Glamour Magazine's January 2008 "Petite Issue"

Well, it's not exactly an issue specifically for petites. It's a two page "what to do" for three different petite shapes: boy shaped (what most magazines use when they advise petites), curvy and pear-shaped.

Boy Shaped: This is the shape most magazines and other forms of media use as a "real person example" when it comes to petites, so the advice isn't all that new/different. The girl's original outfit was more than a "Glamour Don't" It was a Glamour YUCK! I also like the other suggestions that Glamour gave, although the Calvin Klein dress might be a little big for the smallest of petites (sizes range from 2P to 14P)

Glamour's January 2008 issue on how to dress for the petite body

Curvy: Yes! Finally, a magazine says you can be petite and curvy. Like the Boy Shaped example, the before/Glamour Don't picture was awful. The outfit was also a very typical mistake made by plus-sized women. The after/Glamour Do outfit, was, of course, amazing and a great outfit for the office. I would have liked it even more if Glamour had suggested brands with plus-petites. Unfortunately, plus-petites are very hard to find.

Pear-Shaped: Unlike the previous two examples, the before/Glamour Don't picture wasn't all that bad, especially if you compare it to the other before pictures. While horizontal stripes and cropped anything aren't that great for most petites, the outfit wasn't super-awful on Stephanie (the girl pictured.) Of course, the after picture was much, much better.

As I said in the video above, I'm pretty happy that Glamour acknowledges that petite sizes exist and that petite women come in different shapes. However, the clothes on all three women were more for the office than for weekends or nights out. It would have been even better if they showed outfits for different types of occasions on these women. I am, however, very happy that someone in the media has FINALLY indicated that different types of petites actually exist.

LATE BREAKING NEWS: Dressing the petite body in Glamour's January 2008 Issue

The January 2008 issue of the US edition of Glamour has hit newstands, and you'll find info on how to dress for the petite "boy-shaped" figure, curvy figure and pear-shaped figure on pages 56 and 57. I'll have a full review of this on Saturday.

Meanwhile, don't forget to fill out the December Shorty Stories survey!

Why do they always make us wear heels?

Suze Yalof Schwartz from Glamour magazine does a monthly video giving advice to women on what looks best for their shape. A recent video, about jeans, showed what works and doesn't work on different body types. For the petite body (which she only showed the one kind...you know, short and slim...), Suze suggested straight jeans, such as the Citizens Long and Lean jeans worn by 4'11 Gina in the video. The jeans are okay, but one thing bugged me. Gina's shoes. They were so massively high (she probably had to, since the inseam looked so massively long)! As a fellow short girl, I completely understand the need to add height, but those shoes looked DANGEROUS! Short women shouldn't have to feel that they need to wear anything like that. Heels are good, but not good all the time.

I also wish that magazines recommend petite sizes more often (or at all!)! I know that it's more difficult to do so for print, since things are done in advance, but articles, pictures and videos posted online should aren't usually done that far ahead. They should know what comes in petites and what doesn't by that time!