Updated 21 June 2010….

So back in 2008 I looked around for Maxi dresses for petite women and at the time I would have been totally against them… well a trip to Australia later and I love them.  They’re not only slimming but they can also make you look taller… but you need to get it right!

Here is the best example of a bad Maxi Dress – Melissa Joan Heart at 5’2″ she is definitely petite but she’s gone against the ‘rules’ and left us thinking where did she get these frocks from?

Now if I was to pick the perfect example of a petite outfit, it would have to be this one from Eva Longoria. The nude peep toes give the legs length as mentioned in this post. Her fabulous dress falls just about the knee giving her full length of both her body and her legs and the v-neck elongates her neck giving the illusion on height.

However Eva also does the Petite Maxi Dress really well.  There’s a lot to be learned from the Desperate House Wife.

Petite Maxi Dress top tips:

Keep the line of the dress straight

As you can see from the pictures above Melissa’s dresses come out from her waist where are Eva’s skims her body giving her length to her body.

Keep hems long – to the floor even

Eva’s hem on her dress is touching the floor giving the illusion of height where as the black dress Melissa is wearing cuts her off at the ankles making her look shorter.

Simple necklines

Melissa’s black dress and Eva’s maxi dress are both good examples of what the top of a maxi dress should look like where as Melissa’s other long dress has a wider line over the shoulders making her look more top heavy and this follows down her body making her look larger than she is.

Here’s my top tips from your online high street (the images make them look short, but they’re long I promise!)…

Love ya!

Vikki xx

Related Petite Stuff:

Check out where to get dresses that suit your petite frame on our petite dress page.