Into Petite
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Into Petite
Hello there! My name is Chi Li, 5'2", author of "The Petite Style Bible" . Petite Dressing is an online petite clothing store and fashion blog for to help all women to understand their body shape and dress accordingly to look confident and chic. Start here if you are new. Click here to watch me on Youtube.
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Dress for your Body Type and Height
Last Updated on March 20, 2022 By Chi
Petite is a French word that is translated into small or tiny in English literally. There is some common misconception that the word petite women is referring to skinny and slender women, but that is not the definition of petite in the fashion world.
According to Wikipedia, a petite size is a standard clothing size designed to fit women of shorter height, typically shorter than 162 cm (5 ft 4 in). So, petite is really just talking about the height, and not referring to the weight. That means you can be petite and skinny just as much as you can be petite and curvy. Petite clothing can come in P00 and PXS, but they can also come in PL and PXL (or 14P, 16P and sometimes 18P).
Looking back on the history and origin of petite clothing, petite fashion first appeared in the late 1940s in the US, as reported by New York Times, when Hannah Troy noticed that regular clothing’s waist was too long for shorter women. Decades later, more and more fashion designers acknowledge the different body traits of women as a result of their height and realize petite, regular and tall women should be separate lines to serve the needs of different submarkets. Therefore, we now have an increasing number of choices from petite clothing stores.
If you are under 5’4″, then you are typically considered petite.
The average height of American women is 5’4”. It is important to know that American designers make regular sized female clothing to fit women with standard height of at least 5’4″ or 5.5” tall without shoes, and will not fit a woman of significantly shorter height well.
Technically, if you are 5’5″, then you should be able to fit in regular size clothing. But of course there is always exception, depending on your specific body traits.
If you are 5’5″ and above but wondering if you should wear petite size, read my article “ Should you Wear Petite Size ?”
So now that you know the answer to the height, it’s equally important to understand what petites have in common besides the height.
Petite women share certain common body traits and thus need specially tailored clothing. In general, petite women have narrower shoulders, shorter torso, shorter arms and shorter legs.
If you are a short woman, your best bet is to shop for petite size from petite clothing stores. Whether it’s petite pants, petite jeans or petite jumpsuits , petite clothing is made for shorter women and should fit you much better.
When you look up the clothing size chart, most of them only give you measurements of bust, waist and hips. However, even if the bust, waist and hip circumferences are appropriate, they will not fit petite women well as the sleeve lengths, leg inseam lengths and vertical torso measurements (such as the back length and bust-waist length) are probably too long for women under 5’4”, thus need to be altered significantly to fit well on what is a petite figure.
Height is the critical factor to determine what is petite, if you are petite and whether you should be shopping in petite department. However, that is not absolute and height alone cannot put you in the petite or regular size category. The most important part you still need to look at is your body treats such as the length of limbs, the width of shoulders and the length of the torso.
Chances are some women may be around 5’4” but their legs are short and they will find petite size pants with shorter inseam fit them better. It is also likely for a girl under 5’2” to have wide shoulders, long arms and long torso, thus a jacket from regular size department make them more comfortable. Stylists would tell you it is quite common for a woman to have a combination of body treats, i.e. someone could be petite for the bottom half of her body but not the top half, or vice versa.
When you pick up a petite sized clothing and compare it with a regular size, the first and most obvious difference you will notice is the length. That is, sleeves, skirts, leg lengths and tops are all shorter in petite sizes than regular sizes.
Since what is petite is largely decided by the height and most petite women are bothered by the hem of the pants and length of the sleeves, it is easy to think that making a regular sized piece of clothing shorter would then solve the problem for petite women.
That cannot be further away from truth. Of course the correct sleeve length and pants length are very important, but petite clothing needs far more than shorter sleeves and shorter pants in order to look flattering on petite women.
High quality petite clothing have designs specifically made to flatter shorter women. For instance, armholes should be higher and details of the clothing should be proportionate to the petite body frame. Petite pants should not only have shorter legs, but also take the rise into consideration. Petite dress should have a shorter bodice to look flattering on shorter torso.
In fact, the best petite clothing are designed to create the longer and slimmer look by elongating the arms and legs and thus create the illusion of height. With the help of petite flattering designs, such as vertical details (vertical hem and piping on the side of pant legs), vertical stitching and vertical patterns, petite size apparel can help create the vertical lines in our body and thus make us look taller and more proportionate than we actually are.
In recent years, all the major department stores in the US such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales or Neiman Marcus has been axing their petite department stores or significantly shrinking them.
It is a common problem that petite women may have a difficult time looking for the right sizes in department stores or shopping malls, so many of us may have shopped in the junior department at some point.
While that seems to be an easy solution, we do not recommend you to do so often. In fact, one of the important styling principals for short girls is to avoid too much “cuteness”. The complaints of many petite woman is they are not taken seriously at work place, because of their height. In order to appear to be the equivalent of tall girls, our goal should be to add presence and authority through our styling. Shopping in junior department will only do the opposite. The designs for juniors are catered for teenagers, and they are not meant to be worn by professional adult women. Except for sweat pants and other causal clothing you will only wear at home or for workout, we suggest you to stop shopping at junior department and look for stores with petite sizes instead.
