Chunky calves and cankles.

[DontCallMeMummyPig]

I'm 40yo. Size 8-10. 5'6". Slim waist and hips. Ok thighs. But the dreaded huge, short calves, terrible fat knees and thick cankles. I'd love to wear dressed but everything I've ever tried looks dreadful. I'm not sure about maxis for day wear, but are there alternatives? I'd rather die than show my knees. Even in leggings, which I just don't feel comfortable in. Help, oh stylish S&B-ers...

Maxis are your friend. Lots around which are fine for day. Also lots of maxi skirts. Try Dorothy Perkins, h&m, warehouse, whistles and reiss

I find dresses/skirts just below the knee are the most flattering (don't like showing knees either!). You've got to get it just right though as mid-calf is not good.

Personally I find maxis a bit impractical, and not the most flattering look especially as I'm short. You're reasonably tall though, and slim, so they might look good on you!

I loved maxis when they first came on the scene a few years ago. However, it only seems that fat chavs wear them now so keep clear!!

How about knee length dresses with footless tights? There was a thread on here fairly recently about and the consensus was that it was a good look.

Gingefringe - what a horrid thing to say.

Gingefringe, not helpful. Or true.

Maxi skirts sound like a better bet than dresses. What do I wear with them though? Fitted tees?

Yeap and if its a bit cooler a nice fitted denim jacket on top looks good.

OP - I too have the dreaded cankle (although knees not bad) and am also the same dress size and height as you. I love maxis but I also find that a-line skirts which finish just on the knee are very flattering. They finish just above the slight indent below the kneecap and so give my legs a bit of shape whilst hiding the slightly heavier top of my knee/thigh. 50s style full skirts and dresses are also flattering as the volume of fabric detracts from a heavier calf.

On a slightly more positive note, I have really begun to embrace my legs and encourage you to do the same. I am a year older than you and last year took a "sod it" approach and have ceased to hide them away. I have also found that simple exercises such as calf raises are excellent for giving my legs some shape. I began doing 40 a day 2 weeks ago (2 sets of 20 - one in morning, one in evening) and this week saw a marked difference when I wore heels, opaques and a shorter skirt - I have begun to develop shapely legs with a more defined calf and therefore making my cankle look slimmer. Might be worth a go.

You have my sympathies, I also suffer terribly from short chunky calves and cankles. Strangely, I find above the knee skirts work better than calf length which cut me off at the worst point. If you can't bear it, maxi skirts that nip in at the waist are a good alternative. I like them worn with a simple T shirt tucked in. I really like the look of this one.

Your footwear is also really important to keep the proportions right. Ujjayi is spot on re the length comment and volume at the hem. A wedge or stack heel will also work wonders for your cankles. The first Trinny and Susannah "what not to wear" book illustrates the point really well. Secondhand bookstores often have them and out of all my style books I still think that it is one of the best!.

I second all the good advice above. My ankles are fine but calves quite chunky and I don't like my knees. I wear either maxi dresses (no mad prints, as little material as poss on the skirt part and v fitted at top) or dresses just at/below the knee (if bare legs).

I also find Sally Hansen light makes my legs look much better.

Re shoes, even though no cankles, I never wear anything with an ankle strap but any other type of high heel is flattering, esp wedges.

Love the American Apparell skirt, thanks! Re shoes though, I never, ever, ever wear a heel... Just don't feel comfortable and I'm on my feet a lot of the day. Usually converse, ballet pumps, brogues of sandals. Will any of these go with a maxi skirt? Thinking sandals and pumps... But what if it's raining? ( I live in Manchester. It's rained constantly all day)

Glad you like the skirt . I would say if you don't feel comfortable in heels then don't wear them. I think sandals or pumps will be fine with a maxi skirt. If you can bear a bit of a heel I have these which encase my cankles quite nicely.

A style tip I read recently suggests that what ever length of skirt/dress you choose it should finish at the narrowest point of your leg. So that explains why above the knee skirts often work better for ladies with chunky calves and ankles. Mid calf length will be the least flattering.

Shoes with ankle straps are deeply unflattering unless you have skinny ankles.

Yep, ankle straps are the shoes of the devil. Last pair I tried on, I couldn't even do them up!

I wear maxi dresses

Wow Suburbanstyle I wouldn't even try those on with my cankles. Do they really hide them? They look like they would highlight them because the straps would finish at the widest part of my ankle (A bit like Katie Holmes in those sodding "booties" she keeps wearing with shorts...Katie my love, you are deluded if you think they are hiding your cankles)

Although I am secretly proud of La Holmes for flying the flag for Cankle sufferers everywhere and flashing them at every opportunity :o

there is a distinct possibility ujayi that I am incredibly deluded. My logic is that the v shape of the straps and the slight heel elongate the bit where my calf meets my foot. Also they help cover up the more pressing issue of ugly wide feet! Finally I figure chunky shoes sort of balance out the chunky leg issue, rather than having a delicate little slipper perched on the end of a tree trunk!

Had never noticed Katie Holmes was a fellow sufferer am more distracted by Cheryl Cole who has put teeny horizontal ankle straps on every shoe in her new collection. Surely she who has cankles herself should realise this is a big no no.

What the hell are cankles?

Yes, what are cankles exactly?

I give you folks...

In saying that, do we really think Cole and Holmes have cankles?

I would've thought M. Cyrus and Rihanna....

Yes! Ugly square fat wide feet too! Am such a catch from the knees down...

Oh well I have cankles! (not quite on the scale of the photo though). I certainly do not have shapely ankles, anyway.

Oh well, never mind.