The Peruvian Connection

I found out about this line from Luxe Petites, another petite blog. According to the site, Peruvian Connection has actually been around for more than 30 years, founded by a mother/daughter team and the brand's contact address is in Kansas. They also have a few brick-and-mortar stores, including one in England! However, the rest of the world will have to rely on delivery - one good thing about Peruvian Connection is that they deliver outside of the US! However, for Canadians, there's a $25 shipping cost (plus duty).

Their clothes are a little on the pricier range, higher than Banana Republic, but they do have a small petite collection. Clothing ranges from a size 2 to 24W and petite measurements seem to be the same as missy, only shorter.

Peruvian Connection's fall line is now live on their site. Here are a couple of pieces which have caught my attention:

Fine Gauge Pima Cotton Henley Dress (petite)

Biddy's Pure Alpaca Petite Sweater Coat

Interestingly enough, there are no pants available in petite sizes at all.

The entire site kind of gives me an Anthropologie meets (mid 90s) J.Crew meets Talbots feel. A little New England artsy, a little preppy. The clothes look okay for people in my age range to wear, but you never know. I've seen Talbots pieces that looked interesting online, but completely grandmotherish live at the store. Blech on that.

Dress Reminder!

Hello everyone!

This is just a friendly reminder to send me images of your favourite summer dress by THIS FRIDAY! Select images will be posted NEXT WEEK!!!

Thanks!!!!!


C

New Petite Denim Line - Allisonizu!

I found Allisonizu, a new denim line for petites by by 5'2" Allison Izu Song while I was searching for petite designers, clothing an issues. According to the info on her website, her jeans are sized proportionate for petite women, come in many different styles and in two different lengths, 27" and 31".

A longer profile with Allison will hopefully be coming shortly!

Looking to add to the petite blog roll/site list!

Do you know or know of any designers who specialize in petites? What about petite bloggers? Shorty Stories is looking to add you to the list! Right now, the designers/labels I have include:

Balzac Clothing
Fernanda Carneiro
TLE Designs
House of Hsueh
Sweet Petites

Petite Blogs/Websites include:

Petite Fashionista
Serafina
Petite Personal Shopper
Isobella Jade's sites (she has several)


Please let Shorty Stories know about these people! It's important that we let the world know about petite issues! With designers, the preference is for designers that either SPECIALIZE in petites or are PETITE FRIENDLY, not brands with a petite line.

Thanks! :)

C

Summer Dress Photos Reminder and Mailing List

This is just a friendly reminder that there's just one more week to e-mail your favourite summer dresses to Shorty Stories. These pictures will be posted in Shorty Stories some time in August, before the fall comes along.

In other news, we have started a mailing list registration. If you'd like to keep up with Shorty Stories postings, feel free to sign up! :)

Alternative Modelling and Petites

Petites, of course, are supposed to fall into this category, but for some reason, we aren't included in the Facebook Event celebrating alternative models (Alternative Model Week is in August. More information will be posted here and in Prospere Magazine closer to the date). I've even posted a note on the wall, but the admins have not changed anything as of Wednesday afternoon. Perhaps we need to have a bigger voice. You see tattooed people, people with multiple piercings, goth and even the more mainstream plus being celebrated, but us shorties? Nope. Nada.

Maybe there just aren't enough designers interested in risking it, especially in Canada. Maybe we need to encourage fashion students to go an alternate route. Isn't it interesting that people are more willing to be "weird" alternative than mainstream-alternative (i.e. plus and petite)? I would think that there are more people who'd be interested in mainstream-alternative, especially in a country like Canada. We're, after all, generally less risk-taking. Even Ben Barry, the Canadian modelling agent who encourages all shapes and sizes seems to ignore the shorties.

So what can we do? Well, starting a website to talk about these issues is one. This seems to be the most common, though most petite websites don't seem to update very regularly (Serafina, Petite Fashionista and this site are the most regular). Encouraging designers to think outside of the box is another. Of course, the latter can be hard. The fashion industry, as creative as they are, seem to be very narrow-minded when it comes to what looks good. Last year, I was at an event where one of the guests was a Canadian designer who has had shows in L'Oreal Fashion Week (won't name this person, as I am afraid of getting into trouble). I told this designer about this blog, and though this person was very friendly prior to my mentioning Shorty Stories, stopped talking to me all together afterwards. And trust me, it was NOT the alcohol. Petite fashion shouldn't only be shows like Petite Fashionista Presents. Petite fashion should be everywhere.

