Monday 2 January 2012

The Petite Vintage Lady

With me personally measuring at 5ft 3 and a size 6-8 I can find it frustratingly difficult to find clothes which fit. I can't wear maxi dresses as they always drag along the floor, I often can't shop in high street boutiques as a size 'small' doesn't fit and I also have problems with the straps on dresses as these are usually too long as well; I was fortunately saved this year as Primark introduced a size 6 as before I also struggled in their too.
The term petite. typically refers to a woman under 5ft 4in tall and can cover UK sizes 4-14.
I've been pleased to see more 'Petite' sections popping up in stores but I still feel petite takes second place to the specialist 'Tall' and 'Plus Size' sections. Us tiny ladies need clothes which fit as well, yes I may be able to fit into age 12-13 but why should we feel we HAVE to be turfed off to the children's section just to find something suitable. I like classic, vintage clothing styles and the children sections simply do not have these, their clothes are appropriate (as they should be) for their age group with giant pink flowers and such.
Across the world many nations can be seen as having a 'shorter population' in comparison to the British, such as Japan and Spain with their smaller framed women, and I've found shops with these origins like Uni-Qlo and Zara tend to fit me much better.
Currently I feel the British high street does not realise there are lot's of petite ladies out there (amongst my closest friends sometimes I'm the biggest in the room), who despite loving their food won't get any taller and want to be able to wear what's on trend without knowing that when they get home they'll probably have to take it up/in before they get the chance to wear it.
While vintage shoes are a God send with me being a size 4 meaning I often have the cream of the crop, I can even struggle to find vintage clothes that fit despite everyone feeling that vintage is more for petite ladies; I haven't found anything the past few vintage fairs I've been to. Maybe we could look more towards the Americans who seem to stock everything from a size 0 to XXXXL.
So as I plead for more of you to stock petite sizes, here's a few vintage reproduction websites I found which do already cater for smaller sizes and if you know of any more please share. I'll mainly be picking out knee length pieces as I've tried on dresses which fit me up top but when it comes to being shin length still tend to drown me.


1950s Bondi Black Dress 
From size XS

Lula Eggplant Dress 
From size XS


Land Girl Dress
Waist 25" Bust 32"


Captain Dress from Bettie page Clothing
From Size XS


Judy Dress
Waist 26" Bust 30-34"


Velvet Mini Ballerina Dress
Sizes start at UK 4


Betty P Blu Frida Dress
Sizes XXS & XS



Slate Blue & White Dress
Waist 26" Bust 32"

No comments:

Post a Comment