During my career as a Petite Fashion Specialist, I have been approached by literally thousands of short women who wear a size 12 or size 14 insisiting that they are not petite. As I tower above them at my lofty height of 5′4″, my answer is always the same. Yes, you are. Petite sizing is based on height, not weight. If you stand 5′4″ or under, you are considered a petite customer by fashion industry standards. There still exists a huge misconception that petite means tiny. The fact that there is yet so much education to be done inspired me to write my book of petite fashion advice, The Petite Handbook (www.thepetitehandbook.com). Petite refers to an all-over proportioning of the body from head-to-toe, not left-to-right. A petite customer can have the same bust and hip measurements as her taller counterpart. However, regular sized clothing doesn’t fit properly because a petite woman has a shorter body frame. Petite garments are cut smaller in key areas and the rest of the garment is proportioned to match. The obvious differences include shorter sleeves and hemlines. You might not realize that the distance from neck-to-waist and waist-to-hip is shorter on petite clothing. Other more subtle details include higher armholes, narrower shoulders, raised pockets, and scaled down details. The bottom line is…. If you are 5′4″ or shorter and wear size 0 to size 16, you will get a better fit in petite sized clothing.
