<p>I'm hoping that there are some girls reading this (or their moms) who can help me find tiny dressy clothes. I think my daughter may be able to where a size zero petite. I am finding a very hard time locating dressy clothes in her size (like a 10 slim in GIRLS sizes). She is looking for some stylish but not "trendy" outfits for interviews; you know, something fashionable but classy without looking like a banker or a politician.</p>
<p>An ideas?</p>
<p>Thanks Balto. We’ll be going to an outlet center that I believe has both JCrew and BR stores. </p>
<p>I was hoping to avoid dragging my sewing machine out but I may have to. I could make entire outfits from scratch (I was once tiny and had to make all my own dress clothes!) but it’s just so time consuming.</p>
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<li>so strange. I replied from a link where Batllo replied but the post isn’t here and now I look like a crazy person having a conversation with myself. :)</li>
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<p>It’s OK, Neat, you’ll feel better tomorrow! :D</p>
<p>No…just a crazy person talking to your invisible friend Balto :)</p>
<p>Well, we all have invisible friends… don’t we? ;)</p>
<p>We went to J Crew. They have some 00 and 0 petite sizes that worked for our daughter who is a 14 girls…they also have a Crew Cuts line that is nice for even smaller kids…available online and at some retail outlets.</p>
<p>I can help here! Talbots Petite and Ann Taylor Petite. That’s what we did at interview time.</p>
<p>For my interview I got some nice outfits in Ann Taylor petite. I’m a small size as well and that worked perfectly for me.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I didn’t realize clothes came in size 00. </p>
<p>[and just to prove that I’m not insane, here is the phantom message that came via email notification:]</p>
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<p>H&M! Their clothes run insanely small. At most other stores I am a 00, at H&M I’m a 4 or a 6. </p>
<p>Their dress clothes are quite nice, good quality for a good price and dressy without being dowdy.</p>
<p>neato, for Alex I search for 0’s and 00’s and then still go to a tailor.</p>
<p>Neato, I know you’ve been through this for a boy, but just wanted to add that I think it’s most important that the girl like the clothes she’s in. My daughter chose to wear a short sleeved cable sweater from Delia’s, a plaid wool miniskirt, tights and boots, very age-appropriate and not overly formal. She looked cute and felt good. Your daughter may already have clothes in her closet that would work! I also suggest Delia’s, which has a lot online that isn’t in their stores. My daughter loves J Crew but it is pricey when not on sale, and H&M also (though I suspect that will be harder for you to get to).</p>
<p>Lemonade, that’s similar to the look she’s going for except that she doesn’t want to wear a skirt because she wants to wear some clunky heels (she’s only 4’8"). Trust me, there are plenty of plaid minis and cables in her closet already! Also, skirts tend to make her look even younger. In jeans and a tee, she could easily pass for a 4th or 5th grader. </p>
<p>It was so easy with a boy! Navy blazer, chinos, button down with a tie and you’re set! It helps that my kids are used to wearing dressier clothes on a regular basis for concerts, etc.</p>
<p>RE: H and M There is actually a store in our nearby mall. I’d never been in there before, but we will def. check it out!</p>
<p>I am in the clothing business and a pattern maker.
I find J Crew 0’s (pants and skirts) utterly enormous. They are made to fit a much more mature figure - my daughter is the same size as yours NB and one of her could fit in just one of the pant legs. The waist and hips are really big. Crewcuts only goes up to a size 10/12 - and I think they run small. Go figure. Ann Taylor’s 00 Petites are also for a more womanly figure, and due to crazy women’s sizing they are actually the same as the 2’s from a few years back - just relabeled as 00’s in the last couple of years so women can claim to wear a smaller numerical size. My D has 27 inch hips - I would never even look at Loft, or A. Taylor, or Talbots (again, very womanly shapes) for her. I am 5 feet and weigh a good 20 lbs more than my D (and have the hips from 4 kids!), and the Talbots smallest size on me is huge through the shoulders and hips. The Banana Republic Brands & Ann Taylor Brands in their smallest petite sizes are designed on a fit model of 5’4" (not that petite, really), at least a 32/25/33 measurement (or a bit more - look at the size charts), and +/- 95 lbs. As for Delias and H&M (for a far more teen aged figure usually - though there are exceptions at H&M) - I have purchased in their smallest sizes and done at least an hours worth of tailoring each on dresses, skirts and pants. Tops are generally OK at both, but can be pretty big through the shoulders. I even have to take in their XS tank tops on my serger and shorten the straps. Same for American Eagle - every pair of pants (in 00) and skirt/dress is way too big and needs to be resewn. Aeropostale in the 0 is giant in the hips, as is Gap (they have no 00). Sadly, the kids Gap is also too big in the waist and yet short in the legs in the 12’s/14’s - and kind of square shaped. Because she’s a little preppy at times we have tried to shop at Vineyard Vines (Whale of a Sale time - super cheap) or Ralph Lauren. Don’t bother - these stores make us end up in tears in the middle of the dressing room. RL is, again, based on a ‘larger’ petite fit model with curves (and kid’s stuff is too boxy) and VV just runs big all over. Her favorite place is Anthropologie -we got her 8th grade grad dress there. They have some 0’s. The dress was great (we tried on 20 in the store and then ordered a different one online) - but I literally took the entire dress apart and resewed it 4 inches smaller. It was worth it, because she did look age appropriate and ‘young teen sophisticated’ (and not a like a little kid playing dress up). I have really advanced sewing skills, and even I find that taking Anthropologie clothing apart and putting it back together is difficult and tedious - you would need a good tailor for certain.
For interview time we invested in a fantastic fall dress that she wore to every school, but changed up the coat & tall boots (freezing day at SPS) with a little cardigan and leather sandals ( on warm days). Worked well.</p>
<p>Thank you liddy. It’s the “little girl playing dress up” that we are trying to avoid. </p>
<p>It looks like I might end up dragging out the machine again. When I was in college I needed formal clothing for both performances and work and found that it took less time to create a pattern and sew a suit or gown than it did to shop around for something that actually fit. </p>
<p>We’ll see how it goes today. There’s a RL outlet that carries the kids line and I think a Gap Kids. Going to the adult stores will probably be a waste of time.</p>
<p>Wish me luck!</p>
<p>The period between adult sizes and children’s sizes is difficult, isn’t it?</p>
<p>If you have the time, check out the sales racks in more expensive stores. My daughter is also slim by today’s standards (but not tiny.) Sometimes, very nice clothes land on the sales rack because they’re too small. Check out the sales rack first.</p>
<p>I’m trying to remember, but… at one point, at an outlet mall, my daughter did very well at Burberry’s and another store, (but I’ve forgotten the name.) At any rate, by the time she tried on the sales items, they had been marked down substantially. So, don’t assume that a store’s too expensive. Their sales items may be just what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>Anthropologie, Betsy Johnson, Forever 21. The first two, we’re “sales rack” shoppers. Forever 21 might have something appealing. The cut varies tremendously, though.</p>
<p>Boys have it much easier. For girls, a suitably formal skirt or nice slacks, with an appropriate shirt and cardigan, would be fine. I have tried to explain it to friends’ children as, “what would you wear if you were to go to a nice restaurant with your grandparents?” Unfortunately, many restaurants have become more informal, so that explanation is becoming dated.</p>
<p>We have also put together interview outfits from the Gap. It helps to be small.</p>