Department Stores Shutting Petite Section

[fantASTic]

I definitely agree with SWTXBelle. As an average height but thin woman [I am a size 2 in women's, but I have a chest] I always have to pay top dollar for anything because it's NEVER on sale in my size. I can't go to the sales racks without seeing 50 pairs of size 12 jeans in different styles and lengths, 50 pairs of 0s and NOTHING in the mid sizes.

I'm not saying this to be all crazy, because I know it's a silly thing to bitch about. I'm saying it to add to the proposition that shopping sucks in ALL sizes.

[ZTAngel]

Taller women have problems finding clothes to fit too. I'm 5'7" which is above average but not tall. I have a lot of trouble finding pants to fit. Most regular size pants have a 32" inseam. This is about 1.5 inches to short for me. I've resorted to buying my pants at 34 inches and having my tailor take them but that's if I can even find 34" pants. There's petite sections in many stores but no section for taller women. It's as if clothing companies don't think that women above 5'5" exist.

[Tippiechick]

I am 5'4". I cannot wear petites. The short/ankle length is hideous and hits about 1-1.5 inches above where it should.

So, I do what any SANE woman does: I have my clothes tailored.

My sister is 4'11". My grandmother is 4'10". THEY actually have a need for the petite section. But, since petite sections have few choices, they get their clothes tailored, too. They don't bitch and moan. They just do what they have to do to look good.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

Originally Posted by Scandia

If I cannot find something in my usual size, I go to the petite section and get the next larger size in Petite. For example, a regular 6 is the equivalent to an 8P. At least it is like that in Ann Taylor/Loft.

This also works for me at Ann Taylor in 2/4P! Loves it! Pants are relatively easy to buy. Tops and dresses, not so much...

Boobs and button-down tops and dresses don't work unless I can buy the tops in number sizes. Dress are a pain because unless I don't wear a bra (which isn't a good look for me cos they get squeezed in) I have to wear one size in my boobs and another everywhere else. And that doesn't exist.

[Xylochick216]

YES! Those of us with 36-inch inseams can't just add fabric to pants. I wish I had the option of hemming! It's ridiculous what I have to pay for decent pants.

Originally Posted by ZTAngel

Taller women have problems finding clothes to fit too. I'm 5'7" which is above average but not tall. I have a lot of trouble finding pants to fit. Most regular size pants have a 32" inseam. This is about 1.5 inches to short for me. I've resorted to buying my pants at 34 inches and having my tailor take them but that's if I can even find 34" pants. There's petite sections in many stores but no section for taller women. It's as if clothing companies don't think that women above 5'5" exist.

[33girl]

Danielle, you freaking suck.

[KatieKate1244]

Originally Posted by Xylochick216

YES! Those of us with 36-inch inseams can't just add fabric to pants. I wish I had the option of hemming! It's ridiculous what I have to pay for decent pants.

I have a 36" inseam as well, and since I'm also plus sized, it's next to impossible to find pants. For some reason, "regular" length in misses' sizes runs around a 32" inseam, while womens inseams run at 31". WTF? Just because we're fat automatically means we're short?

[kddani]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Danielle, you freaking suck.

Lol, sorry, I was looking for something else and found this, I just had to bump it.

[LegallyBrunette]

Seriously, I can't get enough of this thread. Especially this part:

Oh, and for the record I'm 5'6" and a size 6 or 8, but I still have to get most of my clothes tailored.

Originally Posted by valkyrie

Goodness, now that I am aware of the mass discrimination and trauma faced by petite women from all over the world, I am enraged! I will take up the fight for my differently-heighted sisters! Here is what I will do in the United States:

I will meet with high-ranking officials of INS to discuss the possibility of implementing a petite-clothing education requirement that must be completed during the citizenship process. The packet of information to be distributed to each and every person stepping foot into this country legally will include definitions of the word "petite" in every language spoken anywhere in the world, diagrams, publications highlighting stores that carry petite clothing, glossy pocket-sized maps of major metropolitan areas with all stores that carry petite clothing highlighted, and perhaps even a teeny tiny woman who can accompany them as they begin their new lives in this country and remind them that petite clothing is available, lest they forget.

Then, I will meet with the Minutemen to see if they are amenable to distributing a condensed version of the "Petite Package" to the people they catch attempting to enter this country illegally before they are returned to Mexico. For those who do make it into the country, I will engage in a leaflet campaign in border towns and will provide weekly support groups for the petite and potentially petite immigrants. Hopefully, if we also can educate the townsfolk, they will be able to spread the word if we miss anyone.

After the website petiteangst.com is up and running, I will work to have it translated into every language and marketed in every country. I will then schedule an air-drop of computers for people in remote locations, so everyone there will be able to access the website.

Hopefully, after these programs are implemented and Petite Education becomes more widespread, we can require each and every local school district in this country to provide mandatory Petite Education starting in the second grade. We must teach children that being petite is completely normal, and alert them to the petite fashion possibilities that hopefully by then will be readily available. After children reach middle school, the Advanced Petite Education program will educate them as to the height and sizing differences between countries across the world, and provide them with a handy slide rule that will provide easy reference when attempting to convert sizes and average heights into different languages and sizing systems.

The Petite Ambassador System will appoint Petite Ambassadors to each country. The duties of Petite Ambassador will be one part foreign relations, one part education, one part personal shopping, one part design skills, and 100 parts pure sass! At this point, it is unresolved whether the Petite Ambassador will wear a sash, tiara, or both. At all times, she will be a stellar example of the best that the petite women of her country have to offer.

The Affordable Petite Clothing Initiative will require that every designer manufacturing clothing in North America or that imports clothing into North America will design at least 20% of its line for petites. Fines and other penalties will be levied on violators. In the near future, it is anticipated that other NATO countries willingly will join in the Initiative.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I am petite, small-breasted and I am short-waisted.

THANK YOU!!!! I'm not short or small-breasted, but I am short-waisted. Finding dress pants is a nightmare to me, because if they're short-waisted (read: they fit nicely), they're about 3" too short. This is why I normally wear skirts in the winter.

It amazes me how few people understand the whole short-waisted/long-waisted part of clothing.

[nittanyalum]

It has taken me the better part of the day because I could only read in fits and spurts, but I just read this entire thread. The comedy was worth it, but knowing that I just lost that much time out of my life to read someone's gripes about the growing evil that is designer-discrimination-against-the-teeny, I want to poke my eyes out. I think the OP is the same person who chastised the WGA for striking because it wasn't "polite", correct?

[SWTXBelle]

honeychile, I have given up on dress pants. It ain't happening.

[Benzgirl]

Don't get me started on Petites. I am 5'4". Sitting down, I'm as tall as someone who is 5'8". But my legs are as short as ... well, short. My inseam is around 29" but I have a very long waist.

Petite dresses don't fit because they are too short from the waist to the shoulders and the arm lengths hit well above the wrist. The waistband of the pants hit far below where they should, so I always feel like I have a "wedgie". As for tops and jackets, I buy straight sizes.

I prefer buying pants in straight sizes, but often, once I have a 34" inseam hemmed, they break wrong on my leg. Bottom line.... buying pants is an excruciating experience for me.

I also agree that Petite sizes look like something my 4'10" grandma would have worn. Too many elastic waist bands and pastel colors. They are often designed to make grown women look too cutsie!

[Tom Earp]

The moronic designers do not do it for regular people but the beautiful ones!

People are not built like models but just us regular folks.

Normal people are not bolimic. We are normal folks, not built like gods.

[PerfectVerse06]

I just sat and re-read this thread...HILARIOUS!