Of course, even if we are successful in encouraging designers to go petite, there's no guarantee that the Canadian Fashion Design Council will respond well to them. I've heard that some people there have a reputation to be pretty much the Anna Wintour of the North. And we all know what that means.

BREAKING NEWS: UK's Shortbred now available in North America!

Faye Clements' t-shirt line, Shortbred now delivers to the North American side of the Atlantic! These t-shirts, which have clever, quirky sayings about being petite, are a hit in the United Kingdom. These shirts now deliver to North America and retail at around $40-50 and come in a US 2-4 to 8-10. To order, please go to the Shortbred website by clicking the link or the image above.

Breaking News: Actress Estelle Getty, dead at 84

Petite actress, Estelle Getty (4'10 1/2"), perhaps most well known in her role as Sophia (a character some 20 years older than herself!) in the 1980s sitcom, Golden Girls, has died at the age of 84. Estelle has also appeared in a variety of TV shows and movies, including Mad About You, Blossom and even Sly Stallone's mom in the movie Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.

As Dorothy's mom in Golden Girls, Estelle showed the world that there are roles out there for fiesty petite women, and that even someone her height can make a grown woman some 12-14 inches taller go "AW MAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

We are on Facebook!

Shorty Stories has joined Prospere Magazine on Facebook and now has a fan page! Please join the Shorty Stories fan page to keep up with postings, events and so forth. It's also a great place to share ideas for upcoming Shorty Stories posts.

Join the fan group today!

A little thing goes a long way with o.b.

o.b. ToGo PursePack

o.b. is petite, but just like you, it isn't meek, either. In fact, it's fierce, hip and environmentally friendly. At around two inches long, these babies work extremely well and are very comfortable. They come in a variety of different absorbancies, including regular (this one is actually just UNDER two inches long!) and super. You can even get them in the petite o.b. ToGo PursePack, small enough for the tiniest of evening bags.

And the Petite Emmy Nominees are...

The Prime Time Emmy nominations were announced yesterday. This year, the petite lead acting nominees are:

Comedy:

America Fererra (5'1"), Ugly Betty

Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (5'2 1/2"), The New Adventures of Old Christine

(Tina Fey is listed at 5'4 1/2", so not really petite)

Drama:

Sally Field (5'2"), Sons and Daughters

Holly Hunter (5'2"), Saving Grace

Movie/Miniseries:

Phylicia Rashad (5'4"), A Raisin in the Sun

Judi Dench (5'1"), Cranford

Looks like it's two nominees out of five for each leading actress category. Not too surprised at all. The Emmys will be handed out on September 21.

BREAKING NEWS: NRDC Acquires Hudson's Bay Company

According to the media, this is a "marriage" of two of North America's oldest department stores. Higher end Bay stores in Canada will be converted to Lord & Taylor.

Rumour Has It...

According to post from Jenny Feldman of Glamour Magazine last week, Seven will be launching an official petite line of jeans this fall. When I first read it, I was a little surprised, because I own two pairs of Seven jeans that are of a shorter inseam (30" or so). However, Jenny said that these jeans are true petites. In other words, in addition to a shorter inseam, it will also have a shorter rise. If this is true, then GOOD FOR YOU, SEVEN!!! I'm so glad a big name brand is joining the petite world. We shouldn't be hiding the fact that petites exist.

I've emailed a few petite stores to clarify this. Stay tuned for more details.

Also, Shorty Stories now has a fan page on Facebook!

Promo for Prospere Magazine

Prospere Magazine is a lifestyle/business blog for women in their 20s and 30s. It's updated twice weekly, with full issues out every other Tuesday.

Nasty Messages at YouTube

I can't say that I'm not surprised about the nasty messages that people have been leaving me at a YouTube video (above - apologizes for the poor quality...I had an awful camera at the time) I created last year. In the video, which was intended to be a response to another size-related video called Fat Rant, I talked about issues that petite women face. Comments seemed to have spiked over the past few weeks, with many of them being nasty. Messages include the following:

This is so pathetic it almost sounds like a joke!! Are you kidding me hun? Go cry me a river.

