Petite Fashion

[alexzandramarie]

hey guys i have a friend who is rather petite and doesn't know if she should wear a long dress or short dress for prom... which would make her look taller??

 

[lucy92]

i think length of the dress doesnt matter so much. although a shorter dress would have the proportion issue.

i think she should try to find nude looking heels to wear. that would make it look as if the leg is extended.

 

[drappedup]

I recently found another blog, Alterations Needed, which highlights petite issues. The poster even takes pictures of her trying on clothes to show how they don't fit properly (and the type of alterations she needs)!

Wow, that blog is super helpful! I'm nowhere as petite as the writer of that blog, but I am petite enough to the point where alterations are often required. Bookmark!

 

[loves]

i'm 159cm and i am always surprised to get comments that long dresses make me look taller. go figure. i'm a size 0-2.

 

[kokopuff]

Thanks for sharing that blog!

I am very short (5'1") but have never in my life shopped at a "Petites" department - I find them all so dowdy! I just tailor everything.

For work pants I find that a straight-leg cut is best for hemming. I stay away from bootcuts because when you have to hem them so much like I do (sometimes I have to take off 5 inches!) the knee placement looks funny unless I wear heels. At least with straighter cuts even if I have to hem 5 inches the proportion doesn't get messed up as much.

Here are some work outfits - the middle pair of pants are my favorite work pants, they are an Italian brand Grifoni. The left-most picture are bootcut pants, I am wearing heels with them. The right-most are also straight-leg and are very flattering.

 

[RedandNavy]

As a petite, I just made a search for petite related threads and found this one that needs to be revived The blog you guys talked about is still a GREAT resource!

There are several items that I've sometimes read that you should avoid them as a petite woman. I wonder if other petites avoid them or what experiences you made with them:

- horizontal stripes (I simply cannot avoid wearing them cause I love them so much)
- long dresses (I own one and I feel it looks good on me)
- wedges (still haven't bought any, thinking they might look to chunky on me)
- wide leg pants
- flats (have been avoiding it before but now with two babies I invest more in flats and wear them quite often)

And: do you try to dress in one color or similar colors head to toe or do you like color blocking? I sometimes wear one color head to toe and feel it works in terms of making me look taller, but then again it feels a bit too boring to me. I do prefer some contrasting colors in my outfits, it's just more me.

Looking forward to hearing about your experiences!

 

[La Vanguardia]

^ Well, I'm really petite (only 4'10") and I wear all of those you listed above. I also do color blocking. I sincerely believe it's all about proportions so I'm careful about the size of the prints and get almost all my clothes tailored to fit me better.

 

[mordant]

^I am also in the super petite club (4'11), and I agree that it really is all about proportions. I recently started getting my clothes tailored, which was mostly out of necessity. I also wear everything that you listed, RedandNavy, with the exception of wide legged pants. They just never looked right on me.

 

[cheepmunk]

The thing is, if you're under 5', you're never going to look tall. You're just not. Believe me, I have tried, and it is simply never going to happen. It's better to simply accept that you're short and dress to flatter your body type.

Obviously, you don't want to wear clothes that would make even a 6' model look stumpy (no one does, not even the tall model), but at a certain point I think it's more important to be confident about who you are and to make sure you look good. If you hate the clothes you're wearing, that's going to come across in your demeanor and the negatives from that will outweigh whatever positives might come from the illusion of an extra inch or two.

 

[mordant]

Trust me, I've had many years to come to terms with the fact that I would never look tall. In those years, I have struggled to find clothing that both fits and flatters my body. It's really difficult to be confident when even the most petite of clothing drowns the awkward, lankiness that was my body. But as I grew into my body and found tailoring and proportions, things became much easier. Believe me, I don't possess the belief that by wearing certain clothing I'll look like some 6' model. If I look in the mirror and find that the cut/length/proportion is off, I'll change. I'm not going to force something that I know will not work.

 

[RedandNavy]

I agree that as a very petite person you're just not going to look tall and it's better to embrace it. I have avoided flats for quite some time (I'm 5'), thinking I really really needed the inches they gave me. But then the point came when I realized maybe I didn't need them because with or without them - I was petite anyway. Now I love flats. I also love heels, but I don't feel forced to wear them to be pretty.

Horizontal stripes are another favorite topic of mine. I had read several types that you should avoid them when you're petite... so I started to avoid them. But every time I saw a striped tee my heart fell in love... So I came to the point when I told myself: "common, just go for it! If it's the thing you love, why not wear it?". Now I love and wear them.

Anyway, there is more than just height, as you've pointed out there are proportions, body time and also character that should be taken into considerations when dressing. And dressing should always be FUN! Confidence is so important, especially for the petite!

 

[cheepmunk]

In those years, I have struggled to find clothing that both fits and flatters my body. It's really difficult to be confident when even the most petite of clothing drowns the awkward, lankiness that was my body.

It's so hard! I know that most women have problems finding clothes that fit, regardless of size, but it is so not fun to see something beautiful and try it on and realizes that it looks wrong, like you're playing dress-up in mommy's clothes. On the other hand, I'll never forget how good I felt the first time I tried on a dress that really, truly fit instead of just almost-sort-of fitting.

Speaking of stripes, I saw this article online a few years ago about how horizontal stripes can actually make people look taller, but I suspect it might have just been a short person trying to make themselves feel better. I'll see if I can dig it up.

