Just received the November J.Crew catalog a few days ago. As usual, the selection for petite sizes is low-ish, though it looks like it's improving. But there's one dress I totally thought was inapprorpiate, especially for petite women like us. It looks like a little girl's dress, a VERY LITTLE GIRL'S DRESS. Five year olds probably wouldn't want to wear that. Why did they even make that dress in petite sizes? Come to think of it, it's not that great on average or tall women either. It looks like a clown outfit. The dress comes in a different version, which is a little less clown-like, but of course, still has that collar. But making a dress like that is just....wrong (at least those dotted and solid ruffly shirts don't come in petite.)
I have to say though, that ugly dress aside, most other choices in the November catalog aren't that bad.
Work-related clothes I like:
Pembroke tweed Mandy jacket
Felted wool Adrian skirt * (though not every colour is a favourite of mine.)
Cashmere shawl collar sweater (A more affordable alternative is the New Dream shawl-collar at $88 US.)
Super 120 Suiting Dress * (A little different. J.Crew's suit dresses are usually shifts.)
The suits aren't bad either, but they usually look very similar from season to season (the Super 120 dress aside) Party dresses, however, are different. J.Crew's bridal/holiday party collection is usually pretty good compared to work and casual clothing. J.Crew seems to do best with pants and going-out/party dresses when it comes to petites. There are 21 pant styles (including the denim. Jeans aren't sized petite, but short, so I'm not sure if it counts) and 20 going-out dresses (22 dresses in total, including the clown dress (which I don't consider as "going out"/"party" and the suit dress.) Compare that to 8 coats, 7 jackets, 5 (casual/work) skirts and 5 shirts.
Petite dresses I like * (some of these are already on sale):
Silk Chiffon Sophia Dress
Sophia Long Silk Dress (I also like the short one)
Sarah Cotton Cady Dress
Cady Dress
These dresses make excellent bridesmaid dresses too!
* available in petite sizes
