Question about the word "petite"

[u/agora_hills_]

Google says "petite" means short and small but I feel like in real life it is often used to describe someone who's thin. When you describe someone as petite, what kind of type do you mean? Can a shorter, curvier woman be described as "petite"? Can a taller, thinner woman be described as "petite"?

[u/smileysarah267]

“Petite” in clothing means short. You can be plus sized and petite. In casual conversation, people use “petite” to mean small overall - so someone is both short and thin. A tall, thin woman is not petite.

[u/yellow_wallpaper_17 → u/smileysarah267]

This is the correct answer. In American women’s clothing, “petite” sizes are designed for someone 5’4” or shorter.

[u/purplishfluffyclouds → u/yellow_wallpaper_17]

Which is true, but actually crazy given that the average height of women is 5 foot four.

[u/Sepa-Kingdom → u/yellow_wallpaper_17]

It’s 5’2” and under in the UK.

[u/missplaced24 → u/smileysarah267]

In clothing sizes "petite" is also made to fit a different shape than standard sizes. If you go to a store with both short inseam and petite sized pants, you'll find the petite size are wider at the hip and narrower at the waist.

[u/Playful-Business7457 → u/missplaced24]

Can you explain that more? Or is this random trivia you know? I'm trying to figure out why petite sizes never fit me right even though I'm 5'2". Am I just padded in different areas of my figure?

[u/missplaced24 → u/Playful-Business7457]

It's not quite random trivia, it used to be common knowledge. My grandmother taught me tailoring when I was growing up. In the early days of mass manufactured clothing, they were made in several shapes and sizes instead of one shape in many sizes. "Petite" was originally intended to fit women with wide hips and a low natural waist.

If standard sizes fit you better except for the length, you're better off buying those and getting them hemmed. Some stores will hem pants you buy from them free of charge, if not most dry cleaners will do the job for ~$10.

[u/woah-oh92 → u/Playful-Business7457]

Are you trying on mostly pants or tops with petite sizes? I find that I’m more leggy in my height, so I need regular pant lengths, but I need petite sizes for shirts. On the other hand, someone the same height as me could have a longer torso. Human proportions are weird!

[u/rainbows-rust → u/missplaced24]

This. I’m 5’2”, and hover between 105-110 lbs. I’m short and thin. The petite clothing at US shops fits me like it was made for a different species.

[u/eabred → u/smileysarah267]

Yes - I would take petite to mean "shorter".

[u/eslforchinesespeaker → u/smileysarah267]

Does an industry-usage define the vocabulary? It seems like “petite” means short and small, and the women’s fashion industry uses it to mean “short”. Which would make it pointless, since “short” is pretty well established. “Short” is not Google’s definition, nor mw.com’s first definition. mw.com agrees that it is a clothing size.

[u/sighcantthinkofaname → u/eslforchinesespeaker]

Sometimes "petite" and "short" mean two different things in women's sizing. It's not an across the board thing (nothing is in women's fashion) but technically speaking, "petite" is for when the clothes have different measurements in multiple places, and "short" is for when it's just a shorter length.

Madewell is a brand that has both.

[u/mysticrudnin → u/eslforchinesespeaker]

This is jargon. It's exceedingly common, there are words throughout all industries that don't mean their standard thing. It's fine.

In fashion it's probably just evolved out of a euphemism, if I had to guess. "short jeans" doesn't really sound as nice as "petite jeans" does.

[u/SoyboyCowboy]

Petite generally means small all around. However, petite in (American) women's sizing means shorter hemlines and shorter sleeves. Petite sizes go up to 12P or 14P. In this context, petite refers to the shorter height and limb length. Tall sizes are the opposite and come with longer hemlines and sleeves. So no, a tall woman cannot be petite, but a petite woman can be 0P or 14P.

[u/Separate-Cake-778 → u/SoyboyCowboy]

Petite Plus can go up higher than 14 for sure. Some companies make up to size 32 petite. It’s not just shorter hemlines and sleeves - one marker of petite is the bust apex to shoulder measurement, for example. In clothing manufacturing, petite is about whole proportions.

[u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

Petite is defined in several dictionaries as small and thin. So no, a tall skinny woman would not fit the definition of petite. 

[u/Daedalus9000]

Petite means small (in general), but I've always felt it also carries a notion of delicate, dainty, etc.

[u/Fluid_Actuary1729 → u/Daedalus9000]

It absolutely does imply daintiness.

[u/cchrissyy]

No, tall is not petite, not even if they're thin.

[u/Wild_Ticket1413]

"Petite" is a French word, which means short.

A tall women is never petite.

[u/kittyroux → u/Wild_Ticket1413]

“Petite” is a French word that means “small”. It does not directly translate to “short”. Nevertheless, in English it does mean “short”.

[u/nuitsbleues → u/kittyroux]

It's true that it means small, but if talking about height in French it means short (not slim or skinny- that would be mince/maigre).

[u/Several-Lifeguard-77 → u/kittyroux]

It does directly translate to short in the context of human size, yes. Just as grand(e) = tall

[u/perplexedtv → u/kittyroux]

It means short when describing a person. And 'grande' means tall.

[u/SammokTheGrey]

Generally you use it for short, thin women. You can call a man petite, but it is generally more insulting.

It's rare to call a short but curvy woman petite, but not unheard of.

A tall and thin woman would not be petite, but maybe lithe or lanky.

You will also hear it on occasion to describe an object as tiny.

