Half-Pint: Shopping while looking up!

the return

2011-02-14T11:34:00.000-08:00

Wow. It's been about 10 months since my last post! For shame, for shame. So much has happened since my then. I rehabbed my reconstructed ACL, got a new job and apartment in Washington, DC, and got engaged! All of this seems no excuse for my blog-neglect, but it's all I've got. So I'm back in the saddle again, and hope to post regularly (at least 3 times a week)!

I wanted to start by posting a few petite-friendly wedding gowns that I've found. I already bought mine, but I won't post it here until after the wedding :-)

The first one is a beautiful, simple, and classic gown by Anne Barge. The pockets make it unique and a bit sassy. I actually tried this on and loved it, although it didn't end up being 'the one'. It flattered my petite frame and was 'princess-ey' without swallowing me whole.

Another option is going short, but is it really an option? I am not completely traditional, but still would feel a bit TOO avant-garde/disrespectful wearing a short wedding dress. In addition, a lot of them are tea length, which is not so flattering for us shorties. And the ones that aren't tea length are sometimes a bit silly looking in my opinion, like this Priscilla of Boston:

I think a good option for us petite brides is a more sheathe-like shape. I was looking for something other than strapless, and I imagined getting something like this one:

Suit Yourself

2010-04-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

So I've had the same suit since my first year out of college. This, shockingly, was 5 years ago! I love my little Tahari petite skirt suit. But I don't feel that (even after tailoring) it suits me as well as it could(bad pun intended). I am thinking of purchasing a new suit, and am really curious about the pant suit vs. skirt suit debate. I know that skirt suits are considered more conservative and professional, and personally, I like feeling a bit feminine, especially when those manly shoulder pads are involved with the top part. However, I want to make sure I look like someone who is in command, and I am starting to think the pant suit actually communicates that message a little bit more than the skirt suit.

Thoughts, ladies?

Lace to the Top

2010-03-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm allowed the lame blog post title because I'm a teacher, ok? And if you don't eagerly follow education, Race to the Top is the education initiative (competition for money) to push states to reform...wait, this blog is supposed to be about FASHION and being petite...let's get to it.

I recently bought this gorgeous BB Dakota skirt:
Cute, right? What I love about it is the length. It's short, yes, but just the right short. It's not so short that your skeevy older cousin is going to ask 'how much for her?", but not the frumpy length that some 'mini' skirts end up being on me. Another HUGE plus is the shape of the skirt. It is not a-line. Rejoice! I have fairly small hips, so a-line skirts never actually sit on my hips, creating a weird, tent-y look. This skirt gracefully hugs my hips without being tight or pulling anywhere.
(Oh, and this pic is not of my backside...and I'm actually glad not to have those spray-tanned, awkwardly-muscular-at-random-parts legs!)
Hooray for BB Dakota! This is the first time I've ever purchased something from that line--maybe I'll have to add it to the Petite Hot List I'm creating! Stay tuned...

In the Heights

2010-03-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

Ah, shoe shopping. I have a love-hate relationship with it. On one hand, I do love shoes. On the other, it seems like when I'm looking for shoes, I think I like various pair of shoes, and then when I have them up close and on my feet, I overanalyze the way they look and end up hating them.

That being said, I own way too many pairs of shoes, so I obviously seem to find plenty I DO like!
On top of the aestheics of the shoe, there's the height to consider. of course.

My preference is to wear high heels. I love the added height, the way they make my legs look, the way I walk--no, sashay--when I'm wearing them.

When it comes to flats (cause a girl can't ONLY wear high heels), I find that pointy toe flats are more flattering (pardon the pun) on a shorter body. I don't have any good insight as to why, it just seems that way! I had one pair that I thought of as my 'cheating' shoes. No, not because I cheated on tests (or guys) while wearing them, but because in my mind, it appeared as if I was wearing high heels when I wore them with jeans.

