The Surprising Reason Behind Louis Tomlinson's Signature Red Carpet Stance
A sharp-eyed One Direction fan uncovered something that'll forever change the way you look at your favorite band: On the red carpet, Louis Tomlinson appears to be just about the same height as Liam Payne, who's 5'10, and Harry Styles, who's 5'11. The curious part: At just under 5'8, Louis is many, many inches shorter than his two bandmates. (It'll probably come as little surprise to you that Niall, at 5'7, is the shortest.) The reason Louis looks just as tall as the other dudes is not optical illusion, but rather a clever posing trick he's been perfecting since the beginning of One Direction. Without fail, he lines up the back of his heels with the toes of the boys, standing several inches in front of them. In photos, this makes him appear eye-to-eye with Liam — even when Harry's wearing heels, which is basically always. Need further proof?
FilmMagic1/10At 106.1 KISS FM's Jingle Ball earlier this month, Louis managed to look taller than Liam, despite the fact that he's three (!) inches shorter. (For what it's worth, Harry's clearly wearing heels, so he had a literal leg up.)
WireImage2/10At the boys' Made in the A.M. launch in late November, Louis went as far as to stand directly in front of Liam, who brazenly stole his pal's signature arms-crossed posed.
WireImage3/10At this point, Harry should probably take some posing pointers from Louis. Dude needs to learn to stop slouching (particularly while he's wearing head-to-toe floral — if you're going to take style lessons from your grandma, you should listen to her posture lectures too).
WireImage4/10His stance was so stealthy at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, you can't even tell he's leaning forward. But the height difference — or lack thereof — doesn't lie.
WireImage5/10One glance at this Brit Awards snap, you'd probably think Louis was the tallest boy in the band. (Or maybe you'd think that Louis has occasionally questionable taste in footwear. Only one of those assumptions is correct.)
FilmMagic6/10At the 2013 American Music Awards, Louis stood so far in front of his bandmates, he couldn't even see them in his periphery vision — a shame, really, because Harry's hair was a work of art.
WireImage7/10At the world premiere of One Direction: This Is Us, he was practically a foot in front of everyone else, but we'll give him a pass, because he was probably just proud of his daring outfit. Bare ankles are a bold move.
WireImage8/10Louis, his suspenders, and his now-signature stance obscure nearly all of Zayn. Poor Zayn.
Getty Images9/10Wait — maybe Zayn actually left the band because he was tired of standing behind Louis all these years?
Getty Images10/10In 2012 at BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards, Louis would have easily passed for the tallest if Zayn's hair didn't measure an additional four inches above his forehead.
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