By Nan Nan Liu
Northwest Asian Weekly
Photo by Johnny Bui/NWAW
At 4’11” and 90 pounds, Virginia Sjahli is a petite size. Many women envy her size, but Sjahli faces obstacles in shopping for clothes.
“Most stores don’t make true petite size,” she said.
So when nothing fits her tiny frame, shopping becomes frustrating to Sjahli.
However, a positive thing that has come out of this is that she doesn’t have to suffer alone. Sjahli has discovered a growing community of petite bloggers on Blogspot — most of them Asian — who share the same dilemma.
Jen Yu and Sydney Nguyen are extra petite Asian women, just like Sjahli, and also bloggers that focus on petite fashion.
Through blogging, they help others find better fitting clothes, test sizes, and sell pre-owned items at a discount.
What is a petite size?
Generally, regular sizes are made for women who are at least 5’5″, without shoes. Petite sizes are generally for women 5’3″ or less.
A petite woman who has her eye on a regular size shirt would have to alter the shirt. In addition to altering the sleeve length, she would also have to take in the bust, waist, and even sleeve circumference. The process is not always easy and can lead to unsightly seams.
The average American woman is about 5’4″, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Forty percent of women are 5’3″ or shorter. About 25 percent of women are 5’1″ or shorter.
Blog inspiration
Yu is the blogger behind Fast Food and Fast Fashion, which she started eight months ago. It already has nearly 300 followers.
In an effort to dress more professionally after college, Yu started the blog to document her quest to build a better wardrobe.
However, being Asian, Yu feels that she is “genetically predisposed to be smaller in build.” However, she doesn’t see this as a flaw. “[It’s] merely a characteristic I was born to work with,” she said. She has learned to work with her size 00 (double zero) petite and her 23-inch waist.
Nguyen is the blogger behind Petite Little Girl, which she started in May 2010. Like Yu, she is tiny.
“At 5’3″ and 95 pounds, I typically wear a 00P in pants and XXSP in dress or top,” said Nguyen. “My waist measures 24 inches. I am wearing a [size] 6.5 in shoes.”
Nguyen started her blog after striking out clothes shopping in stores and through online retailers.
“The biggest challenge is limited stock,” said Nguyen. “Most mainstream stores don’t carry petite sizes in-store. Even when they do carry petite sizes in-store, items seem to sell out fast. Sometimes, petite sizes are marked at higher prices than regular sizes.”
The selection for petite sizes is limited because clothing manufacturers often make clothes for the most common sizes in order to maximize profits. Promotion for petite-sized clothing lags behind plus-sized advertising. Nguyen searched for a solution in the blogosphere.
“I’ve found several petite fashion blogs through a Google search,” said Nguyen. “I enjoyed their blogs so much that after a month, I decided to start my own petite fashion blog. … Blogging is also a great way to communicate and interact with other ladies who share the same interests.”
The fit problem
Nguyen’s ‘normal-sized’ friends don’t understand her problem.
“People usually assume all petites are skinny,” said Nguyen. “That’s a false statement. They [also] think the problem will be easily fixed by downsizing. Although many brands offer clothes with a short inseam, the best fitting clothes are scaled especially for petite women. Petite sizing and extra small are not the same. I don’t think they would understand the difference between the two unless they’re petites and running into the same issues.”
U.S. clothing sizes used to be standardized by using the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifications, which were developed from statistical data. However, today, sizes will vary between different designers, manufacturers, and retailers due to the prevalence of vanity sizing, or size inflation, particularly in women’s clothing.
According to SizeUSA, a 2003 survey by research group [TC2], the average American woman is about 155 pounds and 5’4″. She is also about 20 pounds heavier than she was 40 years ago, though she may still wear a size 10.
Also, the average American woman’s ethnicity is changing. As the Asian and Latino populations in the country continue to grow, clothing manufacturers change their offerings to reflect the demographics.
Some have suggested that the 00 size was introduced partly because of the rise of Asian markets. In a Newsweek article, Jim Lovejoy, industry director for SizeUSA, points out that different clothing developers cater to different markets, so fits in particular markets will vary from brand to brand.
All of this leads to a headache when it comes to finding the right clothes.
“My biggest challenge when shopping is finding pants that fit in a flattering way,” said Yu. “My legs are rather muscular. It’s always a struggle finding pants that fit my waist that also fit my thighs.”
With detailed pictures and descriptions, Yu’s blog posts display her trials and errors with different sizes and brands to inform others of what has worked and what has not.
One of her latest entries had a photo of her in a size 00 skirt from J. Crew. To show everyone how ill-fitting the skirt was, Yu took a picture of herself sideways, stretching the waist to display how much room lies between the skirt and her belly.
“I hate their (J. Crew) size inflation,” said Yu. “I bought this in a size 00, thinking that I might only barely fit in. Turns out even I was sized out by this skirt. Not a mini on me at all.”
Nguyen sometimes resorts to online shopping, which she says isn’t reliable.