I recently bought three pairs of shoes online, each at a different height. It's only my second time ever purchasing shoes online, so we'll see how this goes. Here's what I bought:

One pair of high heels (Joan and David 2 Cape Patent Leather) that aren't even that high:

One pair of medium height wedges (Kelly&Katie Chloe Sandal):

One pair of (flat) white Keds! This is my 'kind of risky, I think it's gonna be trendy and i can picture myself wearing them with cute shorts this summer' shoe):

So now I can be whatever height I want (short, 5'2 me, slightly taller, or practically average height)!

Oh and by the way, "In the Heights" is an amazing Broadway musical. It has nothing to do with shoes, or short people.

The Long and Short of It

2010-03-13T13:55:00.000-08:00

I went to see Alice in Wonderland last night (pretty good, very trippy movie). I had very vivid dreams that night, and part of it included me running around in a long dress (other parts involved a talking dog, but I digress).

This got me thinking about dress length. I typically avoid long dresses and skirts like the plague. As a petite person, I think long dresses make me look even shorter (sometimes the word 'stumpy' comes to mind) and swallow up my frame. I tried to think if I had ever worn a long dress that looked good, and i did think of two instances:

1. My senior prom dress. It was a "Laundry by Shelli Segal" dress: simple, column style, strapless, and a flattering shade of lavender.

2. The dress I wore to the Inaugural Ball last January. It was black, column style, with a unique strap that went diagonally across my chest.

But those are both formal dresses. I don't think I have ever worn a 'maxi dress' or any other longer dress or skirt in a casual setting. Do I want to? Well, I have to admit, some of them look pretty in stores and on the hangers. I haven't even tried one on though, and I think the amount of material really will just overwhelm me!

Backpack Search

2010-03-06T13:56:00.000-08:00

Apparently today I'm in a mood to disclose. Why, you might ask, would I be searching for a backpack? Didn't those go out of style in 1998? Remember MINI-backpacks? Wow. Well, I tore my ACL and will be getting surgery in a little more than a month. After the surgery, I'll have to be on crutches for 4 weeks. One thing I learned after being on crutches for a short time once before, is that it's utterly impossible to carry a purse and walk with any sense of grace or dignity on crutches. Well, maybe you can never walk with grace or dignity while on crutches, but a shoulder purse just makes it that much harder.

So begins my search for a backpack. I can't really decided what kind/style I want. Do I want something plain and simple (i.e. black)? Really cute? Sporty? Ladylike and stylish? Can I get all of the above, combined? Here are some I'm considering. Opinions welcome.

From the top down: Lesportsac (cute), Jane Marvel (stylish?), Nuo Chloe Dao (different), Jansport (sporty).

What Would Petite Shoppers Do Without It?

2010-03-06T13:11:00.001-08:00

I'm referring, of course, to the internet. While still not the same as actually touching, feeling, seeing and, yeah, even sometimes smelling (you know you've done it) an item of clothing in person (and on your body), the internet is a savior for the smaller-framed girl.

It allowed me to get that Disney t-shirt I

was lamenting about....and will allow you to learn a little bit more about me, Half-Pint. The t-shirt is this:

This shirt would probably be considered SO lame, except that it fits so well with what I do in life (besides searching for cute clothes!). I teach sixth grade. Now read the shirt again. Yeah, that's me. So I found the shirt online, realized it is sold at Newbury Comics, and although I haven't set foot in a Newbury Comics since my teenybopper days, I now am the proud owner of a size S of this little tshirt!

So thanks, internet, for saving me from the "they don't have it in my size" blues. Now I have to get back to some grading...

Barn Coat Update!

2010-02-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

So I have been introduced to one of the perils (blessings) of blogging! People you know actually read your posts, and then act on them. I posted a little while ago about the L.L. Bean barn coat, and lo and behold, my boyfriend, N. surprises me with one!

The problem is, I had just purchased it! This isn't, of course, a real problem, because I can just return one of them to the L.L. Bean store.

The XS Petite seems to fit great, and I can't wait to bust it out when it's warm enough! I actually saw a picture in the NY Times' coverage of fashion week that seemed to be channeling the same vibe...It's from the Tommy Hilfiger show. Notice those L.L. Bean(ey) boots!

Disney Is for Kids?

2010-02-18T05:05:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this blog post quickly from Disney World in Florida. I have only a few minutes before we rush off to Epcot.

