Some Small Sense

Shopping experiences and store reviews by a very petite woman. Indeed, it sucks. 4'10", 87 pounds, and full grown - is it a surprise I have trouble finding clothes?

May 08, 2007

Belting Up

My brother typically pokes fun at me when I complain that I can't find any belts my size. 'What do you need a belt for? You're a girl, and you don't have to wear one!'

Ok, ok, fine, I'm not going to be frowned upon by the fashion police if I don't wear one when tucking in my dress shirt (you poor men), but what if I wanted to?? And what if, god forbid, I actually needed them to keep my trousers up (the original reason for a belt)? I would have a distinct problem!

I have trouble finding stuff that fits in most stores - so I wouldn't expect to have too much luck with a belt there either. But it just doesn't make sense that I have just as much trouble in stores that are (sort of) supposed to cater to my size! So, apologies to Banana Republic for picking on it, but think of it as a loving critique from a captivated (and captive) audience member. My other steady, Ann Taylor, has the same problem (but its store is father away...).

Because these stores are trying to get customers to purchase an entire Outfit Ensemble, it would make sense for them to make sure all their accessories and clothes can match up with each other in all sizes. Now, the smallest sized belt they carry is XS. Not XSP or XXP or XXSP. How frustrating!

With this in mind, I snagged a few XS belts from Banana Republic for a test drive. I already knew that I was never going to keep these, as they were too big. But that's precisely why I wanted to get a few shots up anyway!

First up - a black silver ring belt with no prong or holes. As you can see, it's rather loose around my waist and cannot be physically tightened any further. At the smallest, it's 28" - but clearly, it's meant to be looser, as the tongue of the belt is ridiculously long.

The three-strand woven belt was my next selection - and that proved to be equally problematic! At my natural waist, I can't even punch in more holes, because the metal prong is already in the woven leather (which, FYI, isn't dense enough to keep it there). When using the narrowest circumference, it's already 32"!

The densely woven belt seems to be the type of thing that actually goes around your real waist (not your hips) because it's so wide (2 1/2"). Here's the picture of me with it at 26 1/2" wide around my waist (measured from the end of the metal prong to where it enters the leather). It looks completely silly because the tongue just flops around without any means of securing it!

Now that Banana Republic and Ann Taylor have both dipped into the 00 and even XXS game, they should really increase the sizes for their belt selections too! I bet even those women that are size 0 or 2 could use the help!

With all this trouble in finding a (quasi-)functional belt, it's no big surprise that I never quite figured out how to use a belt to accessorize! (By the way, I'm wearing the jeans that I wrote about in my post regarding gaining weight for my pants!)

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5 Comments:

Blogger Jen said...

Oh man I hate belt shopping! It's bad enough trying to find a regular belt for me, but with this whole wide waist-belt fashion, I have been sadly disappointed. The size small waist-belts fit me like normal belts. Maybe I should stock up on these for the future as regular belts, if only I could find a plain one!

May 13, 2007 6:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting about this. Even though I have a pouchy stomach, I am petite, so belts are much too often much too long. I have three wearable belts, but they are not appropriate for, let's say, a semi-formal engagement or even for office work. It is ridiculously time consuming and frustrating to find occasion appropriate belts that fit. However, for casual wear, a duct tape belt may be in order: www.ducttapefashion.com/products/prod02.htm You can just snip off the excess! :P

June 20, 2007 10:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't own any belts for this reason. I have a small waist and short torso, so I've always felt rediculous in belts. I feel that they are made for tall girls with not a lot of curves to give a more defined waist. The belts I've tried to wear usually have to be "altered"

July 03, 2007 12:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am petite with a very small waist but have lots of belts. I buy the longest ones and make new holes and cut off the rest so no signs of me remaking the belt shorter is visiable. I also buy children belts nice black and brown leather ones can be found at the boys section more feminine ones at the girlsection.

July 28, 2007 3:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was petite until pregnancy at 36Enjoy it because bodies can change shape for so many reasons.I say enjoy it because when you find something that fits it looks great!!!!The truth is I think some women are jealous of petite women.I had more feelings of being attractive when I was petite.There is definitely a downside.Not being taken seriousely or as a true adult.I think petite women are treated as little girls or children.It might be because along with petite bodies may come a smaller voice box.I was always told to speak up.Hey its not my fault that taller people won't bend down to hear me.Should I get a ladder ???.When I wore womens typical work clothes especially the eighties with shoulder pads I looked like I was a kid playing dress up.I shopped in kids sections sometimes and eventually got a sewing machine and altered things to suit my body.Time to design your own belts!!

July 31, 2008 3:27 AM  

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