When we launched our new online store for petite women, www.forpetitesake.com, I put my “buyer’s hat” back on after a long hiatus. Quite frankly, I wasn’t prepared for how dramatically the wholesale side of the petite business has changed. I was a Petite Buyer for major department stores during the days when manufacturers were jumping on the petite bandwagon right and left. Everybody wanted to cut their merchandise in petite sizes. Now manufacturers are dropping their petite lines like flies. My goal for the online store is to find quality petite clothing at affordable prices, avoiding the lines that department stores carry. I had no idea how difficult this challenge would be. Reality is that the petite market is now dominated by department store lines, the same ones I want to avoid. National chains like Ann Taylor and Talbots produce merchandise under their own label. So small independent clothing manufacturers simply cannot afford to stay in business and compete with the “big boys” anymore. This domino effect has made it very difficult for petite specialty stores to stay in business. I was sad to learn that one of my favorite petite stores, The Petite Boutique in Franklin, Tennessee is closing their doors due to sluggish sales. I know the buying power of petite women is still tremendous and have been shocked at how many manufacturers no longer cut petite sizes. On a bright note, we have discovered some great new lines out of Canada (Lana Lee, Jag, Softworks) where they have a very developed petite business. So I am reaching out to all of my readers. I could use your help finding unique petite clothing lines with a great fit. Send me the name of your favorite brands, preferably not the lines found in major department stores. Your input is welcome and very much appreciated.
I want to say how PLEASED I am with my recent purchases from your online petite store. I’ve received many compliments on my Nic & Joey and Jag apparel. The clothes are comfortable and wash very well! I look forward to new items to add to my wardrobe. FOR PETITESAKE. com is fast becoming my shop of choice for great clothes! Thanks!!!
Love your blog. But as a Canadian petite (5′1″, about a size 10 or 12) I find it bizarre that you call the petites market in Canada “very developed”. On the contrary, I have to make regular shopping trips to the USA to have any hope whatsoever of finding clothes that fit. Most of the lines you take for granted – Macy’s, Nordstrom’s, Ann Taylor, even GAP petites – aren’t available in Canada, and for the most part can’t even be ordered online. An endless source of frustration, to be sure.
Here in Canada, they’ll look at you strangely in stores when you ask about petites sizing, and then point you toward a size XS. There are a few clothes that carry petites, including the Bay, Laura and Reitmans, but their stuff tends to be for older women, and not very fashion-forward. I’m thirty years old and work in advertising; I don’t want to dress like seventy-five year old.
I think it’s because we have about one-tenth of the population in Canada as you do in the USA, so there just isn’t the critical mass in the market to make niche sizing an option. With fashion geared towards the “long and lean” segment of the market, those of us who are vertically-challenged get left out in the dust.
Basically, my only recourse is to take a very expensive trip to New York City about once a year, load up my suitcase with tons of clothes, and then toss out the receipts and smuggle them back across the border. Other than that, I can buy ill-fitting clothes that have to be dramatically altered (seriously, hemlines are one thing, but taking in the shoulders and raising the waist are just ridiculously expensive), or I can just wear old clothes for years on end. Fashionista? I wish!