Reviews; Picked Plaid Skirt (with petite comparison), Back Porch Blouse

Here's another entry in my experiment with Anthropologie petites. Sorry for the extended delay! I had have the petite sized clothing shipped to me (obviously, as I've yet to ever see it in stores) and the package took nearly 2 weeks to get to my door. Sometimes Anthro is lightning fast, but I guess this order drew the short straw.

For this petite review, I took on the Picked Plaid Skirt ($98). This was one of my favourite items from the March new arrivals and I couldn't wait to try it.

I decided to stick with ordering my true size 10 for these review sets just for simplicity. I'm almost always a 10 at Anthropologie. Here I've got the regular size on the left, petite on the right.

This skirt has some negative reviews on the website, and trying on the regular size, I see why. The length combined with the fullness of the circle and the mixed pattern print is way too much. Sitting about an inch below my knee, the regular dips into frumpy for me. There's a lot of extra fabric at my wasit so it looks oversized which is never comfortable.

The petite however, hits all my buttons. There's less fabric around my midsection, giving far less of a pooch outward. When put above my knee, the full skirt turns adorable. I really love the crazy print of this, which is just folksy and sweet enough to keep things casual. The petite is a keeper for me and recommended for those unhappy with the length of the standard size.

In my mind, I paired this skirt with the Back Porch Blouse (also $98).

In theory, I love this top. It looks beautifully constructed and the sleeves are adorable. Maybe I just needed a size 8 instead, but this top was not doing anything for my figure. I was swimming in extra fabric everywhere but the very bottom snap at the start of my hips. That was so tight, it popped open. For that reason alone, I don't think I could size down. If you have narrow hips (or a flatter stomach), you're probably alright to size down, but this goes back to the store for me.

That's all for now. Thanks for bearing with me and the delay. I received a lot of positive emails and comments about showing off Anthro's petites, so I'm happy to say I'll have more petite reviews of two dresses later in the week!

Review; Tuileries Dress, with an experiment in petite

One of my favourite, if not my very favourite, Anthropologie items is the Sugar & Cream dress. I was given it for my birthday last year and the dress couldn't be better suited for my excessively girly tastes. The dress is made even more perfect by the fact that it is supremely flattering. It's flattering that is in every way but one - it's way too long. The unfortunate truth is that this is not an uncommon occurrence for my Anthropologie dresses and skirts. I never thought of myself as a "petite" girl at all. My height seemed average, even tall compared to a lot of my friends, but the truth is I'm 5'5" at best. I've decided to let my credit card hate me and order some of Anthropologie's new arrivals in both the standard and petite sizing to see the difference between the two and determine if the petites are better suited for me.

Here is the beautiful Tuileries Dress ($158) in all it's floral glory. I love this even more in person and it is very true to the product shot. In this set of photos, I'm wearing the petite on the left and the standard size on the right. In both cases, I'm wearing my true size 10, both of which are perfect fits for me. Any size smaller would be impossible to zip but any bigger would be ridiculously baggy, especially in the shoulders (see below).

My first thought is what a difference some inches make off the hem! The dress definitely goes from cute to frumpy on me when I don the standard size. An above the knee frock Anthropologie feels like a new frontier! The one benefit the standard size is over the petite is the waist is much closer to my actual waistline, so perhaps I have a long torso.

In these photos (petite on top, standard below), you can see another huge difference in the petite versus standard sizing. The straps are way too long with the standard 10. I would want to size down in the standard dress, but bust probably wouldn't allow it.

Last shot, showing again how baggy the rest of the top is in the standard 10. Once again I can't really size down given my bust size but the petite solves most of my problem with a closer fit.

See this dress again on Tien of adiaphane, Molly of Anthromollogies, and Bonnie of Small Town Fashionista. If you've also rocked this dress, leave me a comment or drop me an email (found in my profile) and I'll be glad to link back to your review.

If it wasn't obvious, the petite is my clear winner. I do wish Anthropologie carried a full range of petite sizing in stores so I didn't have to order and return, but I'm glad they offer them at all. I am excited to try a few more items on to see if their difference is just as dramatic!