I had the opportunity to chat with Cynthia C about petite shopping in Toronto and about her blog, Shorty Stories. Her blog is an excellent resource for me, especially in the realm of sizing conversions and shopping trends north of the border – not to mention North America’s resident expert on shoe sizes smaller than a 5.

Fortunately for us, her dedication to petite sizing goes much further than fashion sense. Cynthia champions petite sizing by writing to both major chains and designers, requesting that they expand their sizing selection.

Tell me a bit about your blog.

The purpose of Shorty Stories blog — and my Web site — is to make people aware of petite issues, something the media rarely pays attention to. I got the idea after being sick and tired of plus-sized celebs making a big deal about their size issues.

Shorty Stories was developed a year after my main site, www.shorty-stories.com made its debut. I thought that it was a great idea to start a blog, which can be updated more frequently, and also allow more public participation. With the main Web site, people had to e-mail me before their quotes (which I later termed “Shorty Stories”) could be posted. With a blog, they could do it themselves. Most of my posts are regular written text, but I’ve also posted videos, including one encouraging mainstream media to promote petite and other non-standard sized designers –read the post.

What size are you? Pants, tops, shoes.

At most stores, I take a 0 or 00 in bottoms, tops, and dresses. I’ve been as big as a 2 or 4, but that’s usually at places like Zara or H&M, where extreme vanity sizing hasn’t happened. In terms of shoes, I’m a 5 (sometimes 4 ½). It’s tougher for me when it comes to shoe shopping because size 5 doesn’t always exist!

As for my shoes, I’d say that most of my shoes are Stuart Weitzman. He’s one of the few brands that actually make 5s or smaller! It’s virtually impossible for me to find shoes that cost less than $100, just because of my size. Size 5s (and I guess 12s) are always the first to go. Holt Renfrew (a high-end department store in Canada), which is where I usually get my shoes, seems to carry more 5s than other places. They do have Asian clientele, which is probably why. I also get shoes at Muskat Brown.

Do you have a favorite site or blog?

I visit Petite Fashionista regularly, and I also enjoy Laurie Roe’s blog. Laurie Roe and Lori Peffer own Petite Boutique in suburban Nashville. Just for fun, I read blogs in Glamour magazine and Jezebel.com.

Where do you shop — online and boutiques?

I’d LIKE to shop online more often, but I live in Canada, and many stores don’t deliver north of the border. In fact, many don’t even take non-US credit cards online. GAP Inc. stores used to, but stopped doing so in 2007. I only found out about it a couple of months ago when I tried to purchase a pair of pants from Banana Republic. So, yeah, I usually make it to the boutiques or regular mall stores. Never really had that much luck in department stores. The non-juniors clothes there, especially petite sizes, are mostly what I call “Old Lady Yuck.” I’ve found a few decent items, such as INC and Nine West, but I mostly stay away. I go to Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft whenever I’m in the U.S.

Here are great places for petites to shop in the Toronto area:

Mavi, Paige & 7s

Muskat Brown (2528 Yonge St, Toronto) is okay if you’re looking for higher-priced items, work items (especially for women 35+) and small-sized shoes (they sell sizes 4 to 7 ½.) Here, I purchased the Sevens and Paige Premium Denim. I bought the Mavi jeans at Next Exit (202 Princess Street) in Kingston, Ontario, a university town two-and-a-half hours east of Toronto.

Pacific Mall is just north of the city proper. Because the clientele is overwhelmingly Asian, you’ll find lots of things that fit the petite figure (that is, the THIN petite figure.) However, if you’re very preppy or looking for work clothes, Pacific Mall is not the place to be. Pacific Mall is surrounded by competitive malls, but not all of them have Web sites.

As for mall stores:

Reitmans is a good store if you are on a budget (I’ve never really seen anything over $40 there), but it isn’t a good place if you’re small framed. The smallest size they carry is a 2, and it’s roughly the same as a Banana Republic 2 (maybe a bit smaller). Clothes are great for a casual office or for the weekend.

Laura is another mall store. The prices are higher than Reitmans, and they carry brands like Jones New York. Again, size selection isn’t the best for small-framed petites, as the smallest size is a 2P. But it’s great for everyone else, especially those over 30.

At the department store level, The Bay carries INC International Concepts in petite sizes, as well as Nine West in petites, which are both great for the younger petite crowd.

Hermes Kelly Handbag

What’s on your wish list?

Gosh… I’d have to say a Kelly bag from Hermes. Dress pants that I don’t have to alter, clothes that don’t swim on me, shoes that fit, and shoes I can buy on sale. I also wish that Ann Taylor would come north of the border, to Canada!

Anything new and exciting you’ve found? Petite brands, shopping etc?

House of Hsueh. It’s great to see more petite designers out there. I actually wore the eggplant-coloured dress to a gala movie premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The designer, Benita Hsueh is based in Toronto and I had the opportunity to speak with her back in June– the interview is up on my blog. Recently, I saw jeans that were very petite-friendly at BCBG (they were labeled as “ankle” length.) Didn’t buy them, but did get a pair of Sevens. Other petite/shorter length jeans (from places other than Ann Taylor or Gap) I have are by Paige Premium Denim, and Mavi.

What else would you like to tell my readers about your blog or petite shopping?

The only way to inform people about petite sizing is to write about it and to spread the word. Come visit Shorty Stories and contribute!

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 28th, 2007 at 5:29 pm and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.