Petite ladies, please help me find some basic knitwear tops

[tectonicplates]

Welcome to another edition of My Gast Is Flabbered By How Difficult It Is To Buy The Most Basic Items.

I'm in search of basic knitwear tops (the ones you wear as a top, rather than a jumper, if you see what I mean). What is wrong with clothing designers? I'm 5ft 1 and have quite a short torso, but also a large chest (larger than a G cup). The criteria are:

• Fitted style

• Petite length, and I mean properly petite. Maximum length of 22 inches (in a size 10) but preferably 21 inches if possible.

• Plenty of stretch to fit over large cup size

• NOT FUCKING SEE-THROUGH, FFS

• Cotton or viscose. No fucking polyester. No acrylic either as I end up getting electric shocks.

• V-neck (which another reason why the petite length is important, otherwise standard-length tops have the neckline too low)

And before anyone says it, yes I have tried on about 5,000 things at Uniqlo. All of them are too long and the v-neck is too low, and anyway all their knitwear seems to be see-through once it's stretched over you.

Also tried Land's End but their tops aren't fitted enough as they're a slightly more "comfort" fit.

You'd think Precis would have something, but no.

Also is anyone else getting a bit fed up of the fashion advice that larger-busted ladies should wear v-necks when nobody seems to be making them?

Rant over for now.

I'm particularly annoyed with M&S for their lack of choice in the petite section.

Try Boden. They have a petite section, but their size 'S' in knitwear is ok for me and I am also your height with biggish boobs.

Boden only make petite dresses, skirts and trousers. Unfortunately they don't make petite tops or knitwear. I've never been able to understand why.

Yes, but as I mentioned above, I find their knitwear in size 'S' is appropriate length. Size 'M' is pretty long though...

Following

Following! I used to buy next, but less choice now . Have you tried Hobbs?

Just bumping for the daytime crowd.

Bumping again.

Get this moved to the style and beauty board as you'll get a lot of suggestions from style savvy posters.

I'll just reviving this thread as I still haven't found anything. I have tried Hobbs but it's all too long. Really don't understand why Hobbs don't make petites.

I'm bumping this thread as it's now nearly the end of October and I still can't find any petite knitwear! I went to Uniqlo again yesterday and all their tops look ridiculous on me. Why can't someone just make decent, quality, basic petite

Please help me ladies!

Anything at woolovers? They used to do a very nice cropped cardigan.

I am 5ft with HH boobs and a short torso so I know exactly what you mean. Have you looked online at Gap petite, Next petite and MandCo petite? I haven't looked recently but have had some success with these sites in the past.

I’ve noticed this year that everything in knitwear seems to be roll neck or the dreaded turtle neck. I hate both of those and like you, OP, want a v neck or rounded neck style.

I’ve just got a lovely top from BAM, but it isn’t what your looking for because it’s a boat neck style and is a longer length, which I wanted to wear with leggings. Wallis have a petite range, but I e rarely found anything in there that’s a suitable style and material and M&S is simply a no go area these days.

Have you looked at Joe Browns? Not sure they’ll have what you’re looking for, but worth a look maybe.

Have you tried looking in the children’s section ? Most do clothes up to age 16. But if you check the actual measurements they are similar to 8/10/12 in ladieswear.
Last year I bought my skinny 13 year old ladies size 4/6 in a few things. She was wearing age 13/14 in children’s section.

@BigFatBloomers Woolovers look interesting but none of the cropped ones are made in black. Do you knew if the cardigans have enough bust allowance? I tried some cropped cardigans from Boden but the fit was terrible.

@user1471510561 Gap petites are terrible and nowhere near fitted enough. Their quality is awful and they only seem to make clothes for straight-up-and-down people. Next are almost as bad.

@Foxyloxy1plus1 What's BAM? I googled but couldn't find anything. I agree that M&S is terrible.

@8misskitty8 I don't see how children's clothing would have enough stretch in the bust.

All other suggestions welcome!

I’ve tried Dorothy Perkins petite section for jeans and tops but not specifically jumpers. However, it is owned by that dodgy bastard Phillip Green, which means if you’d be ethically challenged you may want to skip DP.

Dorothy Perkins "petite" knitwear is too long for me. Ditto with most Wallis stuff. I bought a DP so-called "petite" dress this year and it actually reached the floor so I had to have it hemmed! But you can't take up hems on knitwear, and anyway v-necks would be too low.

As for boycotting shops on ethical grounds, I'm not average-size enough to be able to do so. My political rant of the day is that you need to be of average height and shape in order to successfully do so and still be able to actually buy clothes. If ethical clothing fits you then you need to check your privilege, as the saying goes. For those of us who find it very difficult to find clothes that fit, we don't have the luxury of boycotting shops. Philip Green is still a horrible man, though.

tectonicplates, BAM is a small, I think, company, that does bamboo clothing. Mostly for gymwear, but there are tops that are fine for every day. Their service is prompt, the clothes come in recyclable packaging and bamboo Is very soft and warm. They’re based in Plymouth I believe.

I’ve just googled BAM and it came up straight away. It comes up on my notifications anyway because I’m often looking for industrial strength workout leggings and bra tops.

I don't understand why the smaller sizes from any of these shops don't fit you? You have a G bust so I assume you have to go for a larger size which ends up being longer in the body for you. Have I understood that right?

Could you post a picture of your shape as that might help.

I don't understand what you don't understand. I can't find anything short enough because I'm short, and even a lot of so-called petite clothing isn't petite enough any more, and Precis are closing down.

I'm also short though and petite tops fit and S and XS regular sizes also fit depending on style. Do you have an unusually short torso? I'm not trying to be rude just trying to understand why they come up too long for you? I would say I'm a proportionate length in terms of limbs to torso ratio.

I think I have a fairly short torso although my chest cancels that out a bit. But I need knitwear that's actually short, not hip-length. I hate the whole "long tops with leggings" look and I'm not one of those people who wants tops that cover my bottom. Also my bottom half is a size 14, bordering on 16, so if a size 10 top is too long then I'm basically trying to stretch the bottom part over size 14-16 hips, which is really not a good look.