Ever have way too much trouble finding clothes that fit? Feel like a midget everytime you step into the women’s section of Nordstrom? Welcome to my blog for small women of all shapes and sizes, designed to help you choose stores, styles, and brands that are tailored for the real petite woman.
Average Schmaverage
Despite the average American woman being 5 feet 4 inches, it seems that our favorite department stores are creating clothes for our much taller girlfriends. Remember, average meaning about half the population is shorter than that! Unfortunately you would never know if you looked at the current media but oh well you have to work with what God gave you. That being said, there are many stores and brands that understand this problem and tailor their clothes to fit the shorter stature.
Dressing For Work
Chadwicks of Boston has a pretty good selection of professional clothes for short women. I know Ialways have trouble finding blazers and dress pants that are cut accordingly, and believe it or not short women can also be high powered executives and need to dress for success! Many things to look for when shopping for petite dress sizes can go unnoticed the first time your shopping for a high quality outfit. Things to notice are the sleeve length, hip to waist length, and pant rise. Measuring these lengths before you step into the store will help you decide which style is right for you. It also will lower costs associated with post-purchase tailoring, the bane of the small womans existance!
Dressing for Excercise
If your like me and love excercisng and yoga, but feel like your downright swimming in the length of your yoga pants, check out Athleta's clothes for petite women where the pants inseam starts at 23.5 inches versus normal outfitters 26 inches. Paying attention to the inseam while shopping will make the experience much better, and especially when dealing with work-out pants since its basically just a certain length and witdth of elastic fabric with no definitive style to it.
Dressing for Play
After all that working out and working at the office, we need to spend time working out our social skills during a night on the town. For Petite women, finding the right fitting dress can be a nightmare. When picking out dresses, it's important to note the proper fit and style of the dress before putting yourself into it, especially if it's a tighter fitting number. If in store, ask a sales associate for advice, and if online, make sure to read the reviews of other women who discuss fit before purchasing. Things to note are bustline placement, shoulder fit, where the dress hits the waist, and overall length. For instance, if a 5' 0" woman bought a maxi dress tailored for a 5'4" woman, the bustline and shoulder fit might be good but the length and waist distance might be all off. There is a chance you can tailor it but beware of changing the original style too much by doing so. Donna Ricco has a good selection of dresses tailored to the shorter woman so theres not much after purchase changes that have to be made.
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