According to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, the average height for a female adult is approximately 5′ 4″. Additionally, 40% of all American women are 5’3″ or shorter and roughly 25% are 5″1 or shorter. While these statistics aren’t perfect (they were last updated in 2012), we can at least infer that the “average” American woman can be classified as a petite.
Petite women come in a wide range of sizes and shapes. Not all thin girls are petite, and not all petite girls are thin. Petite women can be curvy, skinny, apple-shaped, you name it! In terms of fashion and clothing, the term “petite” describes clothing to fit women of shorter height, typically 5′ 4″ or under.
Occasionally, you’ll see the term “petite” meaning thin, dainty, or small. For example, petite jewelry is for those with smaller wrists or fingers and petite shoes represents women with small feet. While this may not be the perfect representation of the term, we will use it from time to time on this website to help those looking for the right fit.
What is Petite Sizing?
What is Petite Sizing?Standard women’s clothing is designed for a height of 5′ 5″ without shoes. Although the waist, hip and bust measurements may match up with petite women, often the leg inseams, sleeve lengths, and torso measurements are completely off. This results in ill-fitting clothing and trips to your local tailor for alterations.
Petite size clothing generally comes in sizes 00P to 16P, although recently some stores have started carrying up to 18P (and we hope more do)! Petite size clothes are crafted especially to fit the measurements of petite women and are sometimes even designed completely different than the regular clothing in order to ensure the perfect fit. Most retailers define petites as women with a height of 5′ 4″ or under, although some classify them as 5′ 3″ and under. Always look at sizing charts prior to ordering or trying on clothes. For more details, view our U.S. Petite Size Chartas a general rule of thumb.
To learn how to effectively measure yourself, check out our resource “How to Measure Your Clothing Size“.
History of Petite Fashion
History of Petite FashionPetite fashion as a concept was invented in the 1940s, when influential fashion designer Hannah Troy noticed a large number of women having a hard time finding great-fitting clothing. She studied the measurements of military women volunteers during World War II and found that the typical woman was short-waisted. Thus, the petite size wascreated.
Today, many years later, not all manufacturers offer petite clothing. However, an increasing number of them have created collections in the past few years. Many large retailers are currently working to expand their selection of petite clothing to meet the demand, while petite-specific brands are popping up all over the world as we speak.
An ABC News article states that as of 2001, 48.7 million petite women accounted for $9.5 billion of retail spending. This translates to 11% of the $89 billion all women spent on clothes that year. Thepetite marketbecame the fastest growing retail sector in 2001. Although recent stats are hard to find, we can only imagine that this number has grown exponentially.
