Sorry that I’ve been away for so long, you know what it’s like over the summer. I’ve been away for a couple of nice breaks but now I’m raring to go with all the best news and reviews from the short perspective.

So I thought to start off you preggers petites were being neglected on this site so I’m going to start with a review of one of the best maternity sites online FunMum. They’ve got a whole section dedicated to the petite Mum to be.

If you’re looking for some great work pants then these black short length petite maternity trousers are great.

For you guys who want to chill out at the weekend these great combats are now reduced to only £15!

If you’ve got anymore great petite maternity sites then let us know by adding a comment below.

Love ya,

Vikki xx

If wearing court shoes opt for a pointed toe instead of a round toe it lengthens your legs.

Jessica Simpson shows this perfectly with her fantastic patent leather shoes and at 5’3″ she’s as petite as they come… although you’d never think it.

Don’t wear T-Straps, bows, or heavy buckles on your footwear because it creates a wide, chunky effect.

Poor Melissa Joan Heart I’m always picking on this outfit, but with these aweful platforms cutting her off at her ankle it makes her look about a foot shorter than she is.

Do wear flats, but keep your outfit simple, hem lines on or above the knee or skinny jeans.

Reese Witherspoon shows this pefectly with her simple outfit and fantastic animal print pumps.

Stay away from belts that are too wide or colourful, go for slim belts as they won’t overwelm your frame.

Cheryl Cole shows this perfectly with her super short yellow dress and black slimline belt which sets it off perfectly.

So thoses are the rules you don’t have to stick to them but I would try and keep them in mind when you’re looking around the shops.

Best Online Stores for Petite Accessories

• Dorothy Perkins
• Next
• Faith

Enjoy!

Vikki xx

There’s not many sites out there that specialise in petite wedding dresses, how did you think up Grace Designs?

While shopping I realised that there really were very few people out there offering petite dresses for petite women so I decided to fill the gap in the market. Being a petite women myself I know how difficult it can be to find that perfect dress so I created my site to make it easier for other small women.

Why do you think that most of the high street wedding dress makers like BHS and Berketex Brides don’t cater for the petite lady when the high street fashion stores have fantastic petite ranges?

I think that these big bridal stores cater for the masses and petite women don’t fit into that category. The standard samples dress size in a bridal shop is a UK size 14. Even if you are a petite lady they will put this dress on you and will pin it to fit your body. By the time they have done that the dress looks very different from the one that you saw on the hanger.

What is the best style of wedding dress for petite women?

I actually think that a petite bride can get away with most styles of dresses as long as they are fitted and tailored correctly and she is wearing heels. Women dream most of their lives about wearing the perfect wedding dress and I don’t think petite women should be or are limited to what type of dress they wear just because they are petitier than the average women. In saying that, I would never recommend a petite bride wear a full, puffed ball gown skirt as that really would swallow her up.

What else do you offer? Bridesmaids outfits, mother of the bride?

I offer petite bridesmaid dresses and petite evening dresses. I will be introducing a petite Mother of the Bride range, bridal shoes and handbags towards the end of the year on Grace Designs Edinburgh.

What is your favourite petite shop, and why?

I would have to say Next. They have a pretty good petite range but they also do size 6 in their standard range which I can sometimes get away with.

Go on then, give us your measurements…

Okay, okay! 4’11 and a ½ (us petite girls need our ½’s), 7 1/5 stone, size 6 petite and size 2 in shoes – that’s all your getting!

Related Stuff:

Find out about other petite wedding ranges on our petite wedding dress page.

So back in 2008 I looked around for Maxi dresses for petite women and at the time I would have been totally against them… well a trip to Australia later and I love them.  They’re not only slimming but they can also make you look taller… but you need to get it right!

Here is the best example of a bad Maxi Dress – Melissa Joan Heart at 5’2″ she is definitely petite but she’s gone against the ‘rules’ and left us thinking where did she get these frocks from?

Now if I was to pick the perfect example of a petite outfit, it would have to be this one from Eva Longoria. The nude peep toes give the legs length as mentioned in this post. Her fabulous dress falls just about the knee giving her full length of both her body and her legs and the v-neck elongates her neck giving the illusion on height.

However Eva also does the Petite Maxi Dress really well.  There’s a lot to be learned from the Desperate House Wife.

Petite Maxi Dress top tips:

Keep the line of the dress straight

As you can see from the pictures above Melissa’s dresses come out from her waist where are Eva’s skims her body giving her length to her body.

Keep hems long – to the floor even

Eva’s hem on her dress is touching the floor giving the illusion of height where as the black dress Melissa is wearing cuts her off at the ankles making her look shorter.

Simple necklines

Melissa’s black dress and Eva’s maxi dress are both good examples of what the top of a maxi dress should look like where as Melissa’s other long dress has a wider line over the shoulders making her look more top heavy and this follows down her body making her look larger than she is.

Here’s my top tips from your online high street (the images make them look short, but they’re long I promise!)…

Love ya!

Vikki xx

Related Petite Stuff:

Check out where to get dresses that suit your petite frame on our petite dress page.

Yo Shorty! Newsletter #1

This Month: Summer Sales

It’s July and we all know what that means… sales! The other s word that gets us trembling at the knees (I was thinking shoes as the other word… I don’t even want to know what you were thinking!).

They’ve all gota sale but which ones are the best for us petites? Well that’s where Yo Shorty comes in.

1. Evans Petite Sale

With sizes from 16 to 32 Evans Petite sale is one of the best around. They have some great flattering tops, tunics and trousers… and plenty of other great clothes that start letters other than T!

Their petite belted tabard cardigan is reduced from £30 to just £15!

