Three really is the magic number if you want to enhance your silhouette. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Do you know about the rule of thirds? I didn’t. How did I not know about it? Anyway, I do now and I am obsessed. And you will be, too. So listen up.
![[Jess Cartner-Morley]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2019/05/20/Jess_Cartner-Morley,_L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The rule of thirds is a simple trick that makes you look better, by tweaking your proportions. It is failsafe, it is free, it works on everybody. If you are average height, it makes you look taller. I always wanted to be taller. In fact, in my heart, I believe that I am 5ft 10, like Cindy Crawford, although on the outside I am only 5ft 5½. I’ve never got to the bottom of this mystifying mix-up, but the rule of thirds is a more effective solution than high heels. And it doesn’t just make you look taller, it makes you look better. If you are already tall it makes you look leggier, and whatever height you are it enhances your silhouette, giving you a more supple, fluid line.
Consider this your rule of thirds tutorial. You don’t need any new clothes. You don’t need much time. You don’t need a needle or safety pins or shapewear or, in fact, anything at all, except a full-length mirror. The principle of the rule of thirds is that an image is more appealing if it is divided into one-third and two-thirds than if divided in half. In art and design and architecture, the rule of thirds can be applied horizontally as well as vertically but, for getting dressed, only the vertical concerns us.
