I had just started my third set of Romanian deadlifts when my phone vibrated against the water bottle on the bench next to me so hard I had to take my eyes off the clock to stop it sliding off. A message from a client asking whether she should buy the midi dress she was trying on in the changing room, image attached. See, she was only 5’2” and had read that “midis cut petite women off at the worst point” but here she was looking at herself on the shop floor of Zara and suddenly agreeing with everyone who ever told her she was too short to pull off longer styles.
I dropped my bar half way through a set which is literally unheard of for me because silly, sweeping rules like that are why I get so pissed off doing this job. Not because they’re entirely subjective and bullshit, they’re not. But because there are so many people shouting them from rooftops as if they’ve tried every midi dress in existence and know for a FACT they don’t work, when actually they’ve just read that very thing on Instagram and now they’re sticking spoons in their own mouths.
Short I am too, 5’3”. Bought about nine or ten midi dresses over the years trying to decide if there was any truth to it, narrowed them down to about five I liked enough to keep, ones that get worn all the time. Flip side is probably about the same, midis that didn’t work for some reason or other. The conclusion I eventually came to isn’t yes or no because that never really helps anyone. It’s not that midi dresses are or aren’t a good idea on petite women, that’s simplistic crap. There are two things that decide whether any given midi looks good on a shorter woman, and neither of them is “petite women should avoid midi dresses at all costs.” Sort those two things and you don’t need the damn rule.
Where the actual hem falls on your leg.
The only reason midis “cut petite women off at the worst point” is because of where the hem actually lands, measured not from the waistband or wherever the official scoop definition starts, but from knee to floor. Inches alone aren’t the problem here, it’s where those inches land on your leg which is determined by where the hem hits your calf. Specifically the narrowest part of your calf, since that’s the area that looks shortest when clothing lands directly on it. A midi that hits you right at the widest point of your calf, and for me that’s about two inches below my kneecap whether I like it or not, instantly makes my legs look like twin bananas sticking out from under a skirt.
That exact dress on my taller flatmate, who clocks in at 5’9”, falls to her mid calf where it naturally starts to narrow and suddenly it does nothing but look classy and chic. Same dress same hem length in inches but a completely different effect because we have different proportions and the fabric isn’t factoring that into how it falls.
TLDR – This. Right here. Is where the “petite women should never wear midis” rule applies. If you land half way down your calf and it’s at its widest point, it will make your legs look stubbier. Land mid shin and it doesn’t matter. That’s all folks.
This is why midis can make you look shorter but it’s explained in such a way that implies there’s no way to avoid it if you’re under a certain height. Which isn’t true. If you’re shorter you have less leg overall, yes. But that doesn’t mean a midi hitting you at the widest point of your calf isn’t POSSIBLE, it just means it’s less LIKELY. It’s not an absolute rule, it’s a game of statistics. I’ve worn midis that hit me dead at the narrowest point just below my knee and looked totally fine, I’ve worn them that land an inch below that and suddenly my legs look like half a cucumber each.
The real advice I should’ve given her is way less satisfying but much more useful. Go to the shop, try that stupid dress on, turn sideways and look in a mirror that lets you see your whole leg from hip to floor. Don’t trust how it looks staring straight on because that hiding spot where your leg narrows is where you only catch a glimpse of your calf in most clothing. Learn how your leg actually looks wearing that midi by checking the side on, because that side view is where it tells you if you’re dodging the widest bit of your calf or landing square on it every step you take. High heels change it of course, sometimes enough to save a midi that looked like a hot mess when you’re wearing flats.
How your dress moves when you actually move.
The other thing that nobody talks about when they say “short women, midi dresses, bad idea” is how that dress moves when you stand up and walk around in it. Important enough that it’s the sole reason I kept my favourite midi while getting rid of plenty that seemed lovely when I first tried them on. The aforementioned jersey wrap skirt I’ve had for two years? Took it everywhere this Saturday, wandered round markets at the knee-baring height, sat down for lunch, hoofed it up a hill to my friend’s flat, all without adjusting it once. Not a hitch of bunching at the hip, no creeping up when I sat down, hem stayed put.
Bought a midi around the same time that’s basically the same cut but in a stiff cotton instead of a drapey jersey, but it doesn’t move like my favourite with me. Perfect wrinkles across my thigh when it’s hanging in shops but the second I sat down for a minute it went rigid and pulled up halfway up my calf. That’s a true waist-cutter right there; skimpy-looking fabric where it doesn’t need to be because the designer thought we’d rather it stretched badly than skimmed smoothly.
It sat amazing on the rail but gave up as soon as I sat down, hem creasing sharply across my leg and making them look stubbier than they are. Refused to wear it outside the house again. To me that’s where the “midis make petite women look short” thing truly comes into play far more than where the label hem hits. If you’ve got a stiff cotton that doesn’t stretch and you’re wearing flats, your midi is going to stay put regardless of where it lands on you. Drapey fabric with actual give in it, like that soft jersey I mentioned, skirts over the bit of your leg that actually looks shortest when something rests directly on it. Something that holds it’s shape when it lands? Not so much.
Explained like that it kinda figures. My client texted me half way through warm up that the reason her midi “always looked wrong by lunchtime” was down to the fabric. Cotton poplin that went stiff as soon she’d sat in her car on the way to the gym for twenty minutes straight. Learn from our mistakes amirite.
TLDR – Does the dress actually move when you do? Stiffer fabrics hold onto where they land mercilessly, stretchy things skim over. This impacts where the hem hits your leg when you sit down.
Anyway. No I’m not going to tell her not to buy midi dresses on principle because that’s lazy. Look at where it lands from the side view, spend more on a skirt with drape than something that refuses to bend, and you can throw that whole “petite women can’t wear midis” rule out the window. Never was it truly about height. It was about two choices taken by the person who made your dress.