2. Miss Selfridge

If it’s vintage petite you’re looking for then get over to Miss Selfridge and check out their fantastic petite range. Their sizes go from a 4 to a 14 so if you’re a skinny mini then you’ll want to get over there too!

Oooo this petite applique top has £16 off, it’s only £12 grab it now before it’s gone!

3. Wallis Petite Sale

Wallis bring some great classic peices for those who want to look fabulous in chic dresses and sophisticated tops and now with their sale you can get all this with up to 50% off!

Get this dress for only £30, previously £40.

4. M and Co Sale

Previously Mackays, M and Co have a great range of petite clothing and a huge ammount of that is in their sale. From key basics to pretty dresses M and Co will not disapoint.

Like these Cropped Jeans reduced to only £15

5. Dorothy Perkins

Dotty P’s have some great petite pieces reduced by up to 50%, and they were already cheap to begin with! They’re my favourite for jeans but to be honest you cant go wrong with most of their stuff it’s just great.

This chocolate corsage top was £25 and it’s now £12 so they’ll not be around for long!

Latest Posts:

• Petite style guide… how I secretly make myself taller
• Dorothy Perkins brings you Gok’s top tips
• An Extra 10% off at Faith Shoe Sale

Yo Shorty! Give us some feedback…

As this is our first newsletter it’d be great if you could let us know what you think about it and what you would want to see in here. Email me on vikki@yo-shorty.co.uk with your ideas and I’ll be sure to fit them into the next newsletter!

Keep updated… new articles by email.

Want to get updates more often than once a month? Subscribe to our update email and you’ll get all the new stuff from our site straight into your inbox. Coming soon… To Maxi or not to Maxi that is the question… Petite’s and Maxi Dress the rules. Subscribe Now!

Well that’s it for now. Don’t forget to login to www.yo-shorty.co.uk and see what’s new in the world of petite fashion.

Vikki xx

P.S. I’m sure that M&S and Next will be having their sales soon so why not get over there first and pick what you want!

Want to subscribe? Just fill in your details on the right and we’ll send you an email straight to your inbox every month.

Gok says:

the jacket will broaden your shoulders

the skirt will add sexy curves

the nude shoes will add length to your legs

and the bright colour of the top will make you stand out from the crowd!

Just click on the links to go to each item:

1. Petite White Linen Jacket – £35

2. Taupe overlay peep toe shoe – £25

3. Petite Blue Cutwork Cami – £20

4. Tan medium half moon bag – £25

5. Petite White Linen Skirt – £25

Do you like anything from Dotty P’s better? Well let us know by leaving a message below.

Cheers,

Vikki xx

Victoria Beckham is by no means tall, at 5’3″ with no shoes on she is a perfect petite like us, but I always thought she was much taller so over the last few weeks I’ve tried to take on her fashion tips to make myself look taller. And here is what I’ve done…

Massive heels! I generally stick to 3 inchers which are just low enough to be comfortable but high enough to make me look longer and stand taller.

Get them took up! My sleeves on my petite suits and my hems, a good tailor or clothing alteration service like Quick Stitch that I mentioned in an earlier post make the most of my petite limbs by not hiding them under loads of material.

Be a low rider! I try and stick to low rise pants as they make my body look longer, which balances out my legs. (but not too low, nobody likes their thong hanging out!)

Long Hems, Long Legs… I know I said to take them up but I never go too extreme when I go shorter. I always try to let my hem skim an inch above the floor covering most of my shoe… I know what you’re thinking… what a waste of a beautiful shoe being hidden, I agree but the extra couple of inches are worth it!

Massive Hair! As you know I’ve got a bob so when I go out and want to look my best (and by best I mean tall and slender) so I do a little back combing to give me a taller hair do. If you have long hair you could always try a high pony tail.

Put all of these together and I could be about 10 inches taller! lol

OK so I maybe don’t do these all the time but used in combination it definitely improves my confidence and makes me feel better about myself.

What petite clothing tips do you have for our readers? Add a comment below and let us know (I know that rhymed!)

Kisses,

Vikki xx

If you go to the Dainty Divas section of the site then you will find all his tips on how to dress for your body type.

This is of course a ploy for you to buy from Dorothy Perkins range and Gok looks less than impressed by this purely commercial tip generation, but I do believe that there are some good tips in there and so great peices from Dorothy Perkins for the petite women out there.

I couldn’t get the videos off the Dorothy Perkins site to let you see them on Yo Shorty, but here is something he did for Indesit moon washing machines. Again I don’t think he’s putting his heart into it like he does on the TV, but they are good tips none the less… oh and before you rush off to get your moon washing machine, I’ve checked the site and they don’t seem to have the competition on there anymore!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcMS-iRbM5o&feature=related[/youtube]

Enjoy watching the fabulous Gok Wan and pick up some good tips for dressing to impress as a petite diva!

Don’t forget to comment on what you thought of Gok Wan’s Petite Clothing Tips.

Cheers,

Vikki xx

Hi guys,

So I’ve had a look around and you’ll never guess… apart from Johnsons the Cleaners there is not another UK wide clothing alteration service. Which means that it’s hard for me to review one for you all.

So what’s the point of even starting this post? Well I want you to reccommend an alteration service in your area. Just give us the name and the street that its on and we’ll add it here.

I’ll kick us all of by reccommending Quick Stitch in the north east. They have five stores in the north east and then another in Edinburgh. They’ll hem jeans with the original hem add designer patches to them and then pretty much anything else you could want. Check out their alteration service website by clicking on the link.

So come on I’ve covered off the North East, let us know about your local alteration service and help out other petite ladies in the your area.

Kisses,

Vikki xx

This was a clothing alteration service post on Yo Shorty – the place to be for petite clothing.