This is also the time of year when new designers introduce their collections.  The hottest thing going for Fall 2010 is Madonna’s ”Material Girl” line of clothing launching exclusively at Macy’s nationwide on August 3.  Although “Material Girl” targets primarily the tween and teen markets, there could be something for everyone since the collection includes shoes, handbags, and accessories.  The prices can’t be beat with most items ranging from $12 to $40 at retail. 

If you run your own business (like me) and have a fetish for office supplies (like me), now is the time to stock up.  As office supply stores try to snag back-to-school revenue, they are loaded with all sorts of fun notebooks, spirals, folders, and desk supplies at amazing discounts.  You can update your desktop and your wardrobe at the same time.

Me:  Do you carry petite sizes?                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Salesperson:  No, but we carry Extra Small.

Woe is me.  The controversy and confusion over petite sizing  rages on.  I am more convinced than ever that there exists a huge need for a massive education campaign.   Many designers, manufacturers, and retailers use the terms petite and extra small interchangeably.  For example, a clothing designer who doesn’t even cut their line in petite sizes could label the smallest size they offer as size Petite even though the garment is not remotely  proportioned for a short body frame. 

Yes, some petite women are extra small.  But the reality is that only 8% of all petite customers weigh 100 pounds or less and would be considered tiny.  The rest of us have the same bust and hip measurements as a regular sized customer, but regular sizes don’t fit us because we are short.  Petite sizing is based on height, not weight.  Petite actually refers to an all-over proportioning on the body from head-to-toe, not left-to-right.   

One of my favorite blogs www.about.com/fashion ran a survey recently asking petite women if clothing designers and manufacturers should continue calling clothing for short women petite and drop use of the term petite when it means extra small.   An overwhelming 64% of their readers responded that they should adopt this practice.  What do you think?  Should the clothing industry standardize sizing terminology and quit confusing customers?

The obvious answer is to wear the least amount of clothing possible.  Bare arms, bare shoulders, bare legs, exposed toes.  Wear sundresses, strapless or one-shoulder tops and dresses, halters, tanks, shorts, minis, flip-flops, and sandals wherever, whenever you can. 

Another simple petite fashion solution is to stay cooler by wearing fabrics that breathe.  Exactly what does that mean?  How can a fabric breathe?  

To explain, let’s take a look at the two types of fibers used to make petite clothing, natural fibers and synthetic fibers.  Think of a fiber as a piece of thread that is woven together to create fabric.  Natural fibers originate from plants or animals.  Synthetic fibers are created from man-made chemicals.  Natural fibers breathe due to a looser weave.  Synthetic fibers don’t.  Synthetic fibers like polyester, nylon, and rayon don’t absorb moisture.  It gets trapped between the fibers causing your body temperature to rise.  On the other hand, natural fibers like cotton, linen, and silk make the best choices for a summer wardrobe because they absorb moisture, offering you a natural source of air conditioning.

Featured: Banana Republic blue silk dress $110.00

Short women with long legs?  A tall petite?  It sounds sort of like a fashion oxymoron, which is by definition a figure of speech in which 2 contradictory words are placed together for effect.  Aren’t all short women supposed to have short legs? Au contraire.

Look at Sarah Jessica.  Granted, she is known for her skyscraper heels, a guaranteed way to make toned legs look like they go on forever. Her sometimes eclectic, always fashion savvy alter-ego Carrie Bradshaw breaks petite fashion rules on a regular basis, but she follows some pretty basic guidelines to create the illusion of height on camera.  Wear it really short or wear it really long. 

 Carrie wears her skirts or dresses short, well above the knee, or she wears long dresses that drape all the way to the floor. From the Halston Heritage white jersey dress she wears in Sex and the City 2’s first scene to the short electirc blue pleated dress also by Halston Heritage (featured below) or her Dior newsprint dress, Carrie shows that the shorter the dress, the longer the leg looks. 

The long black Emilio Pucci evening gown worn to Smith’s movie premiere proves that one color story from head-to-toe always makes a petite woman look taller, sexy and glamorous.  One of Carrie’s most controversial outfits is the Zac Posen purple and gray crinoline skirt (rumored to be the bottom half of a ballgown) paired with a J’Adore Dior cotton tee shirt.  Believe it or not, this unusual combination backs up the petite principle that a short top paired with a long skirt divides the petite figure at uneven points for a body lengthening effect. 

 Petite fashionistas take note.  Even if you don’t particularly care for Carrie Bradshaw’s style, this “all leg or no leg” approach to petite fashion seems to really work.  You don’t have to be in the middle of the desert to pull off the mirage of really long legs.

   Photo credit:  Zappos.com

• Shorter hemlines (the obvious)
• Shorter sleeves
• Shorter lines neck-to-waist
• Shorter lines waist-to-hip
• Narrower shoulders
• Higher armholes
• Shorter rise and inseam
• Raised pockets
• Shortened zippers
• Buttons sewn closer together
• Less volume in skirts and dresses
• Details scaled down including pockets, collars, lapels, belts, belt loops,  and embellishments 

If you are really short, have heavy calves or thick ankles, capri pants may not be your best look. For those of you in the 5′2″ to 5′4″ height range with shapely legs, matching your shoes with your hemline will help you pull off the look with  confidence and style.

Gap cropped denim capri pant $54.50  www.gap.com

So why is a consumer base estimated to spend $10 billion annually on clothing being ignored?  Having spent over 20 years in the petite fashion industry, I have my theories.  When I started my career as a Petite Buyer, the petite business was booming.  Every manufacturer wanted to produce their line in petite sizes.  Every trendy item, every hot look was offered in petite sizes.  Department stores jumped on the petite bandwagon and profits surged.

But as the years passed, these same stores started to take the petite customer for granted and eventually got lazy.  Management always loved the sales that the Petite Department produced, but never really saw the petite customer as having different needs from other customers.  They failed to understand that not only a large selection of merchandise, but special attention kept this customer loyal to their store.  When upper management got bored with the petite niche market, they moved on and sought new areas of business to develop.  The centralized check-out counter dealt another blow to the petite customer accustomed to high levels of customer service. 

As the economy started to stagger, department stores having already lost their zeal for the petite business, started to let manufacturers dictate what is cut in petite sizes.  Inventory became more about basics, less about fashion and newness.  The bottom line is that Petite Buyers, store management, and manufacturers quit fighting for us.  Thus, the dramatically altered or non-existent state of the Petite Department.

So what is a petite girl to do?  Unite as a group and vent your frustration loud and clear.  Power comes in numbers.  Join a grass roots movement like www.bellapetite.com and advocate for change in the petite industry.  Please send me your thoughts and suggestions on how we can collectively stand tall and be heard.

If you are not familiar with the Bermuda bag,  it is not a straw handbag from the islands.  The Bermuda bag is an oval shaped handbag with wooden handles and changeable covers.  The beauty of the perfectly proportioned petite handbag is that by simply changing the fabric covers, you can match virtually every outfit you own.  I had a huge collection of covers in college - prints, solids, plaids, some even monogrammed with my initials.   So the favorite handbag of my youth has now come full circle.        

 Featured Bermuda Bag from www.thejessebcollection.com