Karl Lagerfeld
Fashion Advice: Petite Fashions
Q:Budget Fashionista,
I need your help. I’m a 5"1”, 110 lbs, 23-year-old female and I find it very difficult to shop for office clothes. It seems like there are very few fashion options for petite women. Any advice?
A: I’ve been getting quite a few questions from petite readers in regards to the sad state of petite fashion. I agree that there’s little, to no, options for truly petite women.
The fact is that as the size of the average American has increased, clothing sizes have decreased (read my entry that talks in greater detail about this issue). Furthermore, manufacturers use fit models to “represent” the largest number of consumers possible and if you fall outside of the size range of the fit models, like 90% of the people in the world, you’re not going to be able to wear things straight off the rack. However, all is not lost—find a good tailor and you’ll be well on your way to proper fitting fashion. In fact, prior to the 1970s, getting a piece tailored to fit you was a pretty common clothing care procedure. Most department stores offered free tailoring.
You could also try wearing Parisian and Japanese designers, who tend to cut their clothing a bit smaller. Try designers like Kenzo, Karl Lagerfeld, TSE, Issey Miyake, Marini, Louis Vuitton, or the French budget site Le Redoute. With the exception of Le Redoute, these designers don’t come cheap, so you’ll have to practically live at the local outlet mall or on the bargain site—Bluefly.com. But the clothing will fit you. You could also try a store like Ann Taylor, which sometimes can be as pricey as buying designer clothing at an outlet mall and not nearly as fashionable and the Gap
, which sells petite (and tall) sizes online. Macy’s, Nordstrom
, Bloomingdales
, and Lord & Taylor all have petite departments with a better selection online rather than in store. You might also want to save your money and head up to Canada—Ste. Catherine in Montreal and the Eaton center in Toronto have several great petite fashion shops.
Here’s some general tips:
Things to Embrace:
High Heels—Wearing at least a 2-inch heel will help to elongate your body (both torso and legs).
A Great Tailor—A great tailor is an importance asset for your wardrobe as he or she can alter garments to fit your shape. I’ll talk more about how to find a great tailor later in this section.
Low-rise Pants—Lower waist pants will make your torso look longer. Make sure the hem of the pants covers your shoe to give the illusion that your legs are longer.
Big Hair—If you’re looking to appear taller, wearing your in a high bun or ponytail will increase height as well.
Vertical Stripes—The stripes give the effect of looking taller and slimmer.
Things to Avoid:
Cropped Anything—Cropped pants, tops, and jackets will shorten your torso.
Flats—They will not give you the additional height you need.
Long unstructured skirts—They will drown your shape and make you look shorter. Hem the skirt to either three inches above your knee, at your knee, or three inches below your knee.
Mini skirts—Off the rack mini skirts will fall at an awkward length. Make sure your skirts fall either 3 inches above your knee, at your knee, or 3 inches below.
Great Designers for Petite Budget Fashionistas
INC—Trendy, bright, and affordable.
Eileen Fisher—Fluid fashions good for plus size petites.
DKNY—Hip, younger, urban wear.
Ellen Tracy—A classic line, great for suits
Forever 21—Not a petite store per see, but clothes are cut smaller
Dana Buchman—Another classic line, great for work clothes
Lily Pulitzer—Sportswear for the ladies who lunch set.
Lauren by Ralph Lauren—The classic American designer’s preppy petite line.
Anne Klein—Suits and tops perfect for work.
Gap—Online store stocks a large number of petite sized pants.
Banana Republic—Online store carries fashionable designs in petite styles.
Prada at H&M
One of the hottest topics around the water cooler is the possibility of a Prada line at H&M. I’ve received several emails from readers asking for details on the marriage of our favorite designer and favorite budget fashion store. Nothing has been confirmed, but the grumblings are quite loud (my friends in the fashion industry tell me that it’s almost a done deal), especially since the line would include a budget Prada line for men.
From Vogue.com,
The rumour that the Italian fashion house is to follow Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney’s hugely successful collaborations with the Swedish store has surfaced again, but still they’re saying nothing. “We don’t know anything yet and we’re not expecting to know for some months,” a spokeswoman for H&M, which yesterday announced a 21 per cent rise in profits for the first fiscal quarter of 2006 to £134 million. Asked last year whether she would consider the idea of working with H&M, Miuccia told VOGUE.COM that she wasn’t anti it. “I have talked about it as they did ask me,” she said. “I think it is an interesting concept and I would love to work on an entire collection using inexpensive materials.”
The Bridge is (ALL) Over: Karl Lagerfeld’s new Signature Line
According to Hip-Hop legend KRS-One “The Bridge is Over”. Well, that might be true for rappers from Queens, but not for famous fashion designers. The fashion world has their La Perla’s in a bunch over the launch of Karl “the incredible shrinking designer” Lagerfeld’s new signature line. Laggy will join an expanding community of fellow high-end designers like Marky Marc (Marc Jacobs) and R-Rock (Ralph Lauren), who have found fame and money in developing bridge lines. The line, which is considered mid-priced (crazy talk), features dresses, jeans and T shirts from $95 on up. Find the line at your local Needless Mark-Up (aka Neiman Marcus) or online at neimanmarcus.com on March 17th and March 18th.
P.S. Betcha five bucks he shows up on Oprah by the end of this month.
JC Penney’s Creates Temp Store in Manhattan Putting ‘The City That Nevers Sleep’ Asleep
In a blindingly unoriginal move, JC Penney’s has created a temporary store in Times Square (at 42nd Street). Why the old school store wasted their money doing this, I shall never know. It’s like building an Alexander McQueen boutique in Salina, Kansas—wrong location, wrong customer. I’ve never, EVER, heard anyone in New York say “Gee, I really wish we had a JC Penney’s in the city.” Even my very Midwestern mom, who insisted when I got married that I register at the store because “Penney’s has great towels and sheets”, was baffled by the concept of a temp store in NYC.
The quality and selection of clothing at JC Penney’s is dismal at best—you know your store has a problem when Sears has a more stylish collection than you. Yes, they have a line by Nicole Miller, but she doesn’t have the designer appeal or the persona of a Karl Lagerfeld or Isaac Mizrahi. Plus, Miller’s clothing at JC Penney’s looks nothing like her collections at higher end stores and boutiques, which gives shoppers no incentive to shop the store.
Here’s my advice to JC Penney’s—close down the Manhattan store and invest the money better marketing, store design, and stylish clothing.
Chanel’s Pre-Fall 2006 Show
Mr. Lagerfeld, a.k.a chairman of the “I-don’t-like-fat-people” club, recently put on a pre-fall 2006 fashion show at Chanel’s 57th street store. With Lindsay, Ashley, and a whole slew of socialites and celebs with names ending in “y” in tow, Lagerfeld’s show was pretty much a homage to his own personal style, with black and white ensembles dominating the catwalk. As a person who enjoys a good splash of magenta now and then, this peek at 2006 makes me feel really sad, but not as sad as I felt when I saw balloon skirts parading down the runway during the Fall 2005 shows. As someone with a little extra junk in her trunk that almost bought me to tears.
P.S Is it just me or do all the models at this show look like female versions of the incredible shrinking designer?
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