My favorite part about my in between girl body is my ankles. Hands down, my ankles don’t gain weight. I don’t get “cankles” no matter how much fatty unhealthy food I eat, and that makes me happy. But I do suffer from bulbous calves that I curse at and remember how much I hate when I try to go boot shopping (curse you, fall weather).

Cankle, fat ankle or Calf+ankle

“Cankles” might be a foreign fashion vocabulary word for you so let me explain what it means. Cankles are ankles that have no definition between the foot and the calf. The calf continues down in one swift motion to the foot without any curvature of definition of an ankle being present.

Urban Dictionary’s definition of “cankles”

Having fat or thick calves is hard to deal with because it limits how far you can pull a pair of skinny jeans up, what kind of boots you can buy because most boots don’t make it past mid calf, it’s a hard-knock life for thick calves.

Here are 9 tips to slim ankles and trim your calves:

• Throw out any pair of shoes with ankle straps. Ankle straps cut the line of the leg making ankles look fatter, calves shorter and legs chunkier. Shoes such as gladiator sandals and Mary-janes are one of the worst culprits. You can wear versions of these shoes as long as they are modified to hit below the ankle.

• Limit how often you wear flats. Flats are comfier and easier to walk in, but they do nothing for the line of your leg. I admit to wearing flats a lot, probably more than I should. On a casual basis they are fine. For dressed up picture-worthy events, I advise to always wear heels. Your ankles will look slimmer, your calves will look more shapely and you won’t be hating all of the picture from the event because you look “fat,” “squat,” or “short.”

• NO Birkenstocks. Do I really need to explain this?
  

  Just say NO to Clogs and Crocs! even as a fashionista this ad makes me laugh because of the shoes

• NO clogs. Crocs count as clogs, these shoes are usually dowdy and worn by older women who do a lot of running around. Even though they are comfortable, don’t ever let yourself slip into being too comfortable. When you have hit the Croc stage in your life, you know you have given up.

• Throw out ridiculously tall thin stiletto heels. But don’t buy heels with chunky heels either. A good stacked heel is perfect for slimming thick calves and fat ankles. If you are wearing super thin heels it looks like you are walking on stilts.

• Throw out heels in contrasting colors that wash you out. Tan legs look slimmer and toned. Don’t wear shoes in colors that wash the color out of your legs it will only make fat calves look fatter and thick ankles look thicker. Culprits include black patent heels on ivory pale legs and bright colors like neon are more fattening than slimming.

• Just say no to white shoes. White flats, white sneakers, white heels they are all fattening when it comes

  to your ankles and calves. Most of the time egg shell white can look Ghotti and cheap. Neutrals like cream shades are richer and can bring color to your legs if they are not as tan as you hope them to be.

• Avoid kitten heels. Kitten heels are aging and they do nothing for your leg line. Kitten heels are pretty much pointless when trying to tone your calves and slim down your ankles. Kitten heels tend to make you look shorter, especially if you do have thick legs like I do. Go for a heel height that is 3 inches or higher for a comfortable and leg lengthening outfit.

• Don’t wear sneakers or tennis shoes with bare legs. I am guilty of this. But I am plenty aware that my legs are not beautiful or slim when I wear sneakers with bare legs. Most sneakers end at the ankle, resulting in the same effect as a Mary-jane or gladiator sandal. Tennis shoes and sneakers should be saved to wear with full length pants and jeans.

There are exceptions to every rule, so don’t take these tips as The Bible for shoe shopping when it comes to creating the illusion of skinnier calves and ankles. Trends can be done in moderation and with some modification so it is all a numbers game. Try on every pair of shoes you like, it will allow you to see your ankles and calves in different lights so you can figure out for yourself what looks good on you.