Petite clothing? Stores I used to go to don't have my size anymore!?

Question

I used to be able to wear jeans and clothes from stores such as Express, Banana Republic, etc. Granted it would have to be the smallest size they had, but still.

Now I'm finding that sizes seem to be made bigger! Pants are too long and shirts that are supposed to be form-fitting are loose!

So now I find it very hard to find clothes, even from stores that supposedly carry petite lines. (Ie, Banana Republic, Gap, department stores, etc.)

Any suggestions? Anyone else go through the same thing?

Sadly, I often need the smallest petite size, 0 or 00. Even then I sometimes find the pants too big or too long. Ergh.

Answer 1

I was just thinking about asking this question myself! The most I've ever weighed was 105 lbs and that was when I worked out every single day -- twice.

Now, I lost all that muscle and I weigh 87 lbs!!! Forget Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic. Forget petite! Even the petite lines don't fit! Size 2P is way too big. Then, if you do manage to find a line that runs size 0 or 00, it's never in stock!

I believe the reason is because clothing companies have tailored their sizing over the years (vintage clothing runs much smaller) to fit with the average increasing waistline. I read an article about this somewhere but forget where. It basically said that companies make bigger clothes with smaller numbers to make people feel good about buying their merchandise so they will come back and buy more.

An even harder thing to do is find petite clothing not made in sweatshops that are cute! Impossible - anyone want to start a biz with me? ;)

My solution to the problem has been -
(1) Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister. Clothes from these companies, especially Hollister, seem to run smaller. Unfortunately, things are a bit pricey there for my budget.

(2) Pac Sun. This store specializes in surf wear that is a bit too 'young' for me and the clothing isn't all that durable (their socks suck, their panties are too thick -- not well made at all), but they always have decent jeans in stock in size 00 and 0, sometimes for as little as $15 or less (check for sales).

(3) Vintage. Lately, I have been on EBay looking for cute vintage clothing. I haven't bought anything yet (not really much of a money saver - people are willing to pay quite a bit for an old dress!), but I have found some stuff running much smaller.

(4) Children's clothes. Now this one is a hunt because most companies design clothes ultra girly and childish looking with bows and the like. Also, sometimes the fit isn't quite what I want it to be because it is cut differently or something. If you look hard, you sometimes find cute things.

(5) If you have small boobs, aalingerie.com (european company) has smaller lingerie but most are quite expensive. Any others?

(6) For bathing suits, I always buy brazilian. they run small by design so I can always find a good fit. I like ViX, Salinas, and have also bought from fiufiu.com. Does anyone know if brazilian underwear runs the same way? Their bathing suits are always beautiful and sexy and I'd like to have underwear made the same way! Where to get that?

Good luck and please message me if you find any other options!

Answer 2

I have the same problem. I take petite as well (mostly pants) and it is frustrating to find clothes because many stores don't carry a lot of petite clothing that's appealing to me, or if they do have petites, they don't have my size. They cut off at the size below mine.
I know Kohl's sells petite clothing (as petite or short), but in many areas of the ladies clothing it's mixed in with the regular sizes and you have to hunt for your size. I had to look through a whole rack just to find one pair of dressy pants in my size.

Sears has petite clothing, especially in their catalog.

There's Walmart, but I haven't been able to find much in petite there except jeans.

Blair.com sells petite clothing. I buy some clothes from them. There's also Newport News.

Answer 3

You don't say what size petite clothing you need... but..

Ann Taylor, INC, Jones New York, Alfani, DKNY (found at macys), J.Jill..etc. all have a petite line.

Also you can have the pants tailored to fit as well. You can find a cheap tailor to take the pants up.

Try ebay if you want to find better deals in order to offset your tailoring costs.

Answer 4

Join the club. I have the same problem
First u got look at the fact 99% of our clothes are not made here in the usa...!!!!!
When our clothes were made here ..The clothing line used to be as it is..the size fit always..
I have noticed the don't fit for a long time now..So I shop very little or not at all...Frustration !!!!
Italian made other than usa made are the best .....very rare indeed...
If you have the internet start shopping around...
Bloomingdales'...Ann Taylors..for examples..Have great clothing lines...
Bloomingdales' (Macy's) not the food store....has bloomingdale's clothing line within the store..
I hope this helps' due to I feel for you as for me Ahhhhhhhhhh I just grin and keep looking...

Answer 5

My cousin is really petite and she ends up shopping in the little kids section to find clothes. Or you could buy the smallest size and have them tailored.

Answer 6

I shop from Newport News catalog. They have a separate petites section with great styles! u can find them online

Answer 7

Hey! Check out this link to the blog petite fashion! It gives you brands and stores for all stores with petite selections, petite specific brands, and it also gives you petite shoes and footwear! I hope our website helps you!!!

http://www.petitefashion.org/petite-store-directory/

Answer 8

maybe you are smaller

Answer 9

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Answer 10

American Eagle, they have short jeans and they fit really good:) check em' out.