Best Shoes & Skirt Hemlines for Your Chunky Legs

If your wide calves make it practically impossible to squeeze your legs into a pair of boots, then you aren’t the only one. Hollywood A-listers like Jessica Simpson, Ricki Lake, Helen Mirren, and Alicia Keys have been setting the red carpet on fire despite their chunky legs. Thus, you don’t need to give up on wearing dresses just because of your huge ankles. You can’t change what mother nature gave you but with the right styling tips, you can make them drastically less noticeable. Choosing a shoe style might be a bit tricky with multiple shapes, sizes, and colors. Every woman’s legs vary and once you comprehend what suits you best, you can put a stylish step forward:

• The key to making your legs look slimmer and longer is color-matching your shoes and skin tone. A minimal color break can create an authentic seamless effect in an expanded palette of light-to-dark hues and help your leg gain a few inches.
• If you wish to balance your solid body and leg proportions, then you should swap those narrow toes and spindly heels for substantial block and stacked heels in low to medium height.
• Skirt proportions can make a massive difference in how slim your legs look. You might have a soft spot for sheaths and pencil skirts but to make your legs look slimmer you should opt for wraps, A-lines, fit and flare styles, and pleats. If your heavy ankles and legs make you feel apprehensive about wearing a skirt, then you are completely mistaken. As a rule of thumb, the wider the hemline, the slimmer your legs will look. Narrow pencil skirts tapering inward or other clingy styles will emphasize the size of your lower legs and so you should opt for swingy full skirts which will make your ankles and calves seem narrower by contrast.
• Your hammertoes and bunions shall thank you if you keep the skirt length around your knees. Ideally, the length should be approximately two inches above the knee so that your wide calves, ankles, and feet cannot add to the width. If you are a midi-skirt aficionado, then keep the hemlines below your knees where your leg indents before starting to swell. Long skirts whose hemline ends at the place where your calves are fullest tend to shorten and widen your legs. Some women like wearing tea-length skirts to cover their muscular calves. But this will work only if the skirt doesn’t stop right at or before the midcalf and you team up your skirt with a modern shoe.
• Low ankle boots look especially flattering on being paired with leggings, pants, and jeans. But for a trimmer look, you can get longer-necked booties hugging your leg made of materials like leather, stretchy suede, or microfiber, creating a sock-like look. You should try matching your booties to your tights for an uber-sleek look.
• Ankle straps are infamous for making your legs look shorter and broader as they crop legs at the ankle and draw attention to those trouble spots. Ladies with robust legs should try and make the most of their ankles which are their “thin” spots. This can be done by opting for a trendy pair of Mary Janes in embellished velvet or cap-toe suede. The best shoes are the ones that are open at the ankles. Another choice is a slingback shoe wrapping at the back of the ankle rather than the front.
• You might love flat shoes but they will do more harm than good by making you look squat and emphasizing your ankles and big calves. It’s better to stick to a medium-height heel which creates an illusion of longer and leaner legs. The sturdiness of your heel needs to be directly proportional to the width of your legs as a chunky heel can balance out heavy legs. Alternatively, you can opt for a platform shoe or a sturdy wedge. Tiny kitten heels, spike, and skinny stilettos are a strict no-no as they tend to create too much contrast by exaggerating your large calves. If you can’t wear heels, then peep-toe flats can serve as a viable option as the open portion of the shoe exposes more feet to elongate your legs. This type of shoe will make you look taller thus serving as a godsend for short ladies.
• The huge amount of strings and straps of Roman sandals draw a lot of attention to your calves and doesn’t flatter ladies with thick legs while also causing discomfort. Ballerina flats are a savior for such women and look best when paired with a short skirt.
• Round-toe shoes can make your legs look heavier and shorter whereas point-toe ones tend to elongate and visually slim your legs.
• For making your legs look longer, you can wear dark opaque tights with matching dark shoes. However, you should avoid wearing patterned or contrasting tights as they will become an unflattering focal point.
• A riding boot or a tall dress boot is an excellent choice for large calves. You can get knee-high boots with subtle detailing at the top like a stud, stitching, or a tassel to divert attention from your thick ankles.
• The lower the vamp, the slimmer and longer your legs will look.

Conclusion

Most ladies suffer from fashion amnesia when choosing boots and shoes. If you wish to look your leggiest best despite being born with chunky legs, then our today’s guide can have your back with some of the coolest optical illusion tricks. Your choice of top wear can also have a big role to play in alleviating your chunky leg concerns. If you don’t want people looking at your legs, then you can distract them by wearing lighter-colored tops with diverse prints that can be accessorized with jewelry and scarves to draw the eye up and away from your thick ankles and calves. Pantsuits have become the symbol of power dressing by ladies like Hillary Clinton for hiding her famous cankles. It is best to wear solid-colored pants in dark shades. However, they shouldn’t be too skinny as tight pants will simply emphasize your calves. Capris and cropped pants should also be avoided as they will make your legs look stumpy. Wide-leg and bootcut pants will hide your problem regions gracefully.