Petite Fashion

[Pogi]

Whereabouts do you live?

I find that Asia has a wide range of petite clothing.

 

[writergal28]

Asian clothes are cool...if you're like 20 years old (ditto with places like Forever21). What most YOUNG petite women find frustrating is the lack of:

1. Clothes for work (especially business casual)

2. Casual-casual clothes that don't make us look like we need to be carded.

 

[writergal28]

I should add that I recently posted something in my blog about find jeans w/ a 30" inseam.

 

[lucy92]

i'm 5'4 and i have a hard time finding jeans/pants that arent too long for me. 30 inches long is the kind i usually need.

these days it seems like 34 inches is the standard length for jeans/pants.

ive found some good length pants for work at banana republic. although i usually wait until their mega sales. very few banana republic stores carry petite though.

 

[crepebacksatin]

^^ i love banana republic's jeans, the inseam is perfect (i'm 5'2ish) and they do nice washes. i'm personally not a fan of jeans that have stitching all over the pockets, etc, anyway... so not being able to buy designer denim doesn't bother me. people are always asking me where i get them, and are shocked when i say br...

i generally don't like the cuts on their other pants, though.

re: work-appropriate pants, i have had good luck buying non-petite that are supposed to be slightly cropped or ankle-length. one woman's cropped pant is another's long trouser...

 

[pointup]

I'm surprised no one has brought up Joe's Jeans Provocateur. They have a 30' inseam and the rise in the knee is higher.

I love them! although I can't really afford them I haven't found any affordable non-momish jeans though.

 

[softgrey]

thanks for that info on the joes jeans...
i have to tell my friend who is under 5'...
also about BR...

i'm 5'4 and i have a hard time finding jeans/pants that arent too long for me. 30 inches long is the kind i usually need.

these days it seems like 34 inches is the standard length for jeans/pants.

ive found some good length pants for work at banana republic. although i usually wait until their mega sales. very few banana republic stores carry petite though.

yeah--- i am not sure if all the 30 " inseams are always sold out first or if they just don't make them as much anymore...
i guess they figure that a customer will still buy a jean that is too long becuase it can be hemmed...
whereas if it's too short ...they will lose the sale...

it's a good plan.....
at least, from the retailer's point of view...
...


yesterday i got two prs...
one 32"inseam and one 34"
from uniqlo- which is a japanese brand...so you'd think they's have something shorter, you know?......
however- they do FREE alterations on all jeans!......
so..there ya go...problem solved...

...

 

[Eurasian Mélange]

Asian clothes are cool...if you're like 20 years old (ditto with places like Forever21). What most YOUNG petite women find frustrating is the lack of:

1. Clothes for work (especially business casual)

2. Casual-casual clothes that don't make us look like we need to be carded.

I've found a few trousers in the Asian malls that are good for work. Only problem is they were still too long. Also, they are no good in the winter because they are far too thin!

In the North American stores I can find a few petites, but they are usually far more expensive than the 'normal' sized clothes and far uglier, plainer and dull-looking. I can get much nicer clothing in the Asian malls for less than half the price.

I agree with you about the casual clothes, though. I have to make do with looking like a 15-year-old most of the time and whenever I buy anything like bus tickets I am always asked if I want student tickets and have even been mistaken for a child (12 or under) before.

I find it odd how there are so many petite celebrities with mile-long threads in the 'star style' section (Nicole Richie, Eva Longoria, Scarlett Johansson, Rachel Bilson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Reese Witherspoon, to name a few) and yet the petite thread is so short.

I am also surprised that, despite all of these threads praising petites' style, so many people continue to be brainwashed by fashion into believing petites are cocktail-sausage-limbed waddlers with the bodies of 3-year-olds who can never possess the slightest ounce of grace, elegance, or 'fierceness'. So many people claim that the 'fact' is that petites never look good in clothes and tall people will always look a billion times better because all petite women are fat with stubby arms and legs and even if they're not fat they will look like little children. So, why are these women so different? I think it is really that height plays no part whatsoever in how good someone looks in their clothes. When someone takes care of themselves and dresses so well, it isn't how small they look in that doorframe that is catching your attention.

