FASHION AND BEAUTY 101: Addicted to shoes

How to make your legs look longer The shoes you choose to wear should work in harmony with your outfit, as well as suit the shape and the length of your leg.

How to make your legs look longer. The shoes you choose to wear should work in harmony with your outfit as well as suit the shape and the length of your leg. Shoe vamp - what it is and why does it matter? The vamp of the shoe is where it cuts across your foot at the front. Thus low-vamp shoes cut across the front of the foot, near the toes. High -vamp shoes come up the foot and possibly up to the ankle. Straps and other details affect the shoe vamp. Garments made of heavy-looking fabric or textures are best teamed with shoes with a similar look for harmony and vice-versa. High-vamp shoes are best teamed with opaque hosiery, (dark not sheer) and if you have not been blessed with long and attractive legs they are best worn under pants and with long hems. Low vamp and more open shoes, the more sheer the hosiery should be. Thick soles and heavily-stacked heels will make heavy lower legs and thick ankles look thicker and are best replaced with medium to thin soles and classic or lighter-looking stacked heels. Women with heavy lower legs should avoid stiletto heels as they result in an ungainly gait and often appear to be in danger of breaking under the weight. Short women or those with short legs need to be careful not to over-emphasis either characteristic by wearing high-vamp or ankle-strap shoes or gladiator sandals that will further diminish visual length and make them look shorter. Both stature and leg length can be visibly increased by heel height; the higher the heel, the more defined and slender your calf muscle will appear. The correct height for you will be that which looks good with your physical proportions, does not emphasis any physical flaws and one that you can walk in without looking like you are about to fall.. So when and how do you wear low or high-vamp shoes? Skirts that are knee -length or longer generally look best with a low-vamp shoe. It elongates the legs and makes you look taller. So if you're already really tall, you don't need to worry about this rule. Skirts that are shorter than the knee can work with both low and high-vamp shoes as there is enough leg showing that the few inches that are cut off by the high-vamp do not matter so much. Trousers work well with both low and high-vamp shoes, as the leg is already cut by the trouser hem and the extra horizontals on high-vamp shoes are irrelevant. Because the trouser is a long garment this helps to elongate your legs. Cropped trousers REALLY need low -vamp shoes to work. They are notoriously bad for making legs look shorter, and teaming them with a high-vamp shoe cuts about six inches off the length of your legs. If you know that your legs are on the short side, try and stick with low-vamp shoes for everything except short skirts and trousers. This is why the ballet flat is such a great all-purpose flat shoe, it's usually flattering and leg lengthening for a flat shoe (heels help to lengthen leg). So the reason why you see all those gladiator heels on the sale rack is that they shorten your legs and are not flattering for many women, so think twice before you buy them. How about boots since we are getting closer to the autumn and winter season already! Knee-high boots are low -vamp, as the leg appears to start at the toe - so we LOVE them for their flattery. But be aware of above-the-knee boots as they only look great for long-legged ladies. Ankle boots are best worn with trousers or mini-skirts. (Next time you see a pair in a magazine editorial or advertisement, notice how they're always teamed with very short skirts or shorts, never knee or calf-length skirts. Always keep in mind: the higher the hem, the lower the heel, and the lower the hem the higher the heel.