For petite women, finding fashionable clothes that fit can be trying

Feb. 12--At 4 feet, 0 inches tall, Esther Castillo has used her sewing machine to shorten almost every blazer and pair of pants she owns -- she's even used tools to shorten long earrings that fall past her shoulders.

For Castillo and many short women, clothes shopping is an exercise in frustration in which pant legs drag on the ground like wedding trains, sleeves get in the way of typing and pant crotches hang somewhere around the knees.

Shoppers and fashion experts say finding petite clothes is getting easier. But many roaming the store aisles still find reason to grumble: Clothes aren't shaped right, are too old lady-ish and cost too much. On top of that, some of the best places to shop are out of town.

The definition of petite is anyone 5 feet 4 inches tall or shorter -- regardless of weight or width.

Ellen York advises petite women on how to dress in her recently released book "Dressing the Petite Woman."

"People think, 'Oh, a petite woman is this little bitty thing," she says. "She's a normal woman who's got body challenges just like I do and just like you do."

Petite sizes are cut differently: Pant legs, skirts and sleeves are shorter. Shirts are narrower in the shoulder and shorter in length. Armholes are higher, and lapels are slimmer. Pants have narrower hips, and the distance from waist to crotch is shorter.

Petite sizes range from 0p -- the p stands for petite -- to the 24WP -- woman's petite -- sold at Talbots Woman stores.

The regional market took a blow when Petite Sophisticate closed its stores in Fashion Fair mall in Fresno and Visalia Mall last month. The chain, which housed the stores side by side with Casual Corner, closed all of its stores after it was sold to a company known for liquidating troubled retailers.

But overall, shoppers and fashion experts say options are increasing for small women.

"It's getting better," says Barbara Beccio, who is 5eet2nches tall and the academic director for fashion design and fashion marketing and management at The Art Institute of California in San Francisco. "In the past, you were sort of relegated to boring choices or the kids department."

Changing demographics in the United States are partly responsible.

"There's a large Asian market, especially here on the West Coast, and a lot of Hispanic women are very tiny as well," she says. "That's sort of driving the market to accommodating petite sizes."

Sears prides itself on catering to its Hispanic customers.

"Research shows that Sears is highly regarded by the Hispanic community where the consumer demands smaller sizes. Therefore, we are committed to giving our shoppers more of what they want ... reflecting colors ... and styles at prices they can afford," said Sears' director of merchandising, Juanita Fields, via e-mail.

At least one store in Fresno imports small-fitting clothes directly from countries like Thailand and Korea. The Asia Supermarket on the corner of Tulare and Chestnut avenues caters to older Hmong women who usually have smaller bone structures, says store manager Julie Lee.

The shoes on display range from sizes 5 to 7, with a few size 8s thrown in.

Many young Hmong women born and raised here are bigger and can shop at mall stores, Lee says: "I think it's better nutrition."

The clothes the store imports are small because they are designed for women living in Southeast Asia. But Lee said once women live here for years and change their diets, they become fuller-figured, making it harder for the store to carry clothes that fit because the Thai manufacturers don't make the appropriate sizes.

Gap.com began selling petite and tall sizes online last month. The clothing is the same style as Gap's regular collection, but tops are now offered in extra-small petite through extra-large petite and bottoms in sizes 0p to 16p.

The move is in response to customers in the stores and in focus groups who told the company they couldn't find Gap clothes that fit, said Gap spokeswoman Katie Molinari. "It's been incredibly successful," she said. "People love it."

For now, the clothing is only sold online, but the company may look at rolling it out in stores eventually, she says.

Castillo raved about J.C. Penney, saying the petite section has gotten better over the years. And Ann Taylor in Fig Garden Village and Ann Taylor LOFT in Fashion Fair also carry petites, as do many department stores.

But some still find shopping for smaller sizes difficult in the central San Joaquin Valley.

"Why do you think you see a petite woman in the Valley wearing leggings? Because that's all she can find that would fit and she's rolling them up at the waist because they're too long in the crotch," says York, who is also a former dress designer and now an image consultant who works one on one with shoppers.

Diana Mocks is 5 feet tall and wears a size 4. She searches for professional clothing as Fresno Pacific University's executive director of university communications and visits the Walnut Creek Nordstrom twice a year.

York says Nordstrom has one of the best petite departments around, especially because the retailer shortens pant legs and sleeves without buttons or cuffs for free.

She believes the cost of paying staff to alter clothes is balanced out by an increase in purchases by shorter women.

"It's a good business move," she says. "I wish some of the smaller stores would do that."

But Fresno doesn't have a Nordstrom. Nordstrom Rack in Villaggio shopping center in north Fresno sells petites but does not alter clothes for free.

Price is sometimes an issue.

And even if Fresno had a Nordstrom, not every woman could afford to shop there. The same goes for Macy's petite section, which many women rave about, but where a velvet blazer on sale can cost $92.

Many discount stores, such as Target, don't usually carry petites. Wal-Mart and Kmart sell a smattering of them, but don't have petite departments.

"Those types of stores deal in volume in order to get the types of prices that they do," Beccio says. "If they're only buying small quantities, they're not going to be able to offer the price ... that they could in larger quantities."

As a result, women have learned to take advantage of trends like wearing three-quarter-length sleeves and cropped pants as regular lengths. They've also pounced on the low-rise jeans trend, thankful for waistlines that don't ride halfway up their torso when they sit down.

York says even petite sizes have room for improvement. She often finds that the armholes and arms in petite blazers and jackets aren't wide enough for women who have muscles.

Sometimes, the armholes are the same diameter in jackets, whether they're size 4 or 6, she says.

And length is still a problem.

Gap.com's petite pants and jeans all have a 29-inch inseam -- but not every short woman has a 29-inch inseam.

Gap bases its clothes on a "fit model," Molinari says. "We've really tried to find measurements for a large group that would work with a large demographic."

Mock shops solely at petite departments but still must have clothes shortened.

She keeps the cost of altering in mind while shopping, looking for clothes with simple hems. Simple alterations run about $7 to $9, but she says she recently paid $14 to have a pair of pants with a chiffon layer on top shortened.

Cuffed pants and blazer sleeves with buttons also cost more to alter.

"I do look for things that don't require much of an investment," she says.

If short, thin women have problems, short, heavy women often find it even more difficult. Many stores' petite sizes stop at 16p.

Large women under 5eetnches tall are considered petite because they have short torso legs and arms.

When Talbots moved to a new location within Fig Garden Village this summer, it expanded its petite department and added a Talbots Woman that carries sizes 12WP to 24WP.

At 5 feet tall, Mee Vang of Fresno almost fits into a 16 and has trouble finding tops.

"Sometimes, they're too big around the bust and perfect around the waist or they're perfect around the bust and it doesn't fit around the waist," she says.

And then there are the stores that carry only petites that appear to be designed for unfashionable grandmothers.

"They're frumpy, and they're ugly," York says.

Mock agrees: "I don't know why they think all petite women are older women. I would love it if there were more options."

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