What to Wear When You are Fat and Short? [10 Incredible Outfits]

Do you know that most women stand under 5’4 and an average woman wears a size 16 or 18? This means there are a lot of petite and plus size women asking this question everyday – What to wear when you are fat and short?

There are a lot of misconceptions that plus size women are always tall. That’s why many of you would relate with me, when a lot of plus size clothing fits you so strangely. Plus size clothing has come a long way. But there is still a need for plus size brands and fashion to become more tailored which represents an entire range of people.

Till then I am here for all my beautiful plus size and petite women with this ultimate guide to help you look your perfect version.

 

What To Wear When You Are Fat And Short?

 

1. How to dress when you are short and fat?

As a general rule of thumb for petites, the rule is to stay away from large scale high density patterns because they are going to overwhelm your small stature. But this rule doesn’t apply to petite plus size women because visually, there is more of us to see. 

Play with the scale and density of your patterns to find what looks best on you. But don’t go larger than a medium scale pattern on dresses. To make your task easy, here’s how you can learn to look flawless as a plus size woman in less than 5 minutes.

Wear V-neck maxi dresses with beautiful floral prints to look your best in springs. 

You can also wear an A-line or fit and flare flowy dress and accessorize it with a belt. This is very substantial and it doesn’t overwhelm you. As a petite plus size woman, make sure you are wearing dresses with a small to medium density of patterns.

 

• How to wear a maxi dress if you are short and fat?

One of the challenges of a short and curvy woman is that a lot of the dresses you love are meant for taller women. A midi length on a standard model is actually a maxi length on a petite and plus size woman. 

You can mitigate the length with the shoes that you wear. If you are fat and short wearing maxi dress, nude shoes would play a big role as well as strappy sandals. There’s a lot of your foot being exposed in the strappy sandals and that’s gonna help to elongate your leg.

Another option that’s on trend right now are vinyl shoes. I think these shoes are perfect for any kind of petite plus size woman because it completely disappears, making your legs look way longer than they actually are.

 

• How to wear loose clothes without looking frumpy?

There are a lot of trapeze, boho, kaftan and tiered kinds of dresses that tend to swallow you when you are petite and overweight. In these loose fitting dresses, you might end up looking like you are a little girl playing dress up in your mom’s clothes.

To wear loose clothes without looking frumpy, you should always wear belts. I know a lot of round shaped petite and plus size women do not like wearing belts. But don’t be afraid of belts. 

Belts actually help you to look slimmer and taller. It’s just a matter of placement where you need to find the smallest point on your waist line and situate the belt. A lot of loose dresses come with their own cloth belts but they are quite flimsy. You can discard the cloth belt and use a leather belt instead.

 

2. What prints are best when you are short and fat?

The best prints when you are short and fat are the ones that are aligned with your body type. If you have a rectangular body shape, you would want to stick with geometric prints like plaid or gingham. 

Gingham pattern is beautiful, effortless and best for summer or spring. For a short and round shaped body, make sure that you find gingham dresses that are flowy.

 

3. How to wear a sweater when you are fat and short?

When you are petite and overweight, you can wear a sweater dress by layering and accessorizing it in the right way. Layering is key when it comes to sweater dresses. Get yourself a sweater dress and layer it with a button down shirt and tie it at the waist to bring attention to the waist line. 

Sweater dress can be a little shapeless and that’s why you need to define your waist by layering it. Another way you can style a sweater dress is by belting it in order to help define the waist and provide a visual interest. 

Sweater dresses with slits on the sides are excellent to show off any kinds of boots that you might have. Talking about sweaters, here’s how you can look hot in winter while keeping yourself warm.

 

4. How Do I look Good in a Shirt if I’m fat and short?

There are multiple ways that you can style your shirt and look your best even if you are chubby and petite. Get yourself a beautiful fitting midi dress and layer your shirt over it. If it’s a shacket or shirt dress then that’s much better for you.

Accessorize this look with nude pointy heels and there you go. If you love pants like me then I have another look for you. Style your shirt dress as a jacket over a top and pants. Just be careful over the colours you are playing with.

 

5. How Should an Overweight Person Dress for Work?

To know how an overweight and petite person dresses for work, checkout this amazing guide to become a pro in less than 4 minutes. 

One of my favourite capsule dresses for curvy and petite women is just a simple V-neck full sleeve red top, paired with high waisted black pants. If red is not your thing, then you can try other colours as well.

