If you are a curvy woman, it is quite common that you may have a short waist and a big bust at the same time. This is especially true when it comes to petite women with curves, such as the short hourglass, or the short pear shape. Because of your unique body features, it is critical to find the right style of clothing that can balance out your natural shape. In this detailed guide, we’ll take a close look at your most prominent body features and how to best dress your shape accordingly.
Characteristics
- Relatively shorter space between the shoulder line and waist – This is the distinctive feature of short-waisted girls, which also means that your natural waist is placed a tad higher than usual.
- Ample bust size – You flaunt a voluptuously full bust like hourglass ladies! It’s also possible that the excess weight you gain shows up in this area.
- Shapely and round bust shape – You most likely have well-shaped breasts and a prominent cleavage.
- Little to almost no waist definition – It’s common for short-waisted women to not have much waist definition because of the limited space they have in their waist area. As a result, the curves at the sides of the waist barely show up.
- You may or may not have a short torso – Being short-waisted doesn’t always mean that you have a short torso as well.
- You have long legs – Because of the fact that you’ve got a short waist, this also means that there’s more space to showcase your legs, hence looking more elongated.
Now that we have briefly covered the usual traits of short-waisted women with a big bust, let’s dive into different types of clothing styles that will suit your figure best!
TOPS
Cotton V-Neck Tops
V-neck tops are always versatile and they are also quite easy to style, especially for short-waisted women with a big bust. Apart from its flattering V-shaped neckline, having these tops made from cotton fabric will make them more comfortable and flexible enough to accommodate your big bust.
How this visually works is that the V-neckline creates a vertical line that draws the eye up and down in an elongating manner. This vertical emphasis helps create the illusion of a longer frame by visually extending the distance between your shoulders and waist.
V-neck tops also provide a balanced look between the bust and the waist. This is crucial for those with a big bust because this helps prevent a top-heavy appearance as it creates more space in your upper body to accommodate your big bust.
Tunic Blouses
Tunic blouses are longer and flowier by structure, so this helps create a balanced proportion between the upper and lower body. This can visually camouflage where your natural waist sits so you won’t emphasize your short-waisted appearance even further.
They offer more room and comfort around the bust area, which is something you’d like if you have a larger bust. This prevents the blouse from pulling or feeling too tight to make sure of a comfortable fit.
Tunic tops come in different styles and many of them incorporate vertical elements like pleats, seams, or prints. These details draw vertical lines that can create an elongating effect to effectively make your upper frame appear longer.
Hip-Length Sweetheart Neck Tops
Your full and shapely bust is undoubtedly one of your body shape’s best features so you have to make sure that you’re flaunting it in the best way possible! The sweetheart neckline is designed to accentuate your bust through the help of its dipping shape that complements the natural curves of your breasts and provides a flattering silhouette.
Meanwhile, the length of the top itself also plays an important role in flattering short-waisted women, so I highly suggest going for a hip-length cut. The sweetheart neck design and hip-length cut camouflage your short waistline, elongate your upper body, and draw attention to your bust instead.
Petite-size Tops
Being short-waisted doesn’t always mean you’re short and petite, but regardless of that matter, you may still find it quite helpful to visit the petite shelves! Petite-sized tops are specifically designed and tailored for shorter torso lengths and smaller proportions overall so this is perfect for short-waisted women as it ensures that the length of the top doesn’t overwhelm the torso.
Since petite tops are tailored for shorter frames, this also means that the placement of the bust darts and seams is adjusted accordingly. This can result in a more flattering fit, especially if you have a larger bust, as the top is positioned correctly at the bust area.
The waistline also sits higher in petite tops so this can prevent the top from bunching up or appearing too long in the torso area.
JEANS
Mid-rise Jeans
Mid-rise jeans feature just the right fit for short-waisted girls out there because of how they sit at the natural waist (or slightly below) to create a balanced proportion between the upper and lower body. They can also help give you the appearance of a longer frame to counteract your short-waisted appearance.
As the waistband of mid-rise jeans sits at a very flattering point at the waist, this properly balances out your proportions and prevents giving you the look of a top-heavy appearance due to your large bust. Mid-rise jeans can also provide coverage without feeling too constricting or too low, avoiding the appearance of a muffin top.
Caution with High-rise Jeans
High-rise jeans sit above the natural waistline so this can further limit the small space you already have in your upper body. This will further emphasize the fact that you are short-waisted and also draw too much unnecessary attention to your large bust.
As the jeans sit higher on your waistline, it makes your upper body look too cramped due to the fact that you’ve got a shorter and smaller space to accommodate your large bust. It may sometimes look awkward as well because it may look too high on your short waist.
