On Being Small: An Essay Of Petite Proportions

by Julia Rubin | 2:00 pm, October 8th, 2010

People come in all shapes and sizes. I am a little person. Not like a Little People, Big World kind of little person, but a little person nonetheless. As a fully grown adult, I just meet the 5-foot mark, and my feet are a measly size 5. And this makes indulging my inner fashionista really, really difficult. So excuse me while I rant.

First, full disclosure: I like being little. I can maneuver well in crowds, people let me stand in front of them at concerts and I’m never taller than my date. But when it comes to finding things that fit me, I find my options to be annoyingly limited. Why? Because high-end designers and mass retailers alike simply don’t design with petite women in mind. Well, they don’t ever really design with people who aren’t fairly tall (or fairly thin, for that matter) in mind. This is a problem.

Dresses that are supposed to hit mid-thigh can fall below my knees, and jeans are at least three inches too long (I just need my 28-inch inseam, people!). As such, I have spent a fair amount of time and money getting my clothes altered. Hems are taken up, pants are shortened, strap lengths are adjusted. But a lot of the time this really messes with a piece’s proportions.

But what about petite lines, you ask? Or even kids’ clothes? Surely those must be good alternatives! To which I say: again, it’s a problem of proportion. Petite lines are few and far between, and some of the best ones (like J. Crew‘s) can only be bought online. Tops in petite sizes are often (ironically) cut too short, though they fit well around. And kids’ sizes? The worst. Women (even really small women) have curves. 8-year-olds do not. Occasionally I’ll find a great piece (like the Stella McCartney pink tutu skirt for GapKids), but mostly the clothes just look awkward and ill-fitting.

An anecdote: last summer I went to the Alexander Wang sample sale. I hate sample sales. The venues lack air conditioning, the people lack dignity and the racks lack extra smalls. I ended up finding a dress that I loved that cost a couple hundred dollars less than it should have, and despite its less-than-perfect fit, I snatched it up. After I got home I realized that the alterations would be harder than I anticipated due to the construction of the dress. Should I get the straps shortened and lose the low neckline that actually laid well? Or should I take up the hem, thus screwing with the length of the bottom printed fabric panel that makes the dress so special? Sigh.

Kids’ sneakers, however, are awesome. Not only are they cheaper than real people sneakers, they come in sick styles. But sometimes you need to wear shoes that don’t look like they belong on a (really badass) playground. Well, that’s a different story. Some brands don’t even make size 5! (F-Troupe, I’m looking at you!) And if they do, chances are stores stock very few small pairs. Worse yet, some size 5s run big, rendering their existence totally moot for mini-hoofed chicks.

So what’s a girl to do? Well, I’m still trying to figure that out. Maybe it’s good that I can’t fit into every (not so) little thing my heart desires — it certainly lowers my credit card bills and makes justifying those pieces that actually do fit so much easier. But still, would it really be that hard to cater to non-average-sized customers every once in a while?

On Being Small Petite rants