Aibu. It should be women’s clothes that are longer and not children’s

[Kennykenkencat]

Dd is tall and slim with long legs and long arms. No idea where this body shape comes from as we are all short with stubby legs.

All Ds’s trousers (women’s size 4-6) look like pedal pushers when she puts them on
Coats are always short in the arm.
She has resigned herself to having cold wrists and cold ankles unless she spends
££s on getting the right leg length and arm length

Passing the children’s section in a store we spotted a really nice looking jacket.

She tried it on and it fitted perfectly. Even the cuffs came down to her wrists. We then looked at trousers, age 14.
The leg length was noticeably longer than the adult section.

We went to look at the adult section of another store and nothing fitted her properly
Coat sleeves finishing somewhere south of her elbows and leggings finishing north of her ankles same department store children’s section and everything again was longer and fitted her perfectly

Inspired by this she got a good selection of clothes from the children’s section age 12-14. Trousers, t.shirts, jackets and leggings. that actually fitted her.

A lot of adult trousers look like they have a long legs but I have no idea who these trousers are supposed to fit but most of the length is the bum area.

I am definitely not tall or slim and my legs and arms are definitely short. I have tried on trousers where the crotch is somewhere around my knees.

Aibu that sizing for women’s clothing is really strange

As a 5’3 short legged woman please tell me where to find these short trousers! All the ones I try have many inches of extra length.

I'm 5'9" and it's a bloody nightmare. Most of women's fashion has no clue that taller women exist. I end up wearing men's coats to have warm wrists in the winter. I'd suggest shopping online if I'm honest (which I hate), it's the only way to find taller trousers etc as most of the time shops don't seem to stock them on the racks.

6ft here - tell me about it!
"Tall" normally means 32" inside leg - no good for me.

Voice0fReason
same here m 6ft with 35/36 inch leg.
ive gave up years ago i wear mens jeans and mens pyjamas

Are you sure its not the style youre picking?
Trouser lengths have been shorter for the last couple of years in general. Its what is in fashion.

@crankysaurus

I'm 5'9" and it's a bloody nightmare. Most of women's fashion has no clue that taller women exist. I end up wearing men's coats to have warm wrists in the winter. I'd suggest shopping online if I'm honest (which I hate), it's the only way to find taller trousers etc as most of the time shops don't seem to stock them on the racks.

Try being shorter than average....

The ''standard'' notional woman that clothes are designed for is a taller than average woman rather than a shorter than average woman.

Oasis for example have jeans lengths 30'', 32'' and 34'' but no 28''.

Companies that do sell a shorter leg, it's often sold out! There is demand for the shorter leg lengths but it's hard to get hold of.

Petite ranges are often frumpier than the standard range which is ridiculous. Just because people are short doesn't mean they don't like fashion.

Short is much harder to get. There are very few options. I am about 5ft. Literally no trousers are the right length.

I used to work for M&S where 80% of customers were (according to company literature) 5'5 or shorter, which explains why they stock so few long and even regular length sizes, especially in size 8 which they sell few of anyway. The average teenage girl is probably taller than the average adult woman.

Try being shorter than average....

The ''standard'' notional woman that clothes are designed for is a taller than average woman rather than a shorter than average woman.

But it's easy to hem trousers and not possible to add extra length onto them.

My son got bought some super dry jeans for Christmas and they fit perfectly in the leg. Usually everything is too short or massive around the waist !
So I think I'm going to hunt out for super dry jeans in the sales to keep him clothed all year 🤣 (he's got a 28 inch waist and 34 inch legs so buy for him is a blooming nightmare.

@CheshireCats

Short is much harder to get. There are very few options. I am about 5ft. Literally no trousers are the right length.

How do you know it's harder - you've clearly never tried to buy long-length trousers! I've never tried to buy petite ones but I have noticed that - unlike the tall range - you actually do see the petite range in the shop quite often.

@HardbackWriter but the petite ones are designed for up to 5ft 3. They don't fit.

I’m 5’1” and echo the comments of some of the other short women on this thread.

But that is not really addressing your question about why children’s clothes are longer. I wonder if it’s to do with average heights - with adults the average heights of women is probably impacted by older women who are generally shorter than younger women (because of childhood nutrition and shrinking with age). Whereas kids sections will have a much narrower range of people to take an average from and won’t be affected by the shorter older cohort?

Women’s clothes do seem to be made for an unreasonably narrow range of heights, though.

@Branleuse

Are you sure its not the style youre picking? Trouser lengths have been shorter for the last couple of years in general. Its what is in fashion.

This is what I was thinking, ‘long’ trousers are not in. However I’m struggling to think of a shop where the age 12-14 is longer than the ladies sizes. How tall is your daughter? The ones that do an age 16 can be longer as I think they’re about 170cm which would be taller than average. They’re also generally a fair bit wider than a size 4 though.

My granddaughter was 5ft 7in. by the age of 11 and all the children's clothes I saw were too short. She's been wearing adult clothes since then and they are sometimes too short in the leg but never in the sleeves.
At 5ft 3in. sleeve lengths used to be just right for me but nowadays they are usually too long.

Have you tried buying from shops that make a "tall" range? It's usually the same shops who do petites too.

Short may indeed be hard to get but you can shorten things. A tailor/seamstress will do a fine job.

At 5'9" I have spent my life with my hands and wrists hanging out of everything. There is no fabric to lengthen the sleeves.

Also things are short in the body and trouser legs too short.

Never mind shoes too wide for my longish skinny feet.

It sounds very strange that children's sizes work.

I've spent a fortune getting trousers shortened. It's a ''tax'' I'd prefer not to have to pay!

I think young people are getting taller - I'm average at 5'4 but usually find teenage girls are taller than me.

you actually do see the petite range in the shop quite often.

Not any more you don't. Especially now all the ex-Arcadia brands are online only, and Debenhams has closed down.

@HardbackWriter

Try being shorter than average....

The ''standard'' notional woman that clothes are designed for is a taller than average woman rather than a shorter than average woman.

But it's easy to hem trousers and not possible to add extra length onto them.

It's possible but it's not ''easy'' and it's not free.

For the petite ladies - Cotton Traders do shorter length trousers, some start at 27in inside leg.

I wear a women's 6 in jeans but tried DS's age 12 when he outgrew them and they were too short. Age 14 would be the right length but too wide. Are you sure the women's trousers weren't meant to be shorter as it's in fashion?

@UserBot99

I've spent a fortune getting trousers shortened. It's a ''tax'' I'd prefer not to have to pay!

I refuse to pay. I'm not willing to pay extra just to make up for design flaws. If clothing companies want me to buy stuff, they can make stuff that fits me.

I’m 5’99 with really long legs, my legs are the same length as my 6’ 3” brother. Dorothy Perkins tall range is sometimes ok. I remember going through the full local shopping centre for trousers. I came back , hot, stressed and with no new trousers . I have decided every women in my town is super short. Longer trousers are harder to find. If you are short you can get trousers altered to shorten the legs…not so if they are too short.