If you are petite where do you shop?

[capelmustard]

I'm so fed up looking for clothes. I LOVE clothes, and I love the oversized aesthetic on models who look fabulous in anything, but on me it looks ridiculous.

I don't want wide leg trousers, voluminous sleeves, balloon hems, elasticated waists, maxi dresses, etc, I just want well cut clothes made from natural fibres, which doesn't seem like too much to ask, but it actually is because I can't find any anywhere.

I'm not exactly tiny, 5'3 and 8/10 so not an outlier I wouldn't have thought.

Charity shops, Vinted, asos petite, Zara kids.

Next, m&s, asos, h&m anywhere that has a petite range really

I'm 5ft and shop almost exclusively at Next in petite range.

Littlewoods

Next, m&s, Boden, Hobbs, Phase Eight - anywhere with a petite range. I loathe shopping - everything has to be ordered online as the petite ranges in store are usually rubbish. I also shop on Vinted a lot - after a lot of scrolling I can usually find some good petite stuff.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of some of these.

It's the ordering online that I hate, I just want to go into a shop and try things on. I hate waiting for an order ( not in the UK, so at least a weeks wait, and then taxes/ duties) and then the things are too big so have to be returned

Can you sew?
I’ve started altering my own clothes, so this summer have altered sleeves, blouse lengths and trouser hems. It’s actually quite easy once you get the hang of it.

For reference I’m 5ft 2 and size 12
and buy from M&S, Brora, H&M, Monsoon.

I find Whistles and Hobbs the best fit. They have some things in natural fibres. Boden is good from the petite perspective too but I find the sizing more generous.

There used to be a great brand called Jennifer Anne. Not natural fabrics but the cut was great and as a really petite person their clothes were brilliantly proportioned. I found they often ran a bit smaller than most High Street sizing, just to mention in case you wanted to check Vinted/eBay.

Reiss petite

Trousers mainly from Next or M&S as they do short/petite

I have found Uniqlo clothing fits quite well. Pixie girl is ok but I find their sizes are a bit all over the place (smaller than next).

I’m the same height and size as you, but I love the balloon and wide leg trousers! I’m a bit straight up and down and they give me a nice shape. I love Cos, MH, Sandro, BA&SH, some Sezane (the quality isn’t always that great, but a good fit), and I’ve got a few things from M&S recently in the short length that fit really well. Reiss and Mango have been good for stuff recently (haven’t shopped there for decades!).

I also live wide leg trousers as they balance out my widish shoulders and boobage area.

I recently rediscovered River Island.

Some of us can only dream of boo age area…

im 5’1, size 6/8
zara if not maxi
river island
a very MN disapproved of label Oh Polly

I’m a smidgen under 5’3 and currently about a size 12. I’m afraid I’ve never, ever bought petite clothes, or thought of myself as petite at all. I like volume and structure in clothes, and love the people at my alterations service.

So I shop pretty much anywhere - though when I say that, I obviously have a good few decades of knowledge regarding brands or garments that don’t work for me. I very rarely have to return things, but couldn’t keep a Gabriela Hearst dress I bought in a sale, because it was just far too long, and the knitted fabric really couldn’t be easily altered.

I’ve bought several pieces of knitwear from Studio Nicholson over the years, but had to have a dress of theirs shortened by about eight inches. On the other hand dresses from Loulou de Saison; Margaret Howell and Zimmermannn all fit my proportions perfectly.

I generally have no problem at all with trousers and skirts, and they’re easy to alter if they do turn out too long. (I suspect petite fittings of these would be all wrong on me)

Weirdly my favourite coats are often from men’s departments. Something to do with the contrast in proportions. 🤷‍♀️

There must be more than 14 S&B posters of a similar height to @capelmustard?

M&S do a short leg length for trousers and jeans which are perfect for me at 5ft 2.
I recently ordered two pairs of identical cropped jeans (different colours) from Next. One in size 6 petite and one in size 6 regular as they didn’t have one colour in petite. The regular jeans were too big and the petite wouldn’t go up over my hips. This is despite the website claiming they were the same hip and waist size. This put me off ordering online with Next again.

Pull and Bear do a petite range but online only, I think. I love their jeans.

Otherwise, I order age 12-13 kids clothes! The leg length is perfect!

Brandy Melville

M&S for jeans, everything else is either Vestiaire Collective, charity shops or kids large teen size for basics and swimwear.

I’m the same height and size as you op and I’ve enjoyed the oversize look (although I’m getting a bit bored with it now and ready to move on) and still really like wide leg trousers, which I shorten when needed.

I very much doubt you look ridiculous in a lot of the current looks. I think it’s more that you don’t like them. That’s perfectly reasonable but I do think it might be a mistake to blame your height / size because I’ve known people taller than me end up in a rage at the high street and convinced they can’t wear anything but a knee length, A line skirt.

I rarely wear petite sizes but I do buy quite a lot of vintage, especially 1950s/early 60s, and it’s partly because they often fit me well, especially on the shoulders.

I'm 5 ft 3 and size 12-14. Petite ranges: M&S, Next, Whistles, Boden etc.
Not everything needs altering.
It depends on the rest of your proportions and look, whether you can wear things a bit oversized.
I shorten trousers all the time and sometimes tops/skirts/sleeves. I do this myself on my sewing machine and make some of my own clothes too. I don't really wear dresses much but you have to count for the fact they will be maxi on you if sold as midi.

Jackets and coats are the worst because they are hard to adjust without taking most of them to pieces and they sometimes still don't work.Most of my jackets are from ebay/Vinted as I don't care how old they are as long as they are petite fit.

You also have to capitalise when things that suit you are in fashion, like the current thing for cropped little jackets and small T shirts.

M&S for jeans, Reiss petite for formalwear, New Look petite and Sezane are good too. To be honest, on the whole I tend to just get a lot of clothes altered- not just taking them up but reducing the volume of those huge sleeves that can look a bit silly on us shorties. It doesn’t cost too much, and even cheapie brands look good if the fabric is decent and they’re tailored to fit.

I get the Mint Velvet ‘short’ trousers. I’m 5ft 1 so they’re actually a tad too long but if you’re 5ft 3 they will be perfect and very good quality. Otherwise, Vinted!

I’m same height and size as you OP and my go to’s are Reiss petite and M&S for tailored trousers. I do end up getting a lot taken in/up (jacket sleeves are bane of my life) but the different length trousers and jeans are great.

I’ve copied and pasted below from a recent post I made for someone looking for high end petites:

Reiss - great petite range, still high street but good quality, lovely tailoring and classic with an occasional twist

Twinset - again still high street so may not make your criteria, but cut with less volume than most places. I have to take trousers up, but skirts and dresses are not so long that they look ridiculous if I don’t.

Sandro - borderline designer but neatly cut. Trousers tend to be a bit long but my recollection is there was a significant difference between length depending on whether you take a 34 or a 40, so that would change your situation. sleeve lengths are reasonable which is a win.

Victoria Beckham - her dresses and blouses are fabulous, although trousers are a disaster on me due to length.

Isabelle Marant - the albini dress is great for petites.

Both MaxMara (and all the diffusions including Marella which I really like for classic look) run relatively shorter. In fact many of the Italian brands (Gucci, D&G particularly) offer a bit of grace in that department.