[eckertle]

I'm frustrated with the mall. I tried on MANY dresses today and was swimming in XS and XXS at many of the stores. I'm not extremely skinny, but short... 5'4" and 110-115lbs. Where can I find cute dresses?

My usual faves are Guess, Bebe, BCBG, Betsey Johnson and Lilly Pulitzer. I struck out today with all of these stores/brands. Ugh!

[purly]

Check Ann Taylor Loft. They carry petite sizes.

[Missrocks]

Anthropologie had some really cute dresses last time I was in there. But they do run big. I'm about 5'3 and 115, and normally size 4, but I wore a 0 in one of their dresses.

[girliceclimber]

Try Splendid--their stuff is always super cute, and cut smaller than other brands.

[onemoredoor]

Really? My sister is 5'2 and 95-100lbs but she finds dresses her size at the mall easily. Only thing is she needs to hem them which can be done very cheaply.

Go to any store and ask them for their smallest size. My favorite local store stocks XXXS too. Also, a sales lady once told me to go to their location at the neighboring city(town?) for smaller sizes because they send them all there (that city has the thinnest people in the country according to the government).
So i guess go to a mall in the thinner part of town with a higher frequency of teens as dumb as it sounds lol

lastly, online stores are filled with dresses for size 0s if you don't mind buying them without trying them on.

[agreenst]

That's odd. I'm 5'3 and 114 and i never have trouble finding dresses at the mall. Now, pants, THAT is an issue.
Then again, i do my shopping at the Mall of America when I'm home from school, so i have lots of choices..

I see you're from New Orleans! There's this really cute boutique in Uptown on Magazine St. called Blink that I found some cute dresses at and that fit really well. And the prices are really reasonable. You should check it out

[jan228]

None of those stores work for me either. Try Express, Armani Exchange, The Limited, Gap, or Banana Republic. Many of their sizes are truly as marked. H&M may also have some dresses that fit. I find that Ann Taylor Loft, although they do have a lot of petite sizes, don't sell tops small enough. I can do the size 0 in the pants, but the XS tops just seem baggy, so I never bothered with the dresses.

As a reference, I'm 5'3" and 105lbs. Most of the time, I can look at the mannequins to see if a store will have clothing that fits me. If the clothing is pinned in the back, they usually will not carry my size. If the mannequins are curvy or busty, the store isn't for me either.

My biggest pet peeve is going into a store, and finding that their XS/size 0 fits like a medium. Businesses are so concerned with vanity sizing that they forget that by making a size 0 fit like a size 4, they're losing customers who can no longer wear that brand because they don't make their size anymore.

[candypants1100]

i'm about 5'1'', 110 or so, and i find that bebe is hit or miss, express is usually pretty good, and banana is good if you want something more conservative. i LOVE splendid- they make really cute, comfortable, and the correct sized dresses.

[tinywaist]

I've always had luck with BCBG. But not at their actual store. Try Macy's or Bloomingdales. That's where I usually buy my dresses.

[shopbopchic]

Try the brand T-bags , DVF, or Alice & Olivia.

[shyne1025]

F21.. Im petite too 5'"1 90lbs..

[eckertle]

Thank you for all of the suggestions! I did find a cute BCBG dress today (they didn't have the size 0 in stock, but can charge-send it for me). Yay!

[lanechange84]

I had the same problem when I was looking for a graduation dress. I am petite also (5'3 a little over 100 lbs). I finally found my dress at bebe. They have 0 and 00 there. Their dresses are made to fit close to the body, and therefore usually have a but of stretch in them. THis helps when you are petite because it gives the body some definition.

[Dollie]

club monaco, bebe and armani are really good bets. they have really nice and classy choices!

[lithiumpearl]

Ah, I have the same problem since I'm both short and skinny. I return so many dresses as a result (Express, Banana, and Arden B are all too big, but a Bebe 00 works and so does a XXS at BCBG). If you want trendy, cheap, and cut smaller, I'd say go for Wet Seal (LOVE that place) since they are designed for teens. I have tons of style-of-the-moment dresses from them.