Right, I need to get a few things off my chest.
Because there are some myths about petite sizing that keep circulating, and after nearly 8 years of building a petite activewear brand, I've heard them all 🫣 Some of them are well-meaning. Some are just genuinely baffling. All of them need addressing.
So here we go...
Myth 1: "Petite just means XS or XXS"
No. Petite is a height category, not a size category. A petite woman can be a size 6 or a size 18. What she has in common with every other petite woman is that she's 5'3" or under and standard clothing proportions don't work for her frame.
Buying XS when you're short doesn't solve the problem. The rise is still too long. The inseam is still too much. The proportions are still built for someone taller. Sizing down is not the same as petite sizing.
Myth 2: "You can just get things taken up"
Yes, technically. But why should you have to? Taller women aren't expected to alter every pair of leggings they buy. The cost, the time, the hassle of finding a good tailor, it all adds up. And even a good alteration can't fix a waistband that sits in the wrong place or a rise that was never proportioned for your body.
You deserve clothes that fit without all of that.
Myth 3: "The kids' section is basically the same thing"
I've heard this one so many times and it makes me wince every time. Petite women are adults. With adult bodies, adult proportions, adult lives. The kids' section is not the answer, and suggesting it is a bit dismissive of what petite women are actually dealing with.
Myth 4: "There's no market for petite activewear"
Half the women in the UK are 5'3" or under. Half. If that's not a market, I don't know what is.
The idea that petite women are a niche comes from brands choosing not to invest, not from any shortage of petite women who want well-fitting clothes.
Ok. Rant over. Cheesy as it sounds, this stuff matters to me because I've lived it, and I know so many of you have too! 💛 Ally x
