We all know that Asian ladies, specifically from India and Pakistan, are genetically gifted with short heights. The average height goes to 5 feet 2 inches, and many women fall short of it too.

And that’s absolutely fine! Each and every woman is beautiful in her own shape and size!

There might have been a couple of times when our petite pretty women would have wished for a taller height. Just because they think- to be fashionable you need to look like a fashion model and have a tall height.

Especially when wearing extravagant flowy lehengas, seven-yard sarees, salwar kameez, indo-western gowns and other such dresses which require extra room to drape. But being tall necessarily for fashion is a false notion.

Our Indian and Pakistani petite beauties can wear all of these ethnic and fusion Asian dresses without any worry of getting pulled down by them. There are certain tips and tricks of ethnic dressing for Indian and Pakistani petite women that they have to take care of whenever they find themselves in the dilemma of choosing the right outfits for any special occasion.

Let’s jump to the guide!

1. Choosing the Right Silhouette is the Way to Go

Ethnic Indian and Pakistani dressing has a variety of different styles to choose from. We have beautiful traditional sarees, elaborated lehenga choli, unique salwar kameez and fusion indo-western gowns.

But here we need those designs which flatter the petite beauties and accentuate their look. For that, we will opt for silhouettes that are fit to the body which enhances the body structure in order to make it more visible and longitudinal.

Salwar Kameez

Straight A-line Kurtis

The silhouette for Kurtis or Kameez that suits the best petite women are the straight A-line ones. That’s simply because of the illusion they create of making the body look taller. Linearity equals more length, and this is what we are executing here.

Also, if you’re choosing a striped pattern design make sure those stripes are vertical rather than horizontal. They create an automatic longitudinal illusion.

You can also create this illusion by putting on a cropped vest or a jacket over your kameez. It will structurize your look to be more elongated from the lower part of your body.

Just look at how intelligently this Off white Grey Embroidered Pant Suit illustrates the idea behind the straight A-line silhouette. The cigarette pants also help with creating the longitudinal effect, making them perfect for Indian and Pakistani women.

Anarkali Suit

Anarkalis are one of the most loved styles by the ladies- it is fun, comfortable and makes you wanna twirl! 

When choosing the perfect anarkalis for petite ladies, we tend to look for the ones which don’t have that waistline definition that cinches the waist. It divides up the upper torso from the lower- making the body look shorter.

Instead, we look for the anarkalis which are in a single flow and have a full length. It makes the whole structure look more extended.

Just as how we are witnessing the Zoe Embroidered Pakistani Anarkali Suit. This piece tick-marks all our requirements to be petite-perfect.

Gharara/ Sharara Suit

The uniqueness of ghararas has made them more and more popular over time. Young girls love to don up a variety of gharara suits and enjoy hassle-free ethnic dressing.

When looking for sharara for short height girls and ladies of India and Pakistan, we prefer short kurtas which allow the legs to be more visible. This will make the body structure more noticeable without getting overwhelmed by the suit’s design.

You can also go for crop tops in combination with the sharara pants, it will define the upper torso and make the lower torso look longer.

Here we are looking at Roohi Embroidered Pakistani Gharara Suit which has a straight-cut short kurta for the kameez, making the gharara pants look visibly elongated. Just how we want for the petite beauties.

Palazzo Suit

We’ll carry forward our technique of elongating the body structure by keeping the kurta shorter in combination with medium flared palazzos. Short straight kurtas allow your legs to be more visible, making you look taller.

Also, opting for medium flared palazzo pants makes sure that no unnecessary breadth is created by extra flowy palazzos, which tends to diminish the total length.

Here we see how this Mahjabeen Embroidered Net 3-Piece Suit includes fitted medium flared pants with a short and straight kurta for the kameez. This set successfully manages to flatter our petite Indian and Pakistani women out there.

Lehenga-Choli

The most-wanted lehenga-choli sets steal all the credit for providing the incredible princess feels. And that is why it comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, flattering women of different body structures- enhancing their curves.

When fishing for the lehenga cholis for petite women, we go for cholis which are cropped in length to such an extent that is above the navel. It defines the upper torso and gives the chance to the lower torso to look longer.

For the lehenga skirt, we prefer a fit and medium flared skirt, fish cut silhouette can also work here. Avoid puffy skirts or the ones having a lot of can-can net stuffing beneath them. It makes you look broader and cuts down on the height.

Here we can see how this beautiful Kashish Embroidered Pakistani Lehenga has a cropped top for the choli and a perfect medium flared lehenga skirt as if just made for the petite beauties of India and Pakistan.

2. Draping has an Important Role to Play!

The way you drape your saree, lehenga saree or the dupatta of your lehenga and suit has the ability to make or break your entire look. Although there are many creative ways to drape, just a few will be the best suited for petite women.

To create the illusion of elongated body structure, we always tend to create longitudinal elements. So here, we’ll use the drapery to our benefit by draping the dupatta vertically and hanging it on the sides of the shoulder.