If you are a skirt person, then get yourself a leopard print skirt and pair it with a solid colour top. Make sure to balance the highlight of the skirts with the soberness of the top because at the end of the day, you are getting dressed for a workplace.

For a dress, wear solid coloured dresses which enhance your figure. The best length for such dresses should be just above your knees. For accessories, I would recommend you to choose nude shoes because it makes you look taller.

 

Which Types of Clothes a Curvy and Fat Girl Should Wear?

• Rule of Thirds

Rule of thirds is applicable to women of all shapes and sizes but for petite women, it has more specific applications. When styling your outfits, create body proportions, which are considered the most visually and aesthetically appealing. 

If you are petite and plus size and you are wearing a T-shirt normally (T-shirt over jeans on waist), this creates a 50-50 body proportion. This will make your legs look shorter and the vastness of your t-shirt over the widest part of your body (hips) will create a horizontal line, making you look wider.

By using the rule of third and tucking your top in the jeans, your legs look longer and you have a more well-defined waist. For short and overweight women, when it comes to choosing the tops, go for crop tops and high-waisted jeans.

 

• Wrap Tops and Wrap Dresses

Wear wrap tops if you have larger busts to accentuate your curves and define your waist. Wrap tops are great to create a more well defined waist. For all the plus size women with larger busts, wrap tops will be your best friend.

When you wear a wrap top or wrap dresses, you would see that it creates a V-shape on your torso which draws the eyes from the shoulders to the centre of your body. Automatically, it tricks the eye into thinking that you have a narrower waist.

 

• Create a Balanced Look

Petite and curvy women who are not as curvier on the top as they are on the bottom, wear a high neck top with a shorter skirt. I usually don’t recommend a high neck full sleeve top and a longer skirt because all that fabric tends to overwhelm the petite body. 

On the other hand, you like to wear a high neck top and a maxi skirt then go for a cropped top with the maxi skirt. This is not overwhelming and also balances everything.

 

• Monochrome Outfits

Opt for Monochrome outfits to create a long uninterrupted silhouette. Monochrome outfits look very flattering on petite and curvy body shapes. Wearing such outfits, leads the eye from the top of your outfit to the tip of your toes. There’s no interruption in between which creates a very flattering look for petite women.

Wear a suit with the pants and blazer having the same colour. This creates a vertical pattern. To make it look more enhancing, you can wear similar colour shoes as well. This creates a lengthening effect.

You can also wear wrap red or other solid coloured maxi dress or semi formal gown. Here the eye goes from the top of the dress to the shoes which look very flattering on petite women.

 

• High-Waisted Bottoms

Choose high-waisted bottoms to elongate your legs visually. When wearing jeans, go for high-waisted jeans unless you have a very short torso because then you should go for mid-rise.

Whether it’s jeans, skirts, trousers or pants, high-waisted bottoms are the most flattering for petite women because they create the illusion of longer legs. It also provides a better proportion to your body shape.

Related Post: 10 Ways to use Plus Size Cinchers in Defining Waistline.

 

• Style Skirts

When styling skirts on curvy and petite women:

1. Find skirts that have waistbands.
2. Wear skirts at the narrowest part of your waist.

The waist bands really help to define your waist which is very crucial if you are plus size. This gives you one-third proportion which we have already discussed.

 

• Hem Length

In terms of hem length, choose the right hem length for your skirts and dresses. Wear skirts slightly above the knees. If you are short and fat wearing a maxi skirt then it should fall somewhere at the ankle.

 

• Accessories 

If you are petite and curvy then belts should be your best friend. The reason why I say that belts are so important is because curvy women should try to create a waist even when you don’t have a natural one.

Every plus size woman has different body shapes, some are rectangular or apple shaped. They don’t really have a well defined waist like an hourglass body shaped woman would.

It is possible to define your waist through the help of belts which is why I say that belts are important for short and fat women.

 

• Shoes 

Choose shoes that help elongate your silhouette. Along with nude and pointy shoes, petite and plus size women should also try to match the colour of shoes to the colour of your bottom. This really helps to draw the eye from the top of your bottoms to the tip of your shoes.

 

• Handbags

Choose handbags that compliment your size. The rule that you should follow is that for petite girls, a petite bag is the best. Small and medium sized bags will compliment all your outfits much better than larger sized handbags.