 

[HBoogie]

I've tried on the Joe's Petite Provocateur and I didn't like the fit. They were very wide around the knees. I don't have a problem with bootcut as long as the silhouette nips in a bit at the knee. These just looked like unflattering tubes on my legs and I looked kind of stumpy.

I find as a petite person it's best to stick to skinnies, since they follow the natural shape of the leg, and conversely, wide leg, since they're meant to be wide all the way down. It's the in-between shapes that usually cause me trouble.

I'm nearly 5'3" so I may be on the taller end of petite jeans and pants (for instance, some Gap short pants are perfect for me, others are too short), so maybe that affected the Joe's fit.

 

[tilloox45]

does anyone have any suggestions for someone who is 5 feet but about a size 6 (US)?

 

[pucci_mama]

I hate the clothes that are for petites... the fashion always seem teenager-y and never chic. So I never shop in the petite-section.

Finding coats is a nightmare for me though!! Nothing is ever right it is soooo frustrating!

 

[crepebacksatin]

^^interesting... i always found the petite section to be frumpy/matronly... so of course i never even bother anymore

 

[seahorseinstripe]

zara sizing is pretty petite
sometimes i also shop at their kids departement

 

[pointup]

Are GAP petite pant's sizes just their ankle length? Or are they actually a petite fit (smaller inseam, etc.)

 

[tilloox45]

I've heard Japanese fashion works for petites...does that mean short, thin, or both? I'm 5 feet but about a size 6 and a medium in shirts. Does anyone know if thier designs would fit me?

 

[writergal28]

I've heard Japanese fashion works for petites...does that mean short, thin, or both? I'm 5 feet but about a size 6 and a medium in shirts. Does anyone know if thier designs would fit me?

Petite usually means 5'4" (sometimes 5'3") or shorter, regardless of size. You can be size 18 and be petite. Some people are taller than 5'4" and still petite because they have a short torso or short legs.

 

[pucci_mama]

A huge problem I have is finding coats that fit!!! Whenever I go to department stores, even a 2 is huge. I've had luck with JCrew Petite 0 coats, but their styles are so boring...

I guess that's why I don't own a single coat every season I am looking for one.. but they are all cut huge even in the smallest sizes... I guess I'll just have to save up and maybe get one made-to-measure I'm not sure if it's going to be worth it cost-per-wear as I have managed to live without coats until now..

I am getting into long skirts atm I find that if you wear them at your natural waist.. and have some heels underneath it creates the illusion that you are taller, I wore my Wolford fatal dress as a long skirt and my mates were saying how tall I looked.

What style of clothing should a petite person avoid?

 

[fashionista-ta]

Petite usually means 5'4" (sometimes 5'3") or shorter, regardless of size. You can be size 18 and be petite. Some people are taller than 5'4" and still petite because they have a short torso or short legs.

But you can also be 5'4" and not petite (as I am).

 

[fashionista-ta]

I guess that's why I don't own a single coat every season I am looking for one.. but they are all cut huge even in the smallest sizes... I guess I'll just have to save up and maybe get one made-to-measure I'm not sure if it's going to be worth it cost-per-wear as I have managed to live without coats until now..

I am getting into long skirts atm I find that if you wear them at your natural waist.. and have some heels underneath it creates the illusion that you are taller, I wore my Wolford fatal dress as a long skirt and my mates were saying how tall I looked.

What style of clothing should a petite person avoid?

I have been trying to tell people this for years

 

[writergal28]

But you can also be 5'4" and not petite (as I am).

Long legs, long torso and short neck or head?

Most people who are 5'4" and think they're "not petite" are petite on top or on the bottom...unless you have a short neck or head.