To hate the term 'petite'

[lemondrizzleistheshnizzle]

You're not petite, you're SHORT.

I hate the term petite, to me it's used to make short people sound all dinky and cutesy and makes us tall people feel large and clumsy.

Am I alone in my irritation of this?!

It isn’t something I’ve ever thought about, but this would be because I’m definitely not petite, at 5’7 and not having been slim for the most part.

Besides, I have a degree in French, so to me ‘petite’ is first and foremost a French word.

Shops don’t really care about tall people anyway, if they did they would stock tall clothes. They obviously care about small people as they make sure they properly market them and stock them. Tall folks can only shop online

I think in shops it does just refer to shortness in which case, yes, the word "short" would suffice.
It can also mean small- boned though. I'm about 5'3", I think just over, and definitely don't consider myself short by any means- lots of women I know/meet are shorter than me - but I do have narrow wrists, small hands and feet (size 3), narrow ankles and once upon a time a lovely narrow waist too (overweight now) so people do describe me as petite.

it's used to make short people sound all dinky and cutesy and makes us tall people feel large and clumsy.

I have to ask passing strangers to help me reach things on higher shelves in shops. I get ignored while waiting to be served in pubs. I can't drive my partner's car because my feet don't reach the pedals. Most dresses I buy cost me extra in tailors' fees because "knee-length" is a few inches above my ankles. I look overweight at 9 stone.

Let me have one nice adjective to make me feel better about my height. I'd swap it for being tall and clumsy any, any day.

I'm short and fat. I feel a bit disingenuous shopping in the petite range a it evokes images of very dainty and graceful fairy-like creatures whereas in fact I just want a pair of trousers that I'm not going to have to wear with 6 inch heels to avoid trailing them on the floor!

I don't hear people describing themselves as petite. I associate it mainly with clothes sizing, and it doesn't just mean short limbed, it relates to overall proportion. The petite variation of a standard sized dress, for example, will have narrower shoulders and the waist in a different place.

I'm 5 foot 1 and a size 6 and I dont find petite a compliment, more a descriptor I'm ambivalent to.
I've had some horrible comments over the years about my height, including one bloke saying I wouldnt be as good at leading people as he was! And a bloke shouting at me in the street 'fucking hell and I thought I was short'.

What the fuck is this all about!!!

My mum used to shop in the petite range even when her weight went up to 10 stone after having children. She was a size 16 and 5ft. But later a size 8 and could buy clothes in the petite range for both slim and not so slim

I buy petite clothes. I’m up for a renaming to “short arse” or some such, provided that the same principle is applied to the clothes at other end of the scale. Not fair otherwise.

I usually end up buying stuff online too as petite ranges in shops are usually really limited, so it’s pretty annoying not being able to just buy a pair of trousers as there’s no way in the world they will be the right length.

Petite to me doesn’t mean short, it means small all over.
I’m on the taller side of petite at 5,3 but have to buy petite sizing for shoulders of jackets/coats to fit, sleeves of jumpers/shirts/dresses not completely covering my hands. Waistbands on dresses to fit round my natural waist.
It’s just a term for sizing to me, nothing to get excited about. How about we change the term curvy to fat, no I didn’t think so.

Yep. You know what petite means

Yes - short!

Shortarse doesn't offend me all you Lanky shits.

Yanbu. I am petite, small all over.

Tower - your post makes no sense. You say YANBU but then describe yourself as petite which is what the OP is annoyed about.

I often buy from the petite range despite being 5’ 6” as they tend to be more fitted/tailored (not sacks) so look better.

I hate the word though, just like ‘plus’

Yes, I am petite. Leave me alone

It's worth adding, when it comes to clothes, those marked 'short' are not the same as 'petite'.

A pair of trousers in 'short' literally just have shorter legs (the crotch to hem distance is shorter), but the crotch to waistband distance will often be the same as the standard. (As an inproprotion shorty, I have discovered this fun fact over the years)

A 'petite' range item of clothing has all the distances shorter. So the crotch to waistband, boob to waistband distance etc. If you are overweight but 'petite' you still need a top that's got the top of shoulder to nipple distance shorter, or you'll have half your bra on show.

This is more important as the average British woman is getting taller as well as fatter, so stores are allowing for a bigger overall 'average' female customer. So for the petite shopper, there are less normal range clothes they can get away with wearing.

as a general term, I'd say petite means small all over e.g. Kylie. Petit means small in French, rather than short. In shops however, I think it refers to height, hence the different sizes.

Not read much of the FT.

I'm 5'3 so on the cusp.

It's not just about height, I mean people come in all different shapes and sizes but even when fat I had narrower shoulders than my taller friends, as an example. The first time I tried on a petite sized thing, it was a bit of a revelation, the waist was in the right place, the sleeves were a better length etc. They are cut for people who are smaller, irrespective of weight.

The thing I realised recently is that the reason my bra straps are always falling down my shoulders might well not be to do with me buying the wrong bras or wearing them funny or not adjusting them properly. It's probably because the straps don't sit in the right place as they are designed for wider shoulders.

Does anyone know if they make petite (sorry op) bras? Saying bras for short people doesn't really work does it :D

I'm short and dumpy, turned into a real apple shape which I hate. My annoyance with the Petite section is that trousers are usually 29 inch inside leg and even that is too long for me. I know that tall people have trouble with getting longer length legs but a lot of places do 31 and 34 inches. With short legs it's 29 or 28 inch and nothing below. Really difficult to find any trousers that are 27 or 26 inch. Yes, I know trousers can be altered but in this day and age, shouldn't shops offer more lengths at either end of the spectrum?! I have a longish torso, short legs, probably short arms and massive boobs, definitely not Petite all over

@MissChananderlerbong, I was called 'shrimp' once at school and kicked the lad in the bollocks, typical short but feisty kid in my later years, I have been known to reply to such comments with "Shit, really?! I was 5 ft 10 when I woke up this morning!". People think they're the first person to ever point it out. My nephews and now DS12 think it's hilarious to sidle up next to me to show me they're taller than me and I have to explain I'm 39 and had this all my life, honestly, it's really not that original!

Petite is the fit not the size.

If I buy a dress with a slightly lower neckline in regular it drops below my boobs.
If I buy a vest top in regular, the straps are constantly falling down.

If I buy trousers in regular, the waist comes to my boobs and they are about 5 inches too long.

This is irrespective of whether you are a size 4 or size 24.

I don't particularly refer to myself as petite but it does help with clothing as proportions are better for me, particularly jackets and dresses. Being 5'2" with short body but regular length legs means trousers are ok but top items are often too long.
And no I dont see being short as a negative !

It annoys me a little bit because it seems to exist only in feminine form.
(I am extra tall, over 6ft, and fat, truly the best of both worlds).