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.

So ideal fit would be fitted vneck that finishes on your waist or top of your hips? Bit like the styles from the 50s?

Woolovers honesty. I’m 5.2 and their stuff comes up short. It’s my go to for non-acrylic.

It's not 50s at all. I just want to wear normal tops like normal people. I'm sick of Collectif, I just want to buy normal high street clothes like everyone else.

@Didiusfalco Woolovers don't seem to have any of their cropped styles in black though. Do you know if their cardigans have much bust allowance? I've tried Boden cropped cardigans but they look awful.

Have you tried Pull & Bear? I am a 5'1 and I usually steer clear of this shop as it's very "young" but DD came home the other day with a lovely turtleneck jumper in black which is good quality and not see through at all. Even better a bargain at £13! Sometimes DD's shopping outings are worth it after all....! ;)

I got some really good, small basics from Morrison's this week! I was beyond shocked how well they fit.

Also try laredoute. I used to get lots of clothes from there when I was a much smaller size than I am now (sadly)

Op, are you specifically wanting a cropped style? Because woolovers normal tops come up at the right length for me. I imagine if you were taller then you couldn’t buy from them or would need mens/unisex. The other good thing is that they tell you the exact measurements for each garment so you can check against tops you already own.

No, I'm not looking for a cropped style. They're listed as cropped because they're cropped on people of average height, meaning they're normal length on short people. I've tried this with Boden - I bought a "cropped" cardigan and it was a really good length on me. I only sent it back because the buttons didn't fit properly over my chest.

For example here's a Woolovers regular length top that's made in lots of colours:

www.woolovers.com/womens/jumpers/lambswool-crew-neck-jumper-red-9864

If you go into the size guide it says a size small is 24.4 inches and a size medium is 25.2 inches long. That's waaaaay too long! Besides which, the sleeves are too long anyway. I need sleeves of about 21 inches, otherwise the sleeves will be longer than my arms and it looks really messy when you roll them up.

Bump. I am tiny and look better in fitted things. This era of skinny jeans, leggings and baggy tops/tunics and shapeless coats has been a frikkin nightmare. Most petite clothes are really frumpy like they think only older people are small. I wear a lot of dresses instead and tend to get them from oasis or joy.

Most petite clothes are really frumpy like they think only older people are small.

Actually I'm finding it's the other way round - it's the younger companies that have shedloads of petites. Asos, Missguided, Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing. But they're all of rubbish quality and usually see-through. I've tried on some good length cardigans at Hobbs and Monsoon but the buttons looked a mess due to not having enough bust allowance.

I've never stopped at any of those ones. Shopping tomorrow so will report back if any good finds.

I wish Uniqlo made petites - it would solve a lot of problems!

I can't find any petites at La Redoute.

Asos has a lot of petite clothing.

Ahhh sorry, I missed the part where you mentioned Asos already.

Yes I look at Asos all the time but buy practically nothing. I'm looking for good quality stuff that isn't see-through. I need to look suitable for work.

I can't help but I can empathise. I am a whole 3" taller than you but short in the body and a size 10 on top and 16 bottoms and getting work tops which are short enough is impossible. I need to wear a suit for work so I want tops which sit at the top of my hips. I swear this wasn't a problem 10yrs ago. Now, impossible. Each time I ruin an old top or decide it is too scruffy to wear, I mourn its passing as replacing it is impossible. I am really only down to 2 now.

See, there's all this fancy sparkly stuff around for Christmas parties, but where are all the decent basics? It's what kicks off practically every M&S complaint thread.