1. Plus sizes are ugly too. Ever seen a mu mu? 2. Joy's rant was about REAL discrimination. You're just missing the point. Not having pretty clothes is NOT the same as facing systematic discrimination in the workplace, in health care, in education, in the media, in practically ever aspect of life. Weight discrimination isn't just common, it's accepted. So, seriously, get over your vanity and open your eyes to *real* issues of inequality.

Oh. My. God. What a colossal waste of time. It is repulsive and shocking to watch the entire US population point fingers at each other and continually victimize themselves. It is SICK that this woman has so little going on in her life that she can devote enough time to whining about being short that she can actually call herself a "petite activist." This person embodies the root of what is wrong with the united states.

Perhaps I should have talked a little more about social issues that petite women may face, including issues that are career-related. I have mentioned these topics in some of my replies, but of course, the readers don't really acknowledge them. My worry is that if people don't really listen, then it ever be acknolweged as an issue at all?

Shorty Stories is looking for your favourite summer dresses!

This Lilly Pulitzer dress is one of my favourite outfits to wear during the hot days of July and August. Do you have a favourite summer dress? If so, we're looking for your pictures! E-mail them to Shorty Stories no later than July 31, 2008 and we will post them on the Shorty Stories site. The dress does not have to be petite sized. Please let us know what the brand the dress is, where you got it, if you remember and why it's your favourite dress. Oh, don't forget to include your height! After all, this is SHORTY STORIES! :)

Non petites are welcome to submit.

Looking forward to seeing the pics!

Mamma Mia!

Amanda Seyfried, who plays Sophie in the movie version of the hit musical, Mamma Mia! is listed on IMDB as being 5'3 1/2". This petite star has held roles in television shows like Big Love, Veronica Mars and House as well as movies like Mean Girls. She was also a cover model for several Francine Pascal books.

In the movie, Sophie who is engaged to be married, tries to find her biological father and does so by inviting all three of them to her wedding! This hilarious musical is sung entirely to hits by the Swedish band, ABBA. Mamma Mia! opens in North America on July 18.

It's great to see petite actresses in roles that aren't merely sidekicks!

J.Crew Picks for July 2008

The J. Crew site is a little wobbly right now, as they're doing some major updating (perhaps for their Fall 2008 collections??). While petite availability is not that great (as usual), I did find a couple of pieces from the site available in petite sizes that may be of interest to Shorty Stories readers:

Petite Matilda dress - I saw a picture of Anne Hathaway in a similar looking dress (I'm pretty sure it isn't a J.Crew one as her dress was pink. This isn't available in pink)

Printed linen Antonia dress

Here are a few pieces NOT available in petite sizes that I liked:

Lux knit star pleated tee (would look great with skinny pants)

Georgia dress

Domino jaquard pencil skirt

Washed-leather Claudette jacket

Optical-print jacket (this would look best in either white or black pants)

Banana Republic Fall/Holiday 2008 Collection

What do you think of the collection? There seems to be a lack of colour for this collection. I'm also not sure if all of it is their Monogram collection or if there's a mix. Some of the pieces are petite-friendly, though. Let's hope that they'll actually come in petite sizes!

Size 00 has arrived at Canadian Banana Republic Stores!

Two and a half years after its launch in the United States, size 00 has finally arrived in Canada, making it a whole lot easier for those of us who are smaller framed to find clothes that fit! I have waited a very long time for this and have even sent several e-mails to the people at Gap Inc. Perhaps all those e-mails worked! In Toronto size 00P is available at the Bloor Street store and also at the Eaton Centre.

At the moment, size 00P isn't available in too many pieces and none are on the sale rack just yet. Two that I like are:

Petite silk floral-print wrap dress

Petite texture belted dress

Now that there's a better fit for those of us who're tiny, why not make a trip to Banana?

Note: I did not see 00 in non-petite sizes.

June Survey Results!

The results from last month's poll, which asked: Do you have plans to attend Petite Fashionista Presents? are now in:

12% of you said: Yes, of course! I'll be there at 2 pm sharp!

65% said: I'd come if it wasn't so far away.

8% said: No plans at all

15% said: What's Petite Fashionista Presents?

Well, as most of you know, Petite Fashionista Presents was a GRAND SUCCESS! Thanks once again, Christa for this excellent event!

This month, we're asking: Have you ever lied about your height?

Survey closes on July 31 at 11:59 pm.