This isn’t the first time I’ve come in hopes of finding a prom dress, but a glance at the racks of Windsor told me I’d likely end up with the same result. I sigh as I slip out of the last dress in the changing room and toss it with the pile of rejects, each labelled “XS”. I politely shake my head “no” as the sales associate asks if I’ve found what I’m looking for, and leave the store in dismay yet again.
As someone of very short stature, clothing shopping has always been a pain. While most people may struggle with their clothing item size being sold out, I’m confronted with the fact that mainstream stores don’t carry my size at all. Within the past 20 years, the fashion industry has expanded their size ranges to become more inclusive for plus-sized people, advertising that everyone can now wear clothes that fit and allow them to feel confident. But what about people at the other end of the size spectrum? There’s still an underserved population of petite people, and the lack of options for them appears as if they have been forgotten in the eyes of the fashion industry.
There are a few solutions to this issue, such as buying larger clothes and then sewing them to alter the size. Purchasing custom-sized clothing is also an option, if a store or brand allows it. While I’m willing to put in the extra effort to do both, a lot of these solutions come at the cost of spending extra time outside of regular shopping, or more money – which people may not always have.
Because of these inadequate solutions, I started searching for my junior prom dress several months early, knowing that it would take additional time to make or tailor if I requested specific measurements. Even when internet surfing, I’d find that the smallest sizes available were still too large for me. Some stores did include custom sizing, but it would cost extra in addition to the dress itself; and while I did eventually buy a dress, I paid an extra $25 to have it custom-tailored.
Prom is a meaningful experience for high schoolers, and it’s frustrating that despite knowing this, the fashion industry has failed to thoroughly diversify their size range. This is applicable to just about any article of clothing I find, especially pants. While I’ve seen many brands start including a petite-size collection of clothes, they often have very limited style selections. Overall, it feels like stores are still ignoring the petite demographic, and those that are remediating need to continue their expansion.
Online, I’ve found many instances of people telling others facing similar struggles that being thinner or petite is the beauty standard and is therefore a non-issue to be grateful for, and if petite people are unsatisfied, to “shop in the children’s section” or “put on a few pounds”. Suffice to say, both recommendations are very insensitive solutions. When it comes to body-shaming, many think of plus-sized people, and how they’ve been told
to lose weight in order to fit clothes they want to wear. However, body-shaming, like size inclusivity, goes for thinner, smaller people as well. Just as someone who is naturally plus-sized often cannot slim down without compromising their health, someone who is naturally smaller cannot force-feed themselves more than their body will allow.
While the children’s section does have clothes that fit smaller people, most children’s clothing is not typically appropriate for older people and is clearly aimed towards a younger age group. Fashion is also a means of expression, and I, like many others, use it to display my own identity and character. Wearing children’s clothing would not accurately represent myself, nor would it represent most teenagers.
Petite people should not have to devote so much of our time, money, and energy to searching for clothes that fit when the fashion industry operates at a large enough capacity to allocate resources to solving this issue. If more brands want to claim inclusivity, they must understand that being inclusive also means providing similar representation for the petite and should make an effort to include everyone.
