Even when I was the proper weight, clothes never fit right. I had the good luck to be short (5'2" before I started shrinking) AND have a very large bone structure (wrist measurement is Men's Large) and muscular. I call it my German peasant build- got it from the German side of my family. Anyway, back when I cared about what I looked like, I made ALL my clothes. My picture is of me thin and I am wearing a blouse that I made. That way I could make sure things fit in the shoulder, were full enough in the upper arms and thighs, but not baggy everywhere else. Now that I am old, not dating anymore (all the good ones are taken at my age), and fat I just wear baggy so I don't have to contend with tight clothing across the rib cage and upper arms. I hate feeling constrained there. I have found that frequently "petite" sizes in pants are just shortened in the legs, but that the waist comes up to my bra! If I could find clothes that fit I might care more about what I look like but it just isn't worth the time to deal with it- I would rather spend my time reading, gardening, or taking care of my animals! (I run a cat rescue.) I also have men's 4E width feet, so shoes have always been a huge problem for me too!

For anyone in the US, Aeropostle's Short Petites jeans are the absolute perfect size for someone around 5'1 (like myself). They are the only jeans I have never had to hem up. I've worn them from my used-to-be size 5 up through my current size 12 (hopefully that won't last much longer!). I am currently about 160 lbs, but I want to build muscle, so my weight isn't an accurate indicator of where I want to be. Better to say, I'm at 40% body fat, and I want to be around 22%, so there's a ways to go! But I have found that men's medium shirts work well in terms of fit/shoulders/not hugging the belly like women's clothes like to do.

Hi Group! Glad to be here. 4" 10". Was size obese 2. Buying size 22. How did I ever get there! Now about to lose 2lbs to be just overweight range. BMI dropped by 5. Lost 32 lbs.Dropped several dress sizes. Oh the feeling of packing them away and buying new clothes. My work jacket - the shoulders are way too big. Scoop or v neck tops are too revealing. Camisoles sooo spoil the style, don't they. I hem trousers but try to find the more flattering tapered leg ( Asda). Cheap enough to buy a pair every month or so as the weight comes off.
We shorties have smaller shoulders, never seen a petite bra lol.... Straps Always slipping down.
MFP is great!!! Please feel free to add me as we continue our journey.

Even when I was skinny, I had this problem. I ended up either buying kid's clothing, learning to tailor my own clothes and/or getting things custom made. Although I've noticed more shops starting to do 'petite' ranges now, which helps a bit. I can still never get tops that have 'sensible' length sleeves. The long sleeves cover half my hands, 3/4 sleeves end just before my wrist, and t-shirt sleeves always make my shoulders look big!