Who exactly buys petite clothes?

[bishboschone]

I'm 5 ft and I have never purchased petite clothing . Yesterday I tried on short leg jeans ( not petite ) and went back for the medium leg as they felt too ankle flappy . I pretty much always wear flats too. I bought a petite coat once and when I put my arms up the sleeves went right up
My arm .. Sent it back for the normal .. Weird ..

I'm 5ft1, but I never buy petite because they only seem to put the boring clothes in the petite range. I also seem to have weird proportions because I can never find anything to fit me.

LRD I always thought of you as being super tall.

LRD - gap have got some lovely 'shrunken' jackets in at the moment that fit me beautifully - started a thread about a red one I tried today.

I buy petite jeans, if i buy normal jeans they drag in the mud .

I just saw your link to them MrsC! Thanks.

yellow - how odd (we need one of those 'how do you picture other MNers' threads). I'm not tall but I used to live in 4 inch heels which would make me all of 5'8 ... nope, still not tall ...

I would love to be.

Weird , I'm not aware I have gorilla arms ... Or long legs . I have small feet and small bones .. Hhmmm

It depends where you shop maybe. I have some M&S short-leg jeans, which as well as being frumptastic are too short for me. Next petite tends to fit me well though.

I'm 5'3 and have to get petite coats and jackets if the sleeves can't be shortened. I have to take up all my trousers myself.

M&S short trousers are way too short for me though, they must be aimed at the under-5 foot ladies.

You must have very long arms and legs if you don't wear petite at 5ft. I'm 5ft 2ins and wear petite where possible. Tops just gape and show my boobs if they are not petite and if I wore a full length coat I would trip over if it was a standard length.

My sister does - she's barely 5 ft and has really narrow shoulders and size 3 feet. She's a size 4-6 so needs really small clothes otherwise things look totally shapeless on her.

Me! Some petite trousers are too long for me .

I'm 5 ft 3. Petite trousers are too short but dresses and coats etc always sit wrong in regular sizes. Mr problem is the dearth of petite ranges. I don't want to go to Minuet or Next. It would be heaven if I could get petite clothes from Gap, Whistles etc. I love the French company Comptoir des Cotonniers. If they did petite I'd be very happy.

I am 5'2" and am very petite. Size 2 and a half feet.

But I have to say that petite clothes are generally just awful.

They don't fit me any better than normal clothes. I've had issues with too short arms and too tight arms (which staggered me as I'm on the skinnier side). Certainly not gorillish in any way. And petite apparently means you are more flat chested. So jackets and shirts are even more of a joke with popping buttons.

You are stuck with a hand full of shops too. If you don't like the design or quality you are stuffed. And too many are just full of very boring work wear or the realm of the Frumpzillas.

Got to be said, but why don't men have petite sections? Or tall sections? Perhaps its because they generally do all tailored clothing in a range of fittings and styles and then put it all together so you can easily find and try. Instead of being palmed off to a completely different corner of the store. I hate petite ranges with a passion. The petite section always feels like your a bit of a freak and not worthy of having the same styles and fashion as 'normal' sized women as a result.

I definately don't have long legs but maybe I have long arms .. I have a small back and shoulders and big ish boobs ( 32 d ) but wear size 8-10 now I have lost baby weight. I wear diesel jeans mostly in 30 leg but petite is something like 27 inside leg . , some 31 with boots .

I am 5'2" and usually buy standard size tops, but petite bottoms. Also, suits have to be petite for arm length but I struggle as I'm quite broad-shouldered. Otherwise I generally have short sleeve or 3/4 sleeve tops. I hardly have any dressses or skirts as I need the petite length but I rarely find any I like and then they never have my size when I do see them. I really wish I could find more dresses as I find hot days really difficult to dress for.

I do - 5' 0 - jeans are a bug bear of mine, never seem to find good ones, however, Boden Petite jeans are right for me. Also, their petite dresses are good, because they don't just shorten the hem and sleaves but think someone who's petite (rather than just having short legs) might have a shorter distance between shoulder and cleavage than 'normal' height woman, and their shoulder to waist distance might be less too... (so annoying when shops say 'petite' and they mean 'we've shorten the legs, but assume the rest of the measurements are the same')

I'm 5ft1 and don't buy petite - I don't feel petite, just short And having a fairly big bust I struggle to get tops that fit, they are often only available in quite small sizes - not everyone short is very slim with it.

But I am not very dainty, size 5 feet and apple shaped. Have found that Sainsburys do some jeans and skinny cords that fit me pretty well in a 10S or 12S depending on the style.

My jeans are Topshop Baxters in a 30 leg, they are quite low rise so they fit me ok despite my fat belly - high waisted stuff doesn't suit because I need to go up a size for belly, then have a flappy bum and thighs.

I'm 4'11" and used to buy petite although I still had to shorten the trousers. I now buy from the childrens range and even though I still have to alter the trousers, the general fit is much better and cheaper

I am 4 ft 11 so petite is a must for me or things are too long. I have short thin arms so perfect for me...some stuff is way too big but then I just dont buy that particular item! However as my bust is big - 34E I dont always buy petite tops - depends on the cut.

I am 5' 8" but have a ridiculously short upper body and T. Rex arms so I can easily wear a top from the petite section and a skirt from the tall section (I need a 45" or longer skirt to reach my ankles).

me :)

I do! I'm 5'3". I need narrower shoulders, shorter sleeves and shorter skirt/trouser length than regular clothes. Things like work suits can be hard to find when the jacket looks like it's falling off you, so I usually look for petite sizes. Also coats absolutely bury me in regular sizes.
BTW, I'm not a size 4 petite, I'm a 16/18 but even though I'm quite overweight my frame still needs clothes cut for a petite fit. When I was young I was a small size 6 and it was very hard to find anything that fit me properly.

I do. 5ft and a size 6-8. I find the proportions of petite clothes better. especially coats, jackets, dresses, jeans... I hate the faff and expense of getting stuff altered.

I'm 5ft4 and need petite jeans from next. But never petite tops.

I'm 5ft 2 and usually find petite too long.

What they are not however, is curvy. I imagine they are for teeny chinese people. If you have bossom and arse - forget it!

I'm 4'11 and sometimes buy petite but often the trouser legs are too long anyway and I have to shorten them so I often end up just buying normal ones and shortening them (usually a wider range than petite)
I rarely buy petite tops tho as I have a rather generous bust. But my size 6 - 4'9" birdlike tiny friend often buys petite stuff.
I tend to buy petite jeans though as I hate shortening them.