“Online shopping can be frustrating when you don’t know what to expect in terms of the fit and the quality,” she said. “[But] often times, I depend on online reviews from other petite fashion bloggers. After seeing the reviews, I have a pretty good idea in terms of how this item would fit on me before purchasing the item. With that, it eliminates the hassle of online shopping.”
Building a community
On her blog, Nguyen reviews certain brands and stores, and she lists her likes and dislikes. At the end, she gives a verdict, that is, her honest opinion of the merchandise at hand.
So far, she has gained more than 400 followers, and her readership includes more than just petite-sized women.
“I always appreciate comments and feedback from my readers,” she said. “They have helped me tremendously.”
Because of petite Asian bloggers like Nguyen and Yu, the petite blogging community has grown exponentially. A year ago, there was only one blog on Blogspot that focused on petite style (AlterationsNeeded). Now, there are about 50.
Ping Luu, owner of fashion blog All about Fashion Stuff and also a petite Asian woman, follows both Fast Food and Fast Fashions and Petite Little Girl. She resorts to these blogs for size information, ideas, and inspiration.
“I always value and trust their opinion on what fits. They have introduced me to brands that I’d never consider shopping at.” ♦
For more information, visit www.fastfoodandfastfashion and www.petitelittlegirl.com.
Nan Nan Liu can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
And 8 years after this article was published, we whities are rapidly catching up! I get most of my clothes from Asia via eBay or from thrift stores. I’m an athlete and have a lot of butt and thigh muscle. I shouldn’t even be able to zip a 00, yet half the time, they’re too big. Every time something actually is too small for me, I practically cry tears of joy that clothes for people even smaller than I am still exist.
You mentioned “petite” but I am average-height and thin woman. I am 163 cm and 45 kg. I find the regular sized pants just fine, I have no problem with their lengths. But I do have a lot of problem with the horizontal size. Everytime I go to the women’s clothing stores, I have to go through the piles of clothes for like 10 minutes to barely find any small or XS. There are SO MANY larges and XL’s but there is hardly any small or XS that I feel like I am looking for a needle in a haystack. Sometimes I have to ask the employee to find the size for me, and 50% of the time they come back with the answer ‘no’ or that I have to wait another week and come back later.
IF small-sized clothes sell out fast, why don’t they just bring more in? Seems like clothes for thin women don’t follow the rule of supply and demand? If there is a high demand for small-sized clothes, then there should be a lot of supply but there isn’t so it is VERY frustrating.
I also feel that this doesn’t happen for men’s clothing store. There is TONES of small and medium size for men, as if men are supposed to be thin but as if women are supposed to be fat. I wonder why such size inflation for ONLY women. I don’t like that women’s “average” size is standardized to obese women, as if being fat is the normal thing for women (but not for men). I don’t like the idea that women are supposed to be the fatter gender. I don’t want to get fat just because I was born a woman. I want to find a cloth that fits me, I don’t want to have to spend 10 minutes going through piles of clothes every time I go shopping. I like being a skinny woman and I want to stay skinny.
I shouldn’t have to feel pressured to get fat just to find clothes that fit me. I hate going to the retail store and feeling like my size is not normal and that I should get fat. I like my thin, model-like body the way it is, and I wish there were many more XS and S’s in the store. THIN WOMEN SHOULD NOT BE SUBJECTED TO REVERSE-DISRIMINATION! (Fat women should not be the center of the universe! Women’s retail should not revolve around fat women, but for average to skinny women instead!)
OMG! EXACTLY how I feel! Every time I try to google clothing brands for extremely thin women, I end up just finding TONS of stories of women/girls complaining about how clothing sizes are to small or X brand is making their jeans smaller than they were five years ago and it’s bad for self image… etc, etc….. No one cares that the retailers have sized short thin girls out of the market. We are no longer the PC topic of the day, so we don’t matter anymore. Add it to my list of things people aren’t allowed to be these days (short and skinny, Christian, republican… did I forget anything?)
P.S. Everybody here who is skinny-ish in the hips or butt NEEDS ABERCROMBIE KIDS JEANS!!!! They have enough curve to fit a grown woman. I am 4’10 with a 24″ waist and 30″ hips and I wear a size 10/12 there.
You can be republican and support racist sexist perverts all you want it doesn’t mean I have to be your friend and Christians aren’t the center of the universe. If you won’t bake a cake for a gay wedding then fine someone else could get their money I don’t need dead homophobic sexist men dictating my morality to me
Do you know what size is smaller than small petite in women’s sweatpants? Do I have to go to the girls department for sweatpants for my elderly mother?
It’s a stereotype that Asian women are short and petite. Many Asian women are tall. The younger women from Japan look like an average of 5’7″ – far taller than the US average of 5’4,” and on par with some of the tallest women in the world, like the Dutch. I’ve seen young men from Taiwan, and they’re often 6′ – way taller than the US average of 5’9″ for men. Northern Chinese and Koreans tend to be tall – that’s well-known.
American-born Asians are usually taller than their immigrant parents – often a lot taller. People love calling Asians “petite” and “tiny” – but that is just confirmation bias. They ignore the fact that many Asians are average or taller.
