What It’s Like To Be Petite & Plus Size

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May 4

What It’s Like To Be
Petite And Plus Size

When it comes to fashion, you are very likely all too well aware of the categories that women fall into when it comes to fashion. Firstly there is the so called ‘Regular’ woman who is up to 5’9” in height. These are the heights you will predominantly see stated on the websites of some of your favourite fashion brands when they share the heights and dress sizes of the models wearing their Regular fit clothing. Then if you don’t make the cut into the Regular box, you may be better suited over in Petite, Tall, Plus Size or every now and again, Maternity.

Up until recently I fit squarely in the ‘Petite’ box. And of course nothing has changed in regards to my height, that growth spurt I was waiting on never did arrive. But in a fairly recent change in circumstance for me, I am now also considered plus size. This happened quite gradually. Entering my 30’s and honestly a fair bit of burnout from a busy career and city lifestyle, lead to a bit of weight gain that pushed me from an already curvy UK size 14/16 to a slightly curvier size 18, which is the typical bracket at which you cross the border into plus size territory.

It wasn’t exactly something I was aiming for but neither was it something I was horrified by, my weight does sometimes go up and sometimes it comes down, such is the nature of being human. I look mostly the same, except my breasts and hips are a bit bigger, not necessarily an unwelcome development! But this small and essentially non-issue for me has sadly become a real obstacle when trying to find clothes that fit me properly. All of a sudden, it seems the world of fashion has pulled the blinds down on me.  

Both petite and plus size women are massively underserved when it comes to fashion, but join them together and you’ve got yourself a tumbleweed rolling through the desert, and the simple task of trying to find a pair of jeans that fit my 5’3” and now size 18 body, took me 6 months and brought me to the brink of tears.

I couldn’t really understand what was happening. I didn’t look that different and yet suddenly clothes were not available to me. The average height for a woman in the UK is around 5’3” and she is a size 16. Which is essentially a woman who looks a lot like me. So why was it now so difficult to find clothes that fit?

During my quest to find clothes that fit my new figure, I discovered that many of my favourite petite brands were not designing or selling clothes for women bigger than a size 14 or 16, and some of the worst offenders don’t go above a size 12, something I was unaware of until I no longer fit this requirement.

Over the last few years, more and more well-known brands have expanded into the plus size and petite markets which has been a real win for women. But for women who fit both categories, it is still looking pretty bleak. A high street store I visited recently for example, had jeans available up to a size 24 in Regular, but only a size 14 in Petite, jeans that would not fit the average woman today.

I also found, after ordering a few items of clothing online that some brands are also choosing to size-down their petite ranges. So even though a dress or pair of jeans may be stated as being a size 12 for example, it could likely be an inch or 2 smaller than the average Regular size 12 - just check out their size guides! Now maybe it’s just me but this feels a whole lot like size-shaming. We’re being told that it is OK to be petite, as long as you’re petite in every sense of the word, and at the same time, offering us no alternative.

If I could walk into any high street shop right now and find that all of the clothes they were selling fit me perfectly, I’d be putting down some serious cash. But there is actually very little that does fit me well, so these retailers are losing out on hundreds, if not thousands of pounds of business every year, from just me alone. And considering the current state of the UK high street, wouldn’t it be a good idea for some of these brands to stop and think about what the consumer (women) actually wants and needs. How much money could be injected into the fashion industry if they simply invested in the average woman instead of an ideal?

And what about all the women like me? How much damage is this doing to their mental health? I used to love fashion, but shopping for clothes had become an exhausting and deflating experience. All of a sudden, I no longer felt good about myself, even though I’d always been a confident person, loved my curves and hadn’t given much thought to my weight gain a few months before. I had literally been forced to feel bad about it.

Fashion should make women feel great about themselves, should bring joy and should make life just a little bit more fun. Women don’t want to be shamed and we also don’t want to be put in any categories. Women don’t want to be Petite or Tall or Plus-Size or anything that suggests that they are anything other than normal. We should be able to walk up to that jeans rail, pull out a pair of jeans in our size, go pay for them and then get on with the rest of our lives. We’ve got a long way to go before we get to that point. But I sincerely hope that we will.

After tireless searches and lots of chatting with friends who have similar figures, I have discovered some great brands that have some really great clothes that fit well, so I am managing to get back some of that joy that fashion should bring. But it’s not easy and my confidence can still take a bit of a knock every now and again. But it is so important to have clothes that fit you right and make you feel good. It can literally impact every aspect of your life.

Some of my favourite brands that have clothes suitable for petite women who are size 18+ include Marks & Spencer, PixieGirl, Wallis, Seasalt Cornwall, Dorothy Perkins, Fat Face, ASOS, JD Williams and Simply Be. They cater to a range of styles and ages so don’t be put off if you think the brand is too young or old for you. Dive in, like I did, and you will very likely find something you love and will make you feel amazing. Great fitting clothes for petite plus size women won’t always be specifically made for petite women but with a bit of trial and error you can create a beautiful wardrobe and get some of the joy back that fashion should bring.