So we all know, Disney is for kids. I could probably write several blog posts about all the fun things there are to do for adults, but what I wanted to write about (complain about) today is the retail clothing!

They have several very cool, vintage-y t-shirts for sale in one of the Magic Kingdom boutiques. I was excited to find at least three different styles I liked....only to have the familiar, sinking feeling of shifting through the sizes. M. M. M. L. L. XL. XXL. No S. No smalls. Being used to this phenomenon, I tracked down a salesperson to inquire if they had anymore 'in the back'. Before the question was out of my mouth, she curtly repiled, "No, we don't have anymore smalls."

Disney dreams, crushed. I probably should thank Disney for saving me the $35 or whatever ridiculous amount they were going to (over)charge me for the t-shirt. But still, I wish I had the option to waste my money just like the larger folk....

I'm off to Epcot! Maybe they'll have a 'Figment' t-shirt in size S. Hey, it's Disney. A girl can dream...

Romper Room

2010-02-08T16:46:00.000-08:00

Apparently the "Romper Room" was some really popular children's television show in the 50's (or is it 60's?). Well, since last spring, I've been contemplating this romper trend in fashion. Is it, like the television show and the cereal, only for kids?

When I posed the Romper issue to my mom many months ago, she gave this seemingly wise response: "Some trends are over for a reason." She said this with a quizzical, eye-brow raised, 'oh my god please don't tell me you are going to wear one of those' look.

So I put the thought aside. Until now. For some reason the rompers have creeped back into my brain, and I can't get them out!

I have three main questions when it comes to these guys:

1. Can I even pull it off in the first place? Will I be ballsy enough to actually walk out of my apartment in one? Or will I simply prance around in the mirror and then chicken out?

2. Will it make me look 8 years old? I ask this question constantly, and I think the kid-factor ramps up with this.

3. Will it even look good on my frame? I am petite, obviously. But more than that, I have a very, very short torso (and luckily, very, very long legs). The joke is that my body type is kind of like one of those stick figures that kids draw with just a head and then long legs coming out from the head. Will this romper thing accentuate that?

I have not even tried one of these bad boys on yet. In a recent online search, a lot of the rompers I saw have WAY too much material and are WAY too busy for my frame. This one by Aqua from Bloomies is a possibility, but again, I'd have to try it on to find out...

Baby got Back

2010-02-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

One of my least favorite clothing items to shop for is a button-down blouse. It's not that I don't like ladies' blouses; it's a matter of fit.

It's funny that I still even try these on. I'll see a nice blouse on the rack, carry it to the dressing room full of hope. But every time, the problem is the same: the back of the shirt looks absolutely ridiculous on me. The cut of these blouses makes me look like I have a constant pocket of air radiating out of my upper (and sometimes lower) back. I can almost picture the clothing company workers singing, in unison, "I like big backs and I cannot lie" as the machines churn out these shirts.

So many times I stand in the dressing room, looking at myself in the mirror from the front, feeling pretty good about the professional-looking image gleaming back at me. Then, I slowly rotate to check out the side view, and that's when blouse-backitis hits. The professional-looking woman now looks like some kind of clownish circus linebacker. It really is that goofy.

How many times do I see 'classic white blouse' listed as one of the must-have items in a woman's wardrobe? I guess I'll just keep searching...for the perfect back-of-the-blouse fit.

an apron....sexy?

2010-02-02T17:22:00.000-08:00

I somehow stumbled upon these unbelievably cute (or, in some instances, sexy) aprons. They have a special line for tailgating...

Now if only I ever did any sort of activity in which you'd need to wear an apron....

