I am a very small person, 5'2 and around a 0P. I was at one of my favourite stores recently, looking for clothes to wear to work (I work in a casual office environment). This is a store that doesn't have a petite brand, but most of their clothes seem to work well on me after a bit of altering, so I like shopping there. Pretty much the only things that don't work well there are pullover sweaters, which are CLEARLY cut for taller girls (note to stores and designers: Please make shorter sweaters for us tiny girls. We can't possibly look good in them and these sweaters CAN'T BE ALTERED!!). Unfortunately, they are known to vanity size. I started shopping there when I was a teenager, and at that time, wore a 3/4 (which was their smallest size in the mid 90s). Since then, I have gone down to 1/2 and then a size 0 whenever they have it available. Their size 0s are kind of on the big side, but this time, it was just too big. I spoke with one of the sales associates there, who only said that cutting changes from time after I told her that I was, at one point, a 3/4 (I think a 1994 3/4 is SMALLER than a 2006 size 0!) but stopped short of saying that they vanity size. I'm not sure if I'll ever shop there again.

I decided to take my business somewhere else, to a store that recently reopened after renovations. They added a petite department after renovations, but the selection is slim. There were a few sweaters, jackets and pants, but the petite section took up less than 10% of the store! At least the clothes there don't look like they're cut for women who were about to graduate from high school when the Beatles played on Ed Sullivan. I did find a few items that interested me, but unfortunately, my size was sold out. So I left empty handed again. Maybe I'll have better luck next time.

I've often been told to shop at kids' stores (since the length is right for us). What many people don't understand is that a girls' size 12 just won't fit someone like me. I wore a girls' 12 when I was 11 years old. When I was 11, I wasn't wearing a bra, nor did I have hips. Skinny girls have boobs and hips too, even though we don't have DDs and a J-Lo like behind. Usually they fit at the hips, but are really loose at the waist. That's not a good fit, now, is it?

I wish my story could have been more positive, but it isn't. I just hope that one day, we'd get better recognition in the fashion industry. Maybe the entertainment industry should get involved. After all, there are many actresses and musicians who're tiny.

-Cynthia, 5'2"