Social media star Dearly Bethany of Tennessee stands just 5’1 and has a classic, tasteful style of dressing that her followers adore. She has more than 31 million views regularly for her minimalist fashion vlogs on her YouTube channel, demonstrating just how popular her apparel ideas have become.
The 29-year-old works as a senior UX designer by day and fashionista by night. Her favorite brand is Elizabeth Suzann and her personal focus is on sustainable fashion.
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Big project
Dearly Bethany decided recently to document her outfits every single day for an entire year on her Instagram account.
“I’m inspired by slow, neutral fashion, and I reach for unique pieces. It’s a real challenge being that I’m 5’1, so I like to chat about tailoring and how to flatter a petite frame as I discover what works.”
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Favorite fabrics
Dearly Bethany prefers to dress in fabrics like linen that naturally break down and showcases these through her “Year of Outfits Challenge.” In one of her vlogs, she addresses how to look taller and slimmer as someone who is 5’1 and on the shorter side.
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She selected three outfits she feels are appropriate for spring and summer wardrobes and gravitated toward silks and linens, her favorite materials to wear throughout the year.
“These are what I would wear to feel my very best. I struggle, being 5’1, to have clothes whether I buy them online or in the store that aren’t too long for me. I’m always hemming something at least a couple of inches. So I’ve built out these outfits to look taller and thinner. I like to use optical illusions to build upon body styles.”
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V-neck and trousers
Dearly Bethany’s first outfit she showcased consist of a white v-neck T-shirt and striped trousers. She describes the outfit as frumpy, but made some obvious and some subtle changes to give the clothing an upgrade.
“A v-neck shows a little more skin and an inverted triangle shows a longer torso.”
The social media star says she has a naturally longer torso and shorter legs, but this outfit balances her out. She first tucks in the top and instead of going with a high-rise pant style, she went with a mid-rise style.
“The pants also have vertical stripes, which is one of the oldest time-tested ways to look taller. They cinch at the waist, which for me is my natural slimmest point.”
For shoes, Dearly Bethany slips on modest heels the same color tone as the pants, which gives her a long visual line.
“The heels will heighten me anyway, but the fact that they’re the perfect height after having the trousers hemmed is perfect. Get your pants hemmed to the point where they’re not dragging on the ground or buckling. You want a solid line, no bell bottoms from Scooby Doo. I want it to look like I’m wearing stilts and you wouldn’t know it.”
Her final touches are to add gold jewelry for a bit of elegance and to draw attention to her neckline and elongated torso. Her smaller purse is in the same color range so it blends in, then she pulls back her hair to show off her neck and keep a visual line going longer past the shirt.
Cropped pants with sleeveless turtleneck
Her next outfit is monochromatic, giving her one long visual line. The pants are cropped, because exposed skin gives her more length.
“Crop them up and show off some ankle. The turtleneck extends the long line and by tucking it into the bodysuit, it blends in with the pants.”
The jewelry helps the outfit pop and pulling her hair back exposes her neck again. While black modest heels look great, she didn’t want to break up the line of color that stops at her ankles and kicks back over to black shoes. So she instead slips on a pair of strappy heels in nude
Dearly Bethany’s purse choice matches the outfit, give the outfit a polished look.
Silky slip dress
Described as fun to wear, Dearly Bethany’s slip dress features adjustable straps. Because it isn’t monochromatic, she approaches this style differently.
“This particular look is more grown up and sophisticated, especially when adding the necklace. If added black flats, it wouldn’t do any favors to my legs, so I switch to nude colored shoes to give an elongated look.”
With this outfit, Dearly Bethany chooses a wristlet because a bigger bag was just too much for the outfit. She kept her hair down this time, however, but as it’s a shorter cut she said it works well.
“I hope all three of these outfits work for you and give you some inspiration so that you feel your best.”
See for yourself how Dearly Bethany pieces her outfits together in the creative video below.
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