Hi everyone,

I have been dancing for 14 years now (I'm 17), and over time and improvement, I've noticed that I have developed what people call "dancer's legs", or "gymnast's legs". They're muscly, well defined (when standing with legs together, small diamond gap between knees)- but they're borderline stocky. I wouldn't call myself fat at all, but you get the point. I'm also fairly petite, barely over 5ft, so my height combined with my semi-chunky legs make me appear wider and shorter to most.

Is there a trick with appearing taller? I prefer trousers and jeans to leggings and tights - they're just too much of a second skin for my liking. What are some clothes I could wear to help give the illusion of slimmer legs?

EDIT: Winter's coming up in Australia, so keep that in mind please!

Also, when looking for pants/jeans, I often have to look for larger sizing to accommodate my muscles - this means the waist will gape, plus there's the issue of the actual trouser length being too long. It's a pain to have to roll the cuffs up every time, and I'm not in a position to have them altered. This also means that I can't buy jeans online; I have to try every pair of pants I own before buying them. Are there any jeans made specifically for girls like me? Any perfect fits that you'd like to share? Any tips would be appreciated.

I would very much like to keep on dancing, so being lazy in order to lose that muscle isn't really something I'd like to do. :/

Thank you! Please input, even if you aren't quite in the same situation as I am

I feel your pain! lol

Not so much right now, but a couple years back my leg muscles were huge (martial artist's legs) and I'm super petite; leggings, tall boots and skinny jeans were such a pain! I kind of stayed away from those during that time =/

How do you feel about skirts? I use to wear dresses and skirts a lot so I didn't have to worry about fitting my calves into pants. But if you must wear pants I say look for straight, wide leg pants (which also add the illusion of height AND no one can see how thick your legs actually are) or pants or jeans that flare slightly past the knee.

And when you wear heels, make sure they're NOT chunky or look heavy. Muscles = more weight on your frame, the last thing you want is to add even more. If you want height too, go for nude or lightly colored heels or match your bottom and heels, carrying the color all the way to the ground.


Hope that helps!