The tiny stereotype of Asians is just one of many. There isn’t a people more stereotyped, stigmatized, looked down on, and misunderstood than Asians – especially Chinese.
Being Chinese, I sort of appreciate this whole “don’t stereotype!” thing
But the average height of Chinese women is 5’1″
The average height of Japanese women is 5’2″
The average height of South Korean women is 5’1″ or 5’2″ and
the average height of Indian women is 5’0″
So please stop acting so mad… the average asian woman is actually shorter than the average white woman…
This article provides clear idea designed for the new users of blogging,
that genuinely how to do blogging.
To the young girls who are worrying about their petite sizes, I want to give you a hug and tell you that I totally understand. I’m Asian, 63 years, short and small 4 ft 10, shoulder width across is less than 12 inches. Height has been the focus of attention in all my growing years (a family of 5 girls) and there’ve been many occasions when I felt insignificant and useless. I used to envy all the tall people. They all seemed more normal than me. And they all seemed to be looking and laughing at me.
Today, the negative had been overcome. I am not controlled by that self pitying feeling anymore. I think the issue is on how to accept oneself. Yes, we all can find something wrong with ourselves, be it our height, our looks, or our grades, but do we really need to be perfect ?? Once I was able to appreciate myself and accept my size as just one of my physical features, my other talents excelled.
Yes, my size could cause me some inconveniences but it doesn’t represent the whole of me. Aren’t we short women just as smart and friendly as the taller ones?
Btw,want to encourage you all that tall men are usually more attracted to smaller women. The moment you accept yourself, you will shine!
I know that alot of the Asian population is regarded has being shorter than many people from other countries.When your mother is 4’8 and your father is 5’2 there wasnt going to be much hope of being tall in our family.So what is wrong with being short well alot i find.I am now 22 and my height is only 4’7 i have my 20 year old brother who is 5’0 and my 18 year old sister who is 5’4.I struggled while growing up has in the town where we lived there was not too many really short people.I used to wish that i was going to grow taller everyday i even tried prayers daily.Especially when my brother was growing up he must have been 13 and he was 4 inches taller than me.I dont know how my youngest sister grew so tall.On occassions she made my life hell when our parents were not around she would do nasty things like put things high or make me do the drying up has she knew i couldnt reach the cupboards.My mother always made my clothes and her own has we couldnt get our size.We now live in a much bigger town and i have found it hard adjusting to doing things has it seems it is okay if you are over 5’0.I do also get looked upon being this short i am usually shoved when i go to work has people just look straight forward try looking down every now and then has i would keep being pushed.
I have alot of problems finding clothes but that is due to being rather short.I am 22 and my adult height is 4’9 my 25 yr old sister is 4’8 and my mum is 5’0.Our dad is 5’2 and 18 yr old brother is 4’10.My dad finds it hard finding trousers to fit him in the leg he bought a pair of short length ones and still needed 6/7 inches cut off to fit him.He has never been able to buy a pair to fit off the peg.When he was a kid he was having to buy trousers 2 ages younger than himself.Ben our brother is always annoyed has he dont even bother with trousers off the peg has they are way too long and the waist is to big.Ben shops in the junior section where the clothes come up much better is the lengths and much cheaper anyway.I noticed his age in the trousers and they were like 12/13 year old.One of his friends spotted them at swimming last summer and laughed loudly and shouted out the size of his clothes.It happened previously at pe in school for him a boy grabbed his trousers and wrapped them over the door after shouting out the trouser size he was wearing.His best friend had to reach them down has Ben couldnt reach them at all.Our mum is okay with short length trousers in certain shops otherwise they have to be cut off as well.When i buy clothes i have no choice head straight to the junior section when i checked out my height i was aged 9/10 these fit very well.The tops are sometimes too girly but the trousers are good.If i buy 3/4 length they sometime due a treat and fit well.So i have never worn adult clothes for a start off they are always too high to reach anyway.In the junior section i get stared at by the young kids and some even square up to me checking who is taller.I have said on 2 occassions when i felt them do it that if they are over 10 the chances are they are taller than me anyway.Buying shoes for me is a nightmare has they are a size 1 my sister Louisa has size 12 whereas mum is a size 3/4.Lousia has such a hard time buying clothes has she looks for the age below mine and we find they sell out more than mine.Ben hates having small feet his are a size 5 and dad’s are a size 6.When people come round they must think we are all diddy people has the shelves are all lowered and the cabinets are smaller than usual.We dont generally use the high cupboards unless we have to has we have to use a step stool to give us a boost.We do sometimes get a few stares when out the adults just glance but it is mainly children asking how old we are.Never mind
my wife is 5’0” 95lbs and from vietnam
i love her size i am 6’0” 195lbs.
she worry alittle about her being small
i love her i am a usa man
she is very good looking women and other asian women look at her
i don’t know way maybe because she is with me…
note there asr some asian women that are fat and tall’
Wow, thank you so much for writing an article about petite women! 🙂 This is why I love reading Asian Weekly – it’s not only relatable because I’m Asian.
Great article! I follow all of these girls and love their blogs. : )