Showing posts with label cross legs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cross legs. Show all posts

Sunday, September 2, 2012

How to Make Your Legs Look Longer - Tips to Looking Thinner



Want to look like you have legs for days? 
Wearing heels is an obvious choice, but there are a few other tricks to gaining longer, more enviable legs that you should know about!

A self tanner can sculpt your legs, hide bruises and highlight muscle tone when you apply more to the areas where there is definition. Using a second layer along the sides of your thighs will make your legs look thinner because anything darker recedes and that rule works for legs too!


Using a shimmer stick or highlighter  from your thigh all the way down your shin to your foot is one of the easiest, quickest ways to making your legs look instantly longer and leaner. Why does this work? When you highlight a straight line down your leg the eye is immediately drawn to it and will follow the long line. Instant length via a visual trick, especially when combined with contouring the outer leg.

One of my favorite products to use for this trick is a bronzer, sort of a cross between a self tanner and highlighter:
Nar's Body Glow ($59)

Crossing your legs when seated is a comfortable way to relax but take a tip from celebrities who show off their legs beautifully when they are sitting for an interview. Cross your legs and tuck the top leg slightly behind the calf of the other leg to accentuates the calf muscle.




If your legs are a little bigger than you wish, wear a hem line that ends at the thinnest part of your leg - that way people will just assume that the rest of your leg is thin too, but it's best if the hem hits somewhere just above your knee ... anything longer cuts your legs off and visually shortens your leg.


Wearing the right clothes comes into play so choose pinstriped pants, any vertical lines will make your legs appear longer. Always hem your pants to cover the heel. Again, we want the eye to continue downward as long as we can when someone looks at us which is why the monochromatic way always works - matching your hem line whether it's a pant of skirt to your heel. This is why you see so many celebrities wearing nude colored shoes - matching their skin tone to give the illusion of a longer leg.



Wear pants and shoe in same color - models off duty
I am 5'9", blessed with naturally long legs and I wear heels all the time, but not because I want to be taller! People aren't attracted to you because you are tall, in fact science says men are more attracted to women that look fertile i.e. sexy, not imposingly tall. Heels lengthen the legs for sure, but they also point the toes downward making them look more graceful (think ballerina). Heels force you to use different muscles when you walk, making your butt stick out and arching your back, pushing your chest forward. Yep - pretty darn sexy!  

What type of heel should you choose? Pointed or open toe shoes are best with an open top, otherwise known as a low vamp (cleavage for your feet!), because the goal is to see more of your foot extending the visual length of your leg ... which is why nude or skin colored shoes are best where there is no transition between skin and shoe giving you at least another 5 inches of visual leg. A square or rounded toe will have the opposite effect. If your calves are bigger stay away from spiked thin heels. Towering heels will make you look wobbly and unbalanced drawing attention to your calf. And you should try to avoid wearing anything with an ankle strap as it will make your legs look stubby. When in doubt always go simple. Having alot of straps or embellishments can make your foot look bulky and take away from the illusion of a leaner leg.


You might also like these posts:
Models off duty uniform: Click {HERE}
How to look skinnier in your photos:  Click {HERE}




To learn more model's secrets to looking your best and taking your best photos check out my new book Face This: Real advice from real models, photographers and makeup artists on how to become Picture Perfect! Available for just $7.99 on Kindle, Nook and iTunes. Also as paperback from Amazon.com