While it’s generally okay to wear high-rise jeans, you just need to be extra mindful of the fit and the thickness of the waistband. You have to avoid wide waistbands at all costs because they will cause a visual break in your torso.
Bootcut Jeans
Bootcut jeans have a slight flare at the hem and this particular “widening” leg shape helps create visual balance in the lower body. This efficiently counteracts the effect of having a short waist, which may make the upper body appear shorter in relation to the length of your legs.
Also, bootcut jeans can add a touch of curve to the lower half of your body. This can be particularly flattering if you have a larger bust because the balanced upper and lower body curves become more proportionate, almost similar to an hourglass body.
PANTS
Structured Wide-Leg Trousers
Wide-leg trousers generally don’t cling to the body, thanks to their consistent wide shape that adds a streamlined amount of volume to the lower body. This creates a more flattering symmetry between your large bust and lower body to avoid the appearance of a top-heavy figure.
The structured nature of these trousers usually features seams that create a defined waistline that sits at a flattering point of your short waist. This adds a curved indentation to your waist, which is often lacking in short-waisted women.
Pleated Dress Pants
Pleated pants often have extra fabric around the hips and thighs as these pleats or fabric folds provide more room for your lower body. Because of this subtle volume boost, it balances out the heavier look of your large bust.
Also, because the pleats are placed along the waistband of the pants, it creates vertical lines that can visibly elongate the appearance of your waist to address the issue of your short waist. This also helps define your waistline, creating a more balanced and proportioned look overall.
DRESSES
Dresses with a Color-matching Belt
Belts are great for defining the waist and for short-waisted women who lack waist definition, this can be quite beneficial. However, it’s also worth noting that going for a dress and belt that follow a monochromatic palette is very important in tweaking the appearance of your short waist.
If your belt color is too contrasting with your dress, you will end up causing a harsh horizontal break along your waist. This will only enhance how short the distance is between your shoulders and waist, making you look horribly unbalanced from top to bottom.
Drop Waist Dresses
Drop waist dresses feature a waist seam that sits way below the natural waist, which visually elongates the appearance of your upper body. This silhouette will also help blur out the distinct line that draws where your waist is, therefore minimizing emphasis on your short waist.
Moreover, they also allow for a more balanced distribution of visual weight across the body. This can significantly prevent the upper body from looking top-heavy.
By placing the waistline lower, drop waist dresses can effectively neutralize the attention from the bust area, so it won’t get the sole focus. This can be helpful for your short-waisted beauties who also have larger busts as this can create a more balanced silhouette.
SKIRTS
Skirts with Subtle Waistband Details
One of the things you have to avoid when you’re short-waisted is a wide waistband because it can further emphasize your short waist by causing an obvious horizontal break. So when choosing a skirt, try to look for those that don’t have much detail along the waistband.
A subtle waistband can give structure to the skirt without the dramatic details, helping it maintain its shape. This is important for short-waisted women with larger busts as it ensures that the skirt doesn’t create too much bulk that can overwhelm the body.
Wrap Skirts
Adjustability is an ideal styling factor that short-waisted women can really benefit from. Wrap skirts can be easily adjusted to sit at different points on the waist so it allows you to find the most flattering placement for your body.
This is particularly useful for short-waisted girls because it provides the flexibility to position the skirt in a way that visually elongates the upper frame. Additionally, the diagonal wrap design of these skirts can visually produce a vertical line down the front to help elongate your torso in order to be more in balance with your legs.
OUTERWEAR
Structured Jackets
Structured jackets feature neat seams and very minimal details that don’t attract too much attention. This is exactly why they make a great style option for short-waisted women with big bust sizes because of how it streamlines the figure to blur out the disproportion caused by your short waist.
Structured jackets are also specifically designed to maintain their shape even when not being worn. This means they have well-defined shoulders and often some form of tailoring at the waist that can give you a more defined and shapely upper body.
In addition to this, they can offer more support for a bigger bust compared to unstructured styles that droop down the body. This structure helps distribute the weight of the bust more evenly to give you a more comfortable fit and provide a more flattering silhouette.
Knee-Length Coats
Short-waisted beauties like you can find knee-length coats very flattering because of how they can create a longer vertical line to visually elongate the upper body. This helps bring your proportions into better balance, making the length of the torso and legs appear more symmetrical.
Also, since you have a big bust along with your short-waisted figure, wearing a very long coat can sometimes create a top-heavy appearance. This is exactly why a knee-length coat is just perfect as it provides coverage without overwhelming your figure.
Very long coats can sometimes create a “boxed-in” appearance that can be even more apparent, especially on shorter frames. Knee-length coats allow you to maintain a more open and balanced look from top to bottom.