Traditionally, the best petite brands are Ann Taylor, Jcrew and Banana Republic which carry petite sizes. Now, in addition to the chain stores, short girls also have the choices of petite boutique such as petitedressing.com. If you happen to be in New York City, check out these petite stores .
If you are around 5’3”, it is advisable to try on both petite and regular size, and compare the fit and how they make you feel. You might be surprised about your findings and it is possible you might have been wearing the wrong size over the years. Another tip is to pay attention to the definition of petite sizing by each retailer/designer, as some of them define what is petite as under 5’4” while others define it as under 5’3”. It may sound like a slight difference, but that could affect their petite sizing. Most brands follow standard sizing chart, but each petite brand may have some differences in their tailoring.
We have compiled the sizing charts of 5 most popular American brands with petite sizing , so that you can see each brand may have variances in their sizing.
Bust: Banana Republic 33.5”, Loft 33”, Ann Taylor 33”, Jcrew is 33.5”, Ralph Lauren 33.5
Waist: Banana Republic 26.5”, Loft 26”, Ann Taylor 26.5”, Jcrew is 26”, Ralph Lauren 26.5”
Hip: Banana Republic 36.5”, Loft 35.5”, Ann Taylor 35.5”, Jcrew is 36”, Ralph Lauren 36”
Sleeve length: Banana Republic 31”, Loft 29 ¼”, Ann Taylor 29.25”, Jcrew is 29”, Ralph Lauren unclear
You can tell brands could be 0.5” difference in sleeve length and waist, up to 1” difference in hip and up to 2” difference in sleeve length. From above, if you have bigger hip, Banana Republic may be a better fit. If you have shorter arms, Jcrew might be the best choice.
More and more retailers are closing out their physical locations across the US, many of them are dedicated those stores to regular sizes and shrinking even more their petite sizes in store. Therefore, most likely, you will find a greater selection of petite sizes in their online website than in the stores. Online shopping may have become the best fashion option for petite women. However, before we buy it, it is still best to try it on. If you happen to be in New York City, here are the 25 stores that do carry petite sizes and you will enjoy trying them on before purchasing.
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Kelly Clarkson, 5’3″ (Getty Images)
Hello there! My name is Chi Li, 5'2", author of "The Petite Style Bible" . Petite Dressing is an online petite clothing store and fashion blog for to help all women to understand their body shape and dress accordingly to look confident and chic. Start here if you are new. Click here to watch me on Youtube.
Next Post > 7 Best Petite Style Looks from Our Favorite Short Actresses
Dress for your Body Type and Height
Last Updated on January 7, 2022 By Chi
In Petite Dressing boutique, I often get questions from customers wondering if they should wear petite size. This sounds like a straightforward question, but the answer is more complicated than yes or no.
Before I explain further, the first thing I want to clarify is that petite size is based on height and not weight.
There is a common misconception that petite means skinny, thus petite sizes are made for women who are slender. In fact, petite or not has nothing to do with your weight.
Petite size in fashion and clothing is referring to the special size for women under 5’4” or 5’3”. The reason American designers make petite size is because regular size is tailored for women of 5’5” and above, thus they will not fit shorter women well.
That means petite women could come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and you can totally be petite and curvy. This is singer Kelly Clarkson, 5’3″. Even though she is not a size 0, she is still petite because of the height.
If you are interested in knowing more about this subject, read my other post on The Definition of Petite .
Does that mean you automatically fall into the petite size category if you are under 5’4″ and you should only wear regular size if you are over 5’4″?
It is not black and white like that. Yes, height is the primary factor when it comes to petite size vs regular size, but it is far from the perfect determining factor. Human bodies have so many variations, and that is what makes it complicated.
So, today, let me first explain to you how petite sizing works, then let’s look at if you fall into some of the special categories.
First of all, many petite women have narrower shoulders. So, petite designers would adjust shoulder width when they make petite sizes.
This is especially important for garments with structured shoulders like jackets and coats. A well-made petite outerwear tailors the shoulders to fit measurements of petite women.
Secondly, petite women tend to have shorter arms, thus sleeve length of petite size should adjust accordingly.
Sleeves might be one of the most overlooked details of your outfit. Again, this is more important to petite blazers and coats than other clothing. The wrong sleeve length could instantly sabotage the quality of your outfit, especially in work or formal social occasions. For petite women, if the sleeves are too long, it will look like the jacket or coat is not the right size for you, even if it fits perfectly elsewhere.
Thirdly, most petite women have shorter torso. This affects different types of clothing from blouses, to blazers and dresses for short women . For instance, a regular size blouse may look like drop-waisted on a petite woman, if the sizing is not adjusted accordingly.
Fourthly, the most obvious one, petite women most likely have shorter legs. Therefore, petite size bottoms such as petite pants and petite jeans need to adjust the inseam in order to fit correctly.
Inseam is the length of the inner leg, from the top of the thigh to the ankle.
Additionally, the knee cap for petite size pants or jeans should also be different from regular size. It is easy for tailors to take in the hem of the pants, but difficult or impossible to change the knee cap.