Avoid taking it over the head or across your neck, that will create a break from the longitudinal flow. If it is necessary to put the dupatta over the head, then make sure you put its edge in front of one side of the shoulder and back on the other side. This will help balance the look.

Just look how intelligently this Retro Finesse Embroidered Pakistani Palazzo Suit has been styled. The dupatta flows perfectly right from the shoulders to the ground, showing an elongated effect.

3. Fabric Matters a Lot!

The best fabrics for our petite Indian and Pakistani ladies are georgette,crêpe, silk and chiffon. These fabrics are light and flow and drape perfectly. It is easy to make pleats with them- creating a perfect linear drape.

Such fabrics also sit on the body well, defining the body structure just the way we want. Also, these are quite soft and comfortable.

Avoid fabrics with thick textures, like brocade or velvet. These fabrics are stiff and create blocky flares- cutting down on the linearity of the look.

This georgette Yellow Mirror Embroidered Lehenga flows perfectly giving sleek flares. And that’s how we’ll want our fabric to do for the petite ladies.

4. Colours are the Game Changer

We can play with the colours of our dresses to create the much-needed flow and linear rhythm. By choosing a monochromatic colour theme for our overall outfit, we can easily create the illusion of elongated body structure.

Contrasting colours of the top and bottom breaks the flow of the outfit- creating a visual divide of the look. But here, we need a single flow, and that’s where monotone comes into play.

The monochromatic colour combinations are a real game-changer for petite women. So whenever there’s a doubt choosing the best ones for them, go for the singular tones.

This monochromatic pastel Green Embroidered Net Lehenga will do wonders for our petite ladies out there. It creates the perfect visual flow we are rooting for.

5. Choosing the Right Necklines and the Sleeves Designs

The necklines which boldly show off the collar bones and allow the neck to be more visible- are the best options for Indian and Pakistani petite ladies. And these options include- sweetheart, square or V-necklines.

We won’t recommend high-neck designs here as they will cut short our visual linearity.

For the sleeves, we keep the length till the elbow. It allows the wrist to be visible, adding up to the linearity of the entire look. Avoid structured or padded sleeves as they will broaden the look.

Here in this Mauve Embroidered Net Lehenga, we are seeing the perfect combination of neckline and sleeves just like we have discussed.

6. The Magic of Embroidery Motifs, Prints and Borders

Whenever we select designs for the ethnic dresses for petite Indian and Pakistani women, we tend to go for the minimalist embroidery and smaller motifs. Print designs that are bigger in size give a bulky and broader effect which has to be avoided in this case.

Coming to the border designs, go for the ones which are thinner. Thick borders diminish the length of the entire look- going against our theory of longitudinal illusion.

In this Green and Gold Embroidered Lehenga, we are looking at small golden polka dots all over the lehenga skirt which is accompanied by medium borders, making it petite-perfect.

Now that we have looked at tips for ethnic dressing for petite Indian and Pakistani women, let us discuss some tricks for accessories that can help in enhancing their looks

7. Choosing the Right Neckpiece

To create that linear effect chooses the necklaces that are longer in length so that they can give the elongated effect and provide the space for the neck to show. It would be even better if the long neckpiece is multi-layered as it adds up to the length of the body.

Avoid the choker style necklace as they hide up the neck area and create a visual division, breaking the linearity of the whole look. Or if you really want to go for them, then you can pair them up with longer pieces to balance them out.

8. The Ideal Earrings

Long dangling earrings are the ideal ones for petite women to compliment their ethnic dresses. We don’t want to add bulky and broad earrings which cut down the length of the face. Instead, choose light and delicate earrings long enough to travel linearly and effortlessly through your ears.  

9. Bangles and Rings to Add the Extra Touch

We are looking at everything sleek for accessories, so naturally, we’ll prefer the bangles and rings which have thin rims. These sleek jewellery pieces not only look elegant but are easy to handle.

Broader bangles or a lot of them added on the wrist at once tend to cut down on the overall length of the look. And that’s not what we want, so go for minimalist options.

The same is the case with rings. Add the extra touch on your fingers with sleek and slim rings which will enhance the look, unlike chunky ones.

10. The Optionals Maang Tikka and Kamarbandh

These accessories come in extras but are very fondly adorned by ladies and girls. But there are higher chances of them creating a visual divide in the overall look. 

There are just a couple of things to keep in mind for the petite beauties to avoid getting overpowered by maang tikka and kamarbandh. And this includes just taking care of the placements.

For maang tikka, just place it the way it is done and balance out the arrangement by adding a voluminous hairstyle. It will counter the visual division and elongate your look.

Place the kamarbandh on the navel or a little bit above it. This helps to make the lower torso look longer, helping with our linearity effect.

 

We are sure this fashion guide for petite Indian and Pakistani women must have been so enlightening for you. Now go on try all of them!