear one-piece outfits, but here is the tip: one-piece garments such as jumpsuits can make a shorter guy look taller and are a great way to do so because they extend your silhouette. If we compare one-piece outfits with two-piece outfits, then the significant benefit of one-piece outfits is that they trick the viewer as they need to show where the torso ends and legs start. If you cannot find a way to incorporate one-piece outfits, try matching colors instead.
Mini Prints and top hats
Wearing tops or jackets with small, minimal prints is an excellent trick for looking taller. The smaller the print, the higher it will draw the viewer’s attention and make your legs appear longer. People will focus their attention on where the print is concentrated.
Hats: Utilize hats that elongate and focus people’s attention on the upper part of your body.
In conclusion
With these tips on how to make you look taller, I’m sure you will find the suitable styles that work well for you! No matter your height, the most important thing is to feel confident and optimistic.
If you want more fashion tips for shorter guys, check out our other posts on the same topic. For example Read our 1-year follow-up review: Elevator Shoes 1+ Year Review: How Long Do The Shoes Last?