Inseam affects not only pants and jeans, but also jumpsuits for short women .
I have another post that explains petite size vs regular size – check it out if you want to know more.
Now you understand how petite size clothing is different from regular size, you know what to expect when you get a petite size vs regular size. I mentioned earlier even though height is critical, we cannot simply say that women above 5’4″ should only wear regular clothing. Here is some of the examples.
Chances are some women may be around or over 5’4” but their legs are short, so they should consider petite size pants.
Standard inseam for regular size pants are typically 32″ and above.
I can only say “typical” because this varies by brands and pant style. If you are 5’5″, but your vertical body type is and long torso/short legs, then it’s possible petite size pants fit you better.
What if you are not under 5’4″, but you are short-waisted ?
You may find regular size fitted tops make you look like a kid wearing mom’s clothes. In that case, you may find petite size tops fit you perfectly since they are adjusted for shorter torso.
Are you over 5’4″ but most of your weight and height is below the waist? In other words, do you have the long legs and big bum body shape?
Try petite size tops and blazers, and you may be surprised how much better they fit you better.
Now, let’s look at other side of the equation.
In most cases, I would say yes, you should start with trying petite size at least. You are much better off with clothes designed to fit the proportions of shorter women. If you are used to buying regular size clothing and take them to the tailors, that could cost a lot of money in the long run. More importantly, certain aspects of the clothing is very hard to alter. For instance, changing the shoulders of a jacket or waistline of a dress is so complicated, you are better off not to do so.
On the other hand, since everyone’s body type is so different, it is also possible that certain shapes may not fit well in petite size.
One of my friends (and she was also one of my bridesmaids) is like this. She is 5’3″, with a very skinny body frame, and her broad shoulders are very noticeable. For her, jackets from petite department may not fit very well because of her shoulder width. However, if she gets a regular size jacket, most likely the sleeves are too long for her. Her best bet is to go with a jacket or blouse of 3/4 sleeves from the regular size department.
If you happen to have long arms, you may find the sleeves for petite size tops and blazers too short. In that case, try some items from the regular size department and they may fit you better.
Having long torso could mean that petite size tops are too short for you. On the other hand, if you go with a regular size top, you may find sleeves too long or shoulders too wide. So, what size is better for you really depends on the particular item you are looking at. The only way for you to know is to try and compare.
If this is you, you should consider yourself very lucky! Most petite women wish their legs were longer! That said, I have heard from customers who told me they are frustrated to find the right pants because of their long legs.
If you go with petite size pants, you may find most of the inseam is not long enough for you. On the other hand, regular size pants may work in terms of inseam length, but they may have a longer rise than you need.
In fact, it is quite common for a woman to have a combination of body treats, i.e. someone could be petite for the bottom half of her body but not the top half, or vice versa. Therefore, the most important part you still need to look at is your body treats such as the length of limbs, the width of shoulders and the length of the torso.
If you are around 5’3”, it is advisable to try on both petite and regular size, and compare the fit and how they make you feel. That may sound like too much hassle, but that is the best way to find that perfect fit. You might be surprised about your findings and it is possible you might have been wearing the wrong size over the years.
Pay attention to the definition of petite sizing by each retailer/designer, as some of them define what is petite as under 5’4” while others define it as under 5’3”. It may sound like a slight difference, but that could affect their petite sizing.
Most brands follow standard sizing chart, but each petite brand may have some differences in their tailoring. Here we have compared the most popular petite designers/stores and their definition of petite height.
Then you may find even the petite sizes would not fit you.
Why? Because petite designers make their clothing according to the measurements of petite models who are 5’4″ or 5’3″ tall. In other words, someone who is 4’11” is 5 inches shorter than the model for which the petite clothes is made, then how can you expect that to fit well?
We have another post dedicated to women under 5 feet, you should read our comprehensive guide on “ Styling Tips for Women under 5 Feet Tall ” and “Where to Shop for Extra Short Jeans for Petites under 5 Feet “.
If you are indeed a petite size woman, you probably have experienced the difficulty and frustration looking for the right sizes in regular department stores or shopping malls, so many of us may have shopped in the junior department at some point.
While that seems to be an easy solution, we do not recommend you to do so often.
In fact, one of the important styling principals for short girls is to avoid too much “cuteness”.
The complaints of many short girls is they are not taken seriously at work place, because of their height. In order to appear to be the equivalent of tall girls, our goal should be to add presence and authority through our styling. Shopping in junior department will only do the opposite.
The designs for juniors are catered for teenagers, and they are not meant to be worn by professional adult women. Except for sweat pants and other causal clothing you will only wear at home or for workout, we suggest you to stop shopping at junior department and look for stores with petite sizes instead.
If you are short and you wear plus size, you should consider wearing petite plus sizes which are made for plus size girls under 5’4″.
Petite plus girls, like other petite size women, share the common body features I mentioned earlier, and the best bet to find their clothing from designers who carry petite plus specifically tailored to suit the needs of curvier petite women.
Petite plus could go up to 18P by some designers, and they have taken into consideration shoulder width, sleeve length and inseam needs of
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