Though Banana Republic has started delivering outside the US, their site still notes "coming soon" for Canada and the UK. Last I heard, it was supposed to start delivering to Canada in August, but we are getting close towards the end of the month and it still hasn't started. Though I'm glad that they're going to be delivering, I'm not sure how often I will be purchasing online. Banana, unlike J.Crew, is using a third party service for international deliveries, which means that there probably won't be any free offers. But on the bright side, it means I'll be able to get XXS.
I'm going to try to post more pieces this week, but I am getting married on Saturday. This means that this entire week will be ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!!!!!
Showing posts with label Canadian shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canadian shopping. Show all posts
Fernanda Carneiro Dresses are Coming to Canada!
Look for them at Valentina in St. Catherines this August!
Petites now available at Banana Republic Bayview Village
Petites in North York can rejoice! I was at Bayview Village just a few days ago and the Banana Republic there has a tiny petite collection! When I stopped by, I didn't find much...the collection is teeny compared to Bloor Street or Eaton Centre, but the good thing is that petite sizes are expanding their availability!
BREAKING NEWS: NRDC Acquires Hudson's Bay Company
According to the media, this is a "marriage" of two of North America's oldest department stores. Higher end Bay stores in Canada will be converted to Lord & Taylor.
Message from reader re petite sizes
I recently received the following message via email from my main page:
Do you think this is, once again, a misunderstanding of what petite truly means (not just the individual poster, but mass marketing in general?) Again, hemming doesn't necessarily work, even if one is a taller petite, at 5'3" or 5'4" (don't forget that there are lots of average-heighted women (5'4" to 5'7"), and sometimes even taller women, who can fit into petites.) The petite pant has a shorter rise. So in order for the pant to fit properly, one actually has to cut of the legs, redo the rise, and then sew the legs back on. A lot of work, no? And not to mention, expensive. I guess people would just rather have a baggier pant. Not too professional-looking, IMHO. I could go on about tops and how altering actual shirt length can change its shape, but I don't want to repeat myself. Anyway, it's not just the "petite-petite" as the person calls it who need petite sizes, but more "typically sized" petites and plus-petites as well. One only has to look at the Fact or Fiction section from Petite Boutique and Myth vs. Fact from 5ft2in. Gravitating towards the regular sizes section and not supporting petites doesn't help the cause.
a) Most petite people are petite in height mainly (i.e. are notpetite-petite), and are perfectly willing to buy pants or tops that will onlyneed to be simply hemmed. And many taller petites can sometimes fit nicely intoregular collections. Especially when given the difficulties associated with purchasing petite-specialty clothing. Setting up a vicious cycle, perhaps.
b) Potential factors contributing to the viscous cycle of petites nt buying petite clothing, and thus retailers not seeing the demand via profits. Complaining will get attention, but spending loads of money will attract theattention of those that really matter. You've mentioned some of these negative factors before: higher prices, less selection, fugly clothes, specialty-petite stores that are fugly (and expensive too), clothes that fit 5'1 but are too short for 5'3" (my height and a more popular petite height given a bell curve distribution, so I'll just head on over to the regular section since it is always easier to hem than to add material), etc.
c) Nation-wide, there are not that many really short AND skinny people - those less likely to be able to fudge it with regular clothing. You often mention Asian girls, but many of them are not that skinny and not that short, especially non HK/Japanese Asians. Stereotypically the Canadian-born Asians are neither as well. MOST cities outside of the Asian-congregating ones are populated with not so-petite Asians. In cities outside of Toronto (even if there is a healthy Asian population), I'm always amazed at the selection of XS/0 clothing on the sales rack! Mass retailers with stores across the country (Canada), may be unwilling to invest in a petites collection for only a few select stores.
d) Yes, in cities like Toronto there are more petite-petite girls, but when you look at it proportionately (pun intended), it is STILL a niche market. I'm not an expert in mass retail, but apparently companies really do need to move MASSIVE amounts of merchandise in order to be healthily (and thus shareholder-friendly) profitable.
Do you think this is, once again, a misunderstanding of what petite truly means (not just the individual poster, but mass marketing in general?) Again, hemming doesn't necessarily work, even if one is a taller petite, at 5'3" or 5'4" (don't forget that there are lots of average-heighted women (5'4" to 5'7"), and sometimes even taller women, who can fit into petites.) The petite pant has a shorter rise. So in order for the pant to fit properly, one actually has to cut of the legs, redo the rise, and then sew the legs back on. A lot of work, no? And not to mention, expensive. I guess people would just rather have a baggier pant. Not too professional-looking, IMHO. I could go on about tops and how altering actual shirt length can change its shape, but I don't want to repeat myself. Anyway, it's not just the "petite-petite" as the person calls it who need petite sizes, but more "typically sized" petites and plus-petites as well. One only has to look at the Fact or Fiction section from Petite Boutique and Myth vs. Fact from 5ft2in. Gravitating towards the regular sizes section and not supporting petites doesn't help the cause.
Interviewed by Serafina, Online Shopping in Canada and upcoming Trunkspace Consignment Sale
My interview with Serafina is now up! According to the site, Serafina is:
a one-of-a-kind shopping reference blog dedicated to locating and compiling the designers and shops that cater to petite women.
In additional news, it looks like Forever 21 has a Canadian e-commerce site. Like Abercrombie's Canadian site, not only does Forever 21 deliver to Canada and take Canadian credit cards, but the items are listed in Canadian dollars! Now why won't GAP Inc. do that? I actually sent them an e-mail about it last night, and I am waiting for a response. My guess is that they'll give me some really generic answer that doesn't make much sense (especially since the new GAP Inc. CEO is Canadian), like they usually do.
Finally, the Trunk Space Consignment Sale is THIS SUNDAY in Toronto! Christa Jean of Petite Fashionista will be there to offer tips for petite women!
a one-of-a-kind shopping reference blog dedicated to locating and compiling the designers and shops that cater to petite women.
In additional news, it looks like Forever 21 has a Canadian e-commerce site. Like Abercrombie's Canadian site, not only does Forever 21 deliver to Canada and take Canadian credit cards, but the items are listed in Canadian dollars! Now why won't GAP Inc. do that? I actually sent them an e-mail about it last night, and I am waiting for a response. My guess is that they'll give me some really generic answer that doesn't make much sense (especially since the new GAP Inc. CEO is Canadian), like they usually do.
Finally, the Trunk Space Consignment Sale is THIS SUNDAY in Toronto! Christa Jean of Petite Fashionista will be there to offer tips for petite women!
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