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Zara Tindall has always been a royal style icon, and one of her favourite wardrobe staples is a mini dress, which shows off her enviable legs. However, according to one expert, she sometimes gets the look wrong.
Express.co.uk spoke exclusively to personal stylist and image coach Melissa Lund about the royal’s mini dresses.
The expert stated: “Zara Tindall has been creating some buzz recently over the short hem lengths of some of her outfits.
“People are asking whether they are appropriate for a member of the Royal Family and some people have made mutterings about the length being unflattering for her.”
Royal fans took to Instagram to evaluate a recent look and reviews were mixed.
@lavale2312 called Zara’s multicoloured mini dress “beautiful but too short”. However, @lexienewell_46 stated: “Love Zara in this colourful dress has awesome legs and figure.”
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As for whether mini dresses suit Zara, Melissa believes that they absolutely do – as long as she follows a few style rules.
She explained: “Whether you can wear shorter styles depends on your legs, general proportions and of course your personality.
“Zara has pretty good legs – particularly now she’s shed all her baby weight – but they are not the longest in relation to her torso length.”
She also noted that the royal’s legs “have some muscle” – after all, Zara is a world-renowned equestrian.
“This combination means that when Zara wants to wear a short skirt, ultra-high heels look best.”
Commenting on the royal’s recent interview with Amanda Bates, in which Zara wore the Rebecca Vallence Catalina Shirt Mini Dress, Melissa argued that it wasn’t “the most flattering”.
As well as her wide stance which “didn’t help”, Zara wore a short, floaty dress with flat sandals.
She continued: “Muscular, athletic legs often look great in super short hemlines where you can see almost the whole leg, so you can see where the leg goes in and out. This is always flattering.
“With this type of leg, you have to be really careful where your cut off points are because you can easily make legs look shorter and stockier.”
One mini dress fashion win, according to Melissa, was Zara’s denim mini dress from Paige Mayslie.
She wore this show stopper for her reunion with husband Mike after his time on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
However, rather than the trainers Zara wore, the expert would have recommended a tan suede open-toe wedge heel for “height with comfort”.
Melissa observed: “What’s interesting to me is that in all the shots where I think Zara’s looking fab, her looks have these things in common – a nipped in waist, a low neck, a reasonably short hem length (by which I mean knee length and above) and high heels.
“Even the shorts playsuit is belted and she’s wearing the shirt top open to create a V neck.
“Plain and simple lines look best on Zara whilst anything too complicated and fussy detracts from her.”
She suggested short stresses might actually suit Zara more than longer ones.
She explained: “I don’t actually think Zara looks her best in dresses which are too long as they don’t suit her proportions.
“I am not thinking about black tie dresses etc but day dresses. A dress which is too long, worn with trainers or flats will make the wearer look shorter.”
As for the “appropriateness” of Zara wearing a mini dress or skirt, this is “more difficult to answer”.
Melissa Lund explained while Zara is a member of the Royal Family, she has no title.
Nevertheless, for royal events she “could go just above the knee in a tailored dress if she wanted to”.
The expert concluded: “So, can Zara Tindall wear short skirts and dresses? Yes, absolutely, but she needs to wear proper high heels and to make sure that she emphasises her waist and has a low neckline.
“Should she wear them? That depends where she is and what she’s doing I think. At the moment she’s in Australia where it’s hot and life is more casual.”
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