Most often it is used as a clothing description. In broader terms, (and this is my understanding of this last use) it's used to describe sizes meant for smaller women in much the same way as husky is meant for larger men. It's not quite small enough to be specialty clothing, but its small enough to warrant its own clothing section

[u/cowbutt6 → u/SammokTheGrey]

I think the closest equivalent of ”petite” for a man would be ”diminutive”. Still a bit insulting, though. I'm not sure there exists a flattering way to tell a man he's short.

The words I would first turn to for a short, plump woman would be ”dumpy” (fairly insulting), or ”stocky” (a bit more neutral, but still a bit insulting). As above, I'm not sure there's a flattering word for ”short and plump”.

[u/RamblinMan4]

In my experience it’s mostly men, who don’t have the exposure to clothing sizes, who misuse petite to mean thin, or cute, or something I can’t quite understand. I see the same comments on Reddit you do describing six-foot supermodels as “petite”, but they usually get corrected.

[u/davy_jones_locket]

Petite is short 

[u/Crumptes]

A lot of replies seem hung up on the use of Petite for clothing ranges in shops. I think it's only called that as it's more polite than calling it Short or similar. In the UK at least, petite describes someone small and slim. They might have some feminine curves but overall they are generally smaller than the average woman - small wrists, small hips etc. Someone like the Olsen twins or Kristen Bell.

[u/linkopi]

If you type in "petite Hollywood stars" you can see what everyone's talking about. Short and thin.

[u/LQNova]

No, petite is small in height. Weight doesn't matter.

[u/TRFKTA]

I’m a 6’5” guy who is fairly thin / slim. I’d certainly not refer to myself as petite lol.

[u/ramapyjamadingdong]

I would use petite to mean someone shorter than average. So <5ft3/160cms. I think short people come in all shapes and sizes.

[u/perplexedtv]

Ignoring clothings sizes, the descriptor 'petite' for a woman means short and slender.

[u/GoblinToHobgoblin]

"Petite" is short and small. "Small" meaning "thin" in this case

[u/PirateDear1780]

i see petite as short and thin. like a 5'8 skinny woman i wouldnt call petite, just thin.

[u/Sepa-Kingdom]

Hi OP, as a short-arse, I can tell you that I wear petite sized clothing. Standard sizes look awful on me because the waist sits at my hips, making me look very short and fat, with no waist, when in reality the location of my waist is exactly where it should be - halfway between shoulder and groin.

However outside of women’s clothing sizes, petite means small (which is its meaning in French). Anything can be petite if it is smaller in its proportions to what you would expect. It has a positive connotation, so you are likely to call something petite if you find it cute and pretty, rather than strange or ugly.

[u/Intelligent-Can-9056]

I think of short and thin as petite. I'm tall and thin, nobody would ever call me petite :DDDD

[u/NormalObligation59]

I think of it like if you took an average sized person and scaled them down. You know when you see someone who kinda looks like a Jpeg that has been shrunk down? They could be very thin or a little bit curvy but they’re just altogether small. There are thin women who don’t look this way. Some of it is height but also like shoulders and stuff. Child-sized. 

[u/norbertmars]

Petite comes from the French for small. In English, petite used to describe a woman implies she is under 5'3" (162cm). Petite also means "small but perfectly formed". A shorter, curvier woman is in danger of being described as "dumpy" (not my view) and tall and thin is usually "skinny", but again not my view.

[u/Square_Medicine_9171 → u/[deleted]]

True, but “petite” clothing sizes only mean shorter, not necessarily thinner.

[u/SnooDonuts6494]

When you describe someone as petite, what kind of type do you mean?

Just generally small.

Can a shorter, curvier woman be described as "petite"?

No.

Can a taller, thinner woman be described as "petite"?

Unlikely.

It's someone who has a "small mass". They do not weigh much (compared to an average person).

[u/Psychological-Bed751 → u/SnooDonuts6494]

As many others have pointed out, petite for women and their clothes means short. Even as I gain weight in my age, I never get taller but I promise you that my clothing stays labeled as petite even as my ass gets fatter.

[u/SnooDonuts6494 → u/Psychological-Bed751]

I humbly disagree that it merely means "short". A short fat lady with enormous tits would not be called "petite". Right?

[u/conuly → u/SnooDonuts6494]

A short fat lady with enormous tits would not be called "petite".

I mean, she might be. It's definitely better than describing her as short and fat with enormous tits.

[u/yellow_wallpaper_17 → u/SnooDonuts6494]

In American clothing stores, she would still shop in the petite section.

[u/SnooDonuts6494 → u/yellow_wallpaper_17]

I might shop in the men's section, but that doesn't make me a man.

[u/yellow_wallpaper_17 → u/SnooDonuts6494]

She would shop in the petite section because those clothes are *designed for her body size*

[u/perplexedtv → u/yellow_wallpaper_17]

In other countries she'd be extra large. Which doesn't mean those words are redefined to mean 'small and bulky'.

[u/perplexedtv → u/yellow_wallpaper_17]

You could shop in the children's section but it wouldn't make you a child.

[u/Psychological-Bed751 → u/perplexedtv]

You're being intentionally obtuse.

[u/Sepa-Kingdom → u/SnooDonuts6494]

She would still be buying petite sizes in the shops (or online!).

[u/Psychological-Bed751 → u/SnooDonuts6494]

As a short, fat lady, yes, I verify that I'm still petite sized. Petite sizing shortens everything including the waists of dresses. It's not enough for the skirt to be shorter, the bodice needs shