I knew that finding a petite dress to wear to a wedding would be difficult, even though I wasn’t looking for anything out of the ordinary. I needed a semi-formal wedding guest dress for September. It needed to be lightweight because I’ll be in North Carolina, where it will still be hot and humid. And, because I’m 4’11”, I was hoping to find something that actually fit a petite body.
Apparently, that was asking a lot.
What followed was a frustrating search through department stores, an online petite subscription service, and finally, an unexpected success with a dress that isn’t even petite.
First Stop: Nordstrom
I started my search in person at Nordstrom. I’ve always thought Nordstrom was one of the better department stores for finding a variety of brands and styles, so I was slightly optimistic. I wanted to see the dresses in person, try them on and hopefully find something I liked.
Then I got to the petite section. Actually, there wasn’t one. There were zero petite dresses. Not one.
I walked through the dress department looking at regular-size dresses and decided I’d try a few anyway. I’ve been petite long enough to know that sometimes you just have to try something on and see what happens. What happened was a disaster.
The dresses were too long, the proportions were off and nothing looked right on me. When a dress is designed for a taller woman, the waist can hit in the wrong place, the neckline can sit differently, the proportions can look off and the hem can fall where it's not supposed to. So, yes, I could buy the dress, but that doesn’t mean it fits.
Next Stop: Macy’s
My next stop was Macy’s and I really thought I’d have better luck there. On paper, I did because there actually was a petite department. There were five small, pathetic racks. Having a petite department and having a good petite department are two very different things.
The selection was incredibly limited, and once I started looking for my size, things didn’t get much better. The dresses I found were still too long, unflattering or just plain frumpy.
I kept thinking, is this really what petite women are supposed to choose from? Because this is the problem I run into over and over again. We’re told to shop the petite section as if that automatically solves the problem, but it doesn’t.
A petite label doesn’t guarantee a good fit. And a petite department doesn’t help much if the selection is limited to a handful of styles that don’t feel current, flattering or appropriate for the occasion. I was getting frustrated, so I went online.
Next Try: Short Story
I’ve used Short Story several times in the past. It’s a subscription service specifically for petite women, and I’ve actually had some success with them before. I filled out my request and specifically asked for semi-formal wedding guest dresses. I wasn’t vague and I wasn’t asking for a general assortment of clothes. I was looking for a dress for a very specific occasion.
When my box arrived, here’s what was inside:
Two dresses
Three tops
Two pairs of jeans
I requested wedding guest dresses. I did not request tops. I did not request jeans and I definitely wasn’t looking for casual everyday clothes.
One of the dresses was actually okay. The problem? It was dragging on the floor. The other dress was ok, but it was much too casual for a wedding. The jeans were actually cute, and Short Story has sent me cropped jeans in the past that work well for me. But these weren’t cropped, they were three inches too long.
The tops were not my style at all, which made me wonder if anyone even looked at my profile. I’ve been a customer for a while and they already had my information and my preferences. I had specifically requested wedding guest dresses. So how did I end up with a box that felt like almost none of that information had been considered? That was disappointing. What was even more disappointing was what happened afterward. I posted about my experience and called them out. I also left feedback and canceled my subscription.
I never heard anything.
Final Attempt: Quince
By this point, I was starting to stress. Then I turned to Quince and this is where things get interesting. I found a really pretty silk slip dress and it’s not petite. It's 46" long and on the 5'9" model it falls just past her knees. On me it's a midi.
As a 4’11” woman, I almost never get to wear a dress that is actually a midi on me. Something that’s labeled a midi on a taller woman is usually a maxi on me. But this one worked.
It’s lightweight, which is exactly what I wanted for hot and humid weather. The quality is really nice and the price was surprisingly reasonable for a silk dress.
So this is the dress I’m going with.
After all of that searching, I finally found what I was looking for. But here’s the thing:
I found it in the regular section. Not the petite section. Not a petite subscription box. Not a department store petite department. A regular dress just happened to work on my 4’11” body.
And That’s Really the Problem
I’m happy I found my dress. But I couldn’t help thinking about how ridiculous the process was. I happened to get lucky and petite women shouldn’t have to rely on luck. We shouldn’t have to buy regular clothes and cross our fingers that the proportions will work.
This Is Why shortnfeisty Exists
This experience is exactly why I created shortnfeisty. I don’t want petite women to have to spend hours searching dozens of websites just to find a handful of brands that make clothes for us. I don’t want us to feel like we’re difficult customers because we need a different proportion. And I don’t think being petite should mean settling for clothes that are frumpy, outdated or just ok.
There are brands making great clothes for petite women. The problem is finding them. That’s why I created the Petite Brand Directory, to make it easier to find the brands that are designing for petite bodies.
Because after years of shopping as a petite woman, I’ve learned that the problem isn’t that petite women don’t know how to shop. The problem is that the fashion industry still isn’t making enough clothes for us to shop. And my wedding guest dress hunt was just another reminder of that.
But until the fashion industry starts giving petite women more options, I’ll keep searching, sharing what I find and calling attention to the places where we’re being overlooked. Because petite women deserve clothes that fit.
