Did you know most petite sized clothing is proportioned to fit women 5’3″ to 4’11″ tall? The difference in proportions between a woman who is 5’3″ and a woman who is 4’11″ can be remarkably different, so if a garment is cut to fit the taller end the petite size spectrum, guess what happens when a shorter gal tries the same garment.
At 4’11″, I just barely make the petite sizes cut-off. Even though my height is supposedly taken into consideration when proportioning petite sizes, I often find that even petite sizes are cut too large for me.
Case in point, here is a Banana Republic Petite size XXS top I ordered on-line recently. Here is the stock photo from the Banana Republic website, which shows how the garment is intended to fit. The asymmetrical neckline is high enough to be modest, but still an interesting detail.
Now, here it is in size XXS petite on my 4’11″ self.
Banana Republic Asymmetrical Tee in size XXS petite.
The neckline is ill-proportioned on someone so short. The bottom of the V comes down way too low and to far to the side, so that it is no longer modest, and actually shows my bra. The shoulder width, torso width, and length are all proportioned well, but I bet the neckline fits much better on a woman closer to 5’3″.
Even with the availability of sizes as small as XXS petite at stores like Banana Republic and Ann Taylor, they still aren’t proportioned to fit a woman quite so small. And if this is how a garment fits a woman of 4’11″, which is technically a height that has been taken into consideration, I can only imagine how it would look on a woman even shorter than myself.
Just another thing to think about when out shopping…
