Ma Petite Cheri

Translation: My Little Darling/My Little Dear One

It's become somewhat of a weekend habit to go shopping. Not that I'm complaining--much.

A little bit of background before I turn this into a rant post. I'm 4'11; 5 ft. on a good day. I consider myself "tiny" pretty much everywhere. In fact, my whole family is tiny. My mom is 5 feet and my grandma is even tinier. Her maiden name is actually Little--which I find ironically suitable.

A few weekends ago, I was shopping with my mom at LOFT (usually one of my most favorite places to shop for Petite clothes). This particular day, however, my mom and I were trying on the SAME EXACT pair of white skinnies. We are relatively the same size and tried on the same pair of size 2 pants.  They fit her perfectly, but bunched MAJORLY around my ankles. Come to find out, her legs are longer than mine (we measured), but my torso is longer than hers. We are both still considered petite.

This weekend, similar problems occurred when shopping at a popular boutique. NOTHING FIT. Dresses were too long, shirts were way too big, and pants/shorts; forget it. Every once in a while you'll get lucky, but it's frustrating to be a tiny person.

I have a quite few problems with retailers and how they cater to the "petite" crowd.

Problem 1: "Petite" means different things to different people/stores/brands. Sure, you may be 5'4 and consider yourself petite compared to your 5'11 friends, but I, at 4'11, am petite to you. Petites come in different shapes and sizes. Even if you're the same height measurement, you may have the same problem as me and my mom.

Problem 2: Most brands with "petite" labels are actually made for the person that is 5'2-5'4. It's like you don't need cute clothes when you're under that mark. And really how is the same pair of pants labeled with a "P" going to fit a 5'4 person and me? Ridiculous.

Problem 3: Many brands/stores DO NOT have petites. Most boutiques actually.

Problem 4: A good tailor is hard to find. In fact, I'm still looking for one (help me)! Also, if I pay $50+ for a pair of pants or a dress, I don't particularly want to pay another $50-$60 to have them altered--no matter how badly I want them to fit perfectly.

Problem 5: I DON'T WANT TO SHOP IN THE KID'S DEPARTMENT MY WHOLE LIFE! I fit a size 0 or XSmall at Lilly Pulitzer. However, because I'm petite, some of the pants or dress don't fit properly, mostly because they are too long. Enter, the children's section of Lilly Pulitzer. This weekend, I bought a pair of children's palazzo pants and THEY FIT (granted it was an XL, but still). Perfectly. Perfect length, perfect around the waist. It worked out well this time because the children's section is significantly cheaper than the adult section. But still. I'm 23, I don't want to be shopping in the children's section forever!

What's a girl to do? Can there be an extra petite classification? Or can all of the tailors with good reputations come out of hiding now?

Rant over. Sorry (not sorry) for the rant like post--it had to be said.