Under 5"2: A shortlist of style solutions
As modeled on Maria Grazia Morales, a New York grad student from Peru
This is a public post from The Cereal Aisle.
Sleeves are a pain in the ass — they’re often too long and make her look like she’s drowning. The length of pants or skirts get on her nerves because if they’re supposed to be cropped on everyone else, they’re always too long for her. And sneakers — how the hell does she wear sneakers, or any comfortable shoes, really without feeling like she looks too short?
These are the problems that Maria Grazia Morales, a Peruvian grad student at The New School, who I met at The Cereal Aisle’s first meet-up last September, brought up when I asked about her top style problems as they pertain to her height of 5”0.
A couple of weeks ago, she let me into her closet in Sunset Park to help solve the core issues using her wardrobe. Here’s what came up in sum:
Problem: Sleeves are a pain in the ass
Maria Grazia loves a leather jacket, but the sleeves are often too long. It’s hard to roll up a leather sleeve because of the rigid fabric, but on even a different kind of jacket, the roll-up turns out too bulky, or exposes unattractive nylon lining.
The solution: Cheat a tuck
The great thing about a rigid sleeve in a fabric like leather or pleather is that it’s sticky enough to hold form from wherever you try to fold it in. In order to maintain the sleeve’s hem, I started to roll MG’s sleeve from about 5 inches from the hem and didn’t stop until her wrist bone was slightly exposed.
It doesn’t look perfect, but that’s the point. Rough edges are a good thing in this aisle.
Onwards, we paired the jacket with a white skirt set with black trim, which she got from Zara some years ago. The tights are black too — they catch the trim on the skirt set and contrast the shoes, a pair of glitter Miu Miu mary janes, which were purchased from a Prada outlet in Florida.
Problem: Pants and skirts get on my nerves
Mid-length skirts are part of her style, but they never fit her the “right” way because they’re too long. Even if they don’t touch the floor, the way they graze up against her shoes makes her feel like she’s not put together.
The solution: if you can’t have it shortened from the bottom, roll! it! up!
…At the top, I mean. The waistband on Maria Grazia’s skirt is elastic, which makes the roll-up an easy solution that doesn’t require any cutting (though in particular with a fabric like tulle, with a lightweight cotton lining, cutting is not out of the question!). Style it with an boxy sweater or jacket-as-top to conceal the roll-up’s bulk (here, we used a grey jacket with black sequin lining from Cynthia Rowley), or tuck something in and belt the bulk. You’ll notice you can see the combat boots now, and that she’s less likely to trip traversing up that staircase.
How do I wear sneakers without feeling too short?
She doesn’t want to wear heels every day — who wants to wear heels every day? And she loves her Converse.
The solution: A short jacket
When you’re wearing a pair of comfortable flat shoes, you want to consider the proportions above them. Baggy jeans (preferably in straighter form — a-line baggy jeans make everyone look a little tussled) or different trousers altogether would have worked just as well as these (they’re supposed to be cropped but actually fall in that perfect high-top-spot. A perk of being shorter!) but the key feature to consider as far as bottoms is what’ll make you feel most comfortable in a shorter jacket. If that’s high-rise trousers, or a mini skirt, or jeans like the straight legs above, go for it. The only length I’d stay away from is knee. Puts too much pressure on your calves! And they work hard enough, you know?
And that concludes this edition. Thanks again to Maria Grazia — and reach out, any of the rest of you, if something’s on your mind!
Signing off,
Leandra
Nice post! Question for you:)) I am desperately looking for some good (menzy) trousers with pleats. You know what I’m talking about? It’s so hard to find a good pair. Any suggestions??