There are many perks to being petite that I’ve relished in my adult life: buying kid’s trainers (there’s no added VAT), plenty of legroom on planes and squeezing into tiny spots on the tube that other commuters avoid at rush-hour. There are, of course, also downfalls: not being able to see in crowds, always needing your ID for age-restricted moments (I recently got told that I look 17, so the is clearly working!), being demoted to the middle seat on car journeys, sitting inches from the steering-wheel when driving in order to reach the clutch, and assuming that I’ll have to visit a tailor every time I buy a pair of trousers or a dress. The latter is a situation I’ve learnt to navigate with ease, but there’s something uniquely thrilling about when I have to alter a hemline.
This can occur when a) a dress or skirt is intended to be a midi, but is a maxi on me, b) the style has been made with petite proportions in mind, or c) it just happens to fit right. Some of the best dresses I own fall into all three of these categories. My favourite maxi-on-me styles include a cowl-neck linen slip that I picked up at a Dalston car-boot sale, a bias-cut floral dress I got on Asos over eight years ago, a semi-sheer Another Tomorrow tank dress, a semi-sheer backless St.
Agni dress, a vintage cowl-neck slip (sourced from eBay), a Conner Ives T-shirt dress and a Raey dip-hem slip. I also have to give shout-outs to my best minis: a devoré velvet Rat & Boa dress, a bright blue Supriy.