(Sorry for the underline. Quick Reply hates me. )

 

[mordant]

So I have found myself in a bit of a dilemma. I need a suit: a pants suit or skirt suit, whichever. The fact is: I NEED one. I'm going into my 4th year of med school, which means lots of interviewing for residencies come fall. The suit I used during my med school interviews was of poor quality and did not last into the final stretch of interviews. But because I am so PETITE, I am having a difficult time finding one. Even the petite blazers look like they drown me, and I don't think I can find a tailor that will be able to rectify this situation without having to completely reconstruct it. I don't want to have to spend a fortune on a suit, only to have to spend a fortune getting it reconstructed.

Any advice?

 

[mordant]

So I managed to solve my own problem, and found (FINALLY!) the perfect blazer. It's AK Anne Klein Petite. The sleeves are a bit long, but that can be fixed. It sits on my shoulders well, and gives me shape. Best of all it does not drown me. I just need to find a good pant which shouldn't be as big of a problem as the blazer. I found this online and thought it might give some helpful advice.

Hey Shorty! Our Guide To Dressing For Petite Sizes

By Jean W.
Our readers are wide and varied, and we hate to leave anyone hanging. For our shorter ladies out there, we've tapped Jean W. from Extra Petite to help out the Little Women among us. Read on for styling tips, fit resources, and where to shop for smaller sizes!

For petite women (and American fashion defines us as women below 5'4"), petite apparel does not have to mean matronly twinsets from Talbots and Liz Claiborne, nor does it have to mean being relegated to the kids' department. Standing at five-feet tall—if hair-teasing went well this morning—I believed for a while that these were my primary options. After years of trial-and-error shopping, I now know this is not the case. There are several modern retailers out there who cater to shorter and smaller-framed women, helping us look and feel as fabulous as we deserve to be.

Before I share my favorite stores, let's first chat about things to keep in mind when shopping.

1. Know your body type—Are you partly petite? I use "petite" loosely to mean short and/or small-framed. I know taller women who shop the petite section for tops because they have short torsos and narrow shoulders. On the contrary, I also know women who are broader on top, but shop petite bottoms specifically for a shorter rise and length.

2. Be mindful of fit and proportion—A common misconception is that petite women only require shorter length. Petite clothing lines are our friend because, in addition to shorter length, the overall proportions of the garment should be different (i.e., higher waistline, shorter rise, smaller armholes). This leads us to number three...

3. Know what is alterable and how much it costs—Being so short, I sometimes turn a blind eye to length because a hem job is cheap and easy. Taking in a garment will be costly and requires more skill, and some alterations are just downright risky if you don't have a reliable tailor.

With those things in mind, here are some of my tried-and-true, favorite places to shop for petite-friendly apparel.

The rest of the article can be found here http://www.refinery29.com/little-women-our-guide-to-dressing-for-petite-sizes. The retailers she mentions are where I've gotten some awesome staples and pieces from.

 

[Deleted member 74957]

I live in the UK and we seem to have it a bit better than you guys in the US for the availability of petite clothing and smaller sizes...lots of the high street chain stores have specific petite sections (Topshop, Miss Selfridge etc). Topshop ships to the US so I'd recommend checking them out. And there's less vanity sizing so XS generally does mean XS.

I love spots, stripes, glittery things...I think you can wear whatever you want as long as it fits you well. I have been guilty of buuying things because i've fallen in love with them, even though they don't look great on my frame...I'm slowly getting better at buying less and only buying what fits!

 

[Serenity Soul]

Count me also amongst the super petite as well! (4”10)

For some reason, wide leg pants have always worked very well for me. The wide leg seems to even out the disproportions I have from top and bottom. I have a muscular, compact V-shape gymnasts body; being very narrow and small on the bottom but very broad in my upper body through my shoulders and back. Narrow pants and skinny jeans have always made my legs look so stumpy and further emphasized my broad upper body. 7 for All Mankind “Ginger” wide-leg jeans have been my favorites for several years now.

Tailoring is also very key. It is unfair to have to invest extra money after you have paid the price for the clothes, but it is worth it get a great fit and it makes a huge difference. It was a lot a trial and error before I found a tailor I was happy with and he has been altering my clothes for years.

 

[mordant]

^I know. I absolutely hate that I have to spend extra money after I've bought an item, but tailoring really is the only way for me to wear clothes without it looking like I'm a child playing dress up. I already look like I'm 10 years younger than my real age (it's the asian in me ). It doesn't help when I'm drowning in my clothes either.

 

[Margaret24]

One thing I wish they had more of in petite fashion is jeans for people with shorter legs.

 

[advo]

^Echoing that!

For the longest time, I hemmed my jeans, but it's just not the same. I''m buying ASOS petite jeans now, and I try to find jeans that ARE for petite because it really is more flattering that simply hemming them.

I love this thread btw! For the longest time, I literally wore heels ALL THE TIME because I too felt that I needed the height. However, I'll be eternally grateful to whoever (Kate Moss?) who made ballerina flats fashionable again because I live in them nowadays. So much in fact, that I've "forgotten" how to wear heels. I do want to wear more heels now though, because there are certain outfits I don't feel like I can pull off without the extra inches.

 

[mordant]

I used to hem my jeans all the time, as well, but they would still end up looking a bit odd because I for the longest time I didn't realize the break in the knee actually fell below my knee. Now I buy petite jeans. I also really love ASOS petite jeans. I bought my first pair a few months ago and I practically live in them. I hate when brands advertise petite sizing, but when I look at the measurements I see that the inseam is 31". It's so frustrating.