Petite Pant Problems

Dear Glinda –

I’m petite (only 5 feet) and a size 8. I’m having a hard time finding pants – they’re either hipsters (not good at 40), short in the crotch or boot legs which I feel make my legs look too shot. Can you recommend a brand of petites that won’t make me lose my mind?

Peeved Petite

Dear Peeved –

I’m not super familiar with petite brands but what it sounds like is that you need to figure out your rise and your leg style. If your legs are feeling short in boot legs then you need to look at where your pants are stopping. If your pants are stopping before the floor then they are too short. When you are petite you need to create the illusion of height. In order to due this you need for your pants to be just hitting the floor. This is going to make you look long no matter what. I would recommend maybe going with a stovepipe leg pant. This is a pant that is the same size all the way down the leg and they look like stovepipes. It will skim your leg up top and the line at the bottom will be beautiful and will make your legs look very long.

As for the crotch grabbing and low waist problem I think that it is just a rise problem. Clearly you need to stay away from a low rise and find a pant with more of a mid rise to it (how do you know? Just try those puppies on – there are no short cuts here). If something is cutting you in the crotch it means the pant is not fitting right. You may absolutely be a size 8 but try on the 10 in the same pant and see if it doesn’t fit better. You can always have the waist of pants taken in if you have to go up a size to get a better fit or length. If seeing the size 10 in your pants makes you feel bad then cut the size out who the hell cares. If the pants fit and you look good that’s all that matters, right?

Fashionably,

Glinda