Colour Combinations to Boost Your Height and Elongate Your Body (2024)

Fashion is not just about patterns and designs – it’s also about understanding the right colour combinations to bring out your best assets. However, colour can also be used for a bit of trickery, making your look taller than you really are. Here are some tips to implement if you could use a hand in the height department.

1. Opt for contrasting colours

This is especially true of dark and light colour combinations. For example, having a dark pair of pants contrasted against a light-coloured top makes your legs look longer, elongating your body. A good trick here as well is to reverse this when it comes to jackets or coats, having a dark top with light coloured bottoms.

2. Use columns of colour

This means sticking to one colour scheme head to toe. The reason behind this is that each time we change colour on our clothing, we halt the flow, therefore shortening the body. The best example here is when wearing a suit, both for males and females. Wear the same colour jacket and pants and mix it up with a different coloured top to create some interest. In this situation, the eye is still seeing the main colour (the suit) and sees the two pieces of clothing as one, drawing the eye from top to bottom in one swoop.

Another way to do this is to colour blend. This means wearing a single colour, for example red, on top and blending that with a red and black pair of pants or skirt. Again, the eye is only seeing the red.

3. Reduce the contrast

Yes, it’s the direct opposite of point one, but both seem to work. Consider a monochromatic colour scheme, where all the colours of your outfit are actually different tints, tones and shades of a single hue. This presents a coherent visual image, forcing people to see you vertically rather than horizontally. In this case, dark colours work best as they recede into the body, making you look leaner and taller, rather than emphasising the change in clothing. Of course, black on black is the best example, however other dark colours such as navy, grey, dark brown or deep green work just as well.

4. Find the colours that marry well

Analogous colours are those that are naturally pleasing to the eye and tend to blend together. While monochromatic are shades of the same colour, analogous colours are different colours that work well together. A good example of an analogous colour-scheme is a landscape. Consider the horizon where sea and sky seem to blend together, or a forest where there are so many different colours of green and brown, yet they’re similar, so they tend to merge. In clothing, the best example would be a light grey shirt or t-shirt with denim jeans. There is little contrast between top and bottom, creating a streamlined look. This stretches the body vertically, making you appear taller than you really are.

Another good example is green and blue – neighbouring colours on the colour wheel. Again, because dark colours work best to lengthen the frame, darker shades of green (such as olive or hunter green) will work best.

Tan and white or light blue will also elongate the body, and are perfect colours for a summer look.

5. Stripe it up

There are some patterns that can work in your favour when trying to look taller. Vertical stripes will force the eye up and down rather than across, so they’re your best bet. Even better are thin vertical stripes in darker colour combinations.

6. Shoes, shoes and more shoes

While they’re not something that many people consider ‘part of the outfit’, shoes can actually make or break your look, especially when trying to evoke a sense of height. Wear the wrong shoes and you can actually jar the look completely, rather than creating the flow needed. Trying to ensure your shoes are the same colour as whatever is covering your legs creates a seamless flow from waist to toes. If you’re wearing a skirt with bare legs, consider a nude shoe. Or, if you plan on wearing black pants or a suit, definitely pop some black shoes on. By doing this, the eye struggles to distinguish where your legs finish and your feet start, making your legs look longer than they really are and creating the illusion of height.

Experiment to see what works

Of course, don’t be afraid to mix and match these tips and tricks. Dark colours can be included in every outfit choice and patterns can be mixed with plain clothes.