Compare three waist heights
With high-waisted trousers, the jacket hem may overlap the waistband. This creates a continuous join as long as the two edges do not push against each other when seated. Try opening the jacket: a top beneath can connect the centre without requiring the hems to meet exactly.
With a middle-rise waistband, a strip of the top may remain visible. Choose its colour deliberately if you like that strip. If you want it to stand out less, use a top and trousers with similar lightness. This is a design choice, not an obligation to alter the appearance of your body.
With a lower waistband, the top needs to remain long enough when you lift your arms if you do not want exposed skin. Actually test that movement. A cropped jacket does not make the layer beneath longer, and repeatedly tugging down a shirt rarely makes an outfit more comfortable.
Open and closed are different versions
A fastened cropped jacket becomes a top in its own right. Check the button placket, zip and pockets. If they stick out or press when you sit, the jacket may be too close for this combination. Worn open, it can behave differently but should not constantly slide backwards.
A long shirt beneath a short jacket can remain deliberately visible. Examine the back, where more fabric usually shows than at the front. With a strongly curved shirt hem, that is part of its shape; with a shirt that has simply worked loose, rearrange it.
With a skirt or dress
A full skirt beneath a cropped jacket needs room directly below the hem. If the jacket catches on pleats or a gathered waistband, try a slightly looser shape. The same jacket may lie without interruption over a straight dress.
Photograph two combinations in the same stance and with the same footwear. You will then be comparing waist height and jacket length rather than differences created by perspective, heel height or a changed pose.