They are 'Haute Hostess Aprons by Elizabeth Skokin'. They seem a little pricey but I wouldn't hate it if someone bought me one as a gift. Unless it meant I had to learn how to cook.

http://www.hautehostessaprons.com/index.asp

The thrill of the hunt

2010-02-02T11:40:00.000-08:00

I was thinking that sometimes I'm complaining about having to look so hard to find clothes that fit, when really I secretly enjoy the thrill of the hunt. I'm just that kind of shopper--I enjoy going to a store and going through racks, hoping to find something amazing (yes, I'm talking about stores like Filene's Basement and Nordstrom Rack). I love the idea of 'competitive shopping'...one of the things I look forward to most at Thanksgiving is going shopping that NIGHT at midnight at the Wrentham Outlets. It's festive, and holiday-ey, and there's some camaraderie around the craziness of shopping at that time of night, but there's also that glimmer of 'I'm the first one here, and I want to find the deal first!". A lot of my friends despise this kind of shopping. I was brought up to not only enjoy it, but to seek it out.

It's kind of like that with finding petite clothes in general. It might be more work to find things, but maybe the reward is greater and we actually appreciate well-fitting clothes more than the average Jill?

By the way, the following picture is a. not of me and b. demonstrates yet another area where being short is kind of a disadvantage

Barn Coat for Petites

2010-02-01T20:02:00.000-08:00

So the SECOND that riding boots came back on the scene, I had this weird urge to buy a barn coat. I had one in middle school; it was that pretty cranberry red with brown courdory accents. Ahh, middle school. I used to hang out with a kind of 'horsey' crowd. These girls all had money, took horseback riding lessons, and were just the epitome of cool in my eyes. In seventh grade, I finally convinced my mom to let me take riding lessons too. I loved the outift (jodphurs, boots, a velvet riding helmet...) and the sport. Unfortunately I was so busy with my real hobby, dance, that I gave up on it after that year. I think my parents (and their wallets) breathed a sigh of relief at the end of that phase.

I did love that barn coat, and so now I'm thinking of buying one again! I can't decide if it's on the precipice of trendy, or just a random old fad that I'm trying (and failing) to bring back. The thing that is swaying my decision most is that L.L. Bean makes a barn coat in petite sizes! Here's the one I might purchase:

It does kind of look non-trendy...but I think with the right accessories and outfit I can 'make it work'!

Can I still get away with it?

2010-02-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

You know you know what I mean. You've done it too, I just know it....

Shop in the kids' department.

I said it. I've done it. I definitely did it a lot more when I was in high school and college. But even still, I ocassionaly visit the kids' department (or plain old kids' store) to find things. Right now I own three pieces that I know are from a kids department or store:

1. Red courdory A-line skirt from Talbots Kids. I bought it last year in exchange for a gift I returned (from the regular store). I wore it today and received a compliment from a professional woman. I almost told her where I got it, but bit my tongue. Sometimes it's better to keep certain things to yourself, right? Unfortunately, Talbots dropped their kids' line: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/01/05/mens_childrens_lines_are_out/

2. Pink and brown striped sweater from H and M's Kids Line: It is a size 14, I've had it for 2 years, and I love it. It looks a lot like this: except I'm definitely not Kate Moss.

3. My ski jacket! It's a Columbia and I got it as a present this holiday season. I actually tried it on and fell in love BEFORE figuring out it was a kid's size. I have it in white, but here it is in blue:

Since I can't open that petite clothing boutique...

2010-02-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

For about 5 years now, I have fantasized about opening up a cute little petite clothing boutique where I would sell amazingly trendy and fun clothes that were designed for the shorter set. Those 'petite departments' in most department stores are such an insult. It's like they round up all the ugliest, frumpiest, cheapest-looking designs and then the buyers say, "Hey, this is PERFECT for our petite department!" It's depressing. Even my 75 year old Nana dresses in more fashionable items than what I see in there. Yet I still look everytime I'm there.

Yesterday I was walking down the street near my apartment (in a gay--i mean trendy--neighborhood) in Boston, I saw that the spot where a flower shop had been was now available for lease. For a fleeting second, my 'dream' of opening the boutique came back. But let's be honest, it's not going to happen. I'm not a designer. I don't know that many petite designers I could buy from. I don't know anything about merchandising or owning my own business.

But I do know a little about finding cool clothes that look good and fit well on a petite frame.

My stats:
Height: 5'2
Weight: hmmm was 110...probably closer to 115 now!
Age: 27

Hopefully you'll find my adventures in shopping for stuff that doesn't make me look 5 years old somewhat interesting, funny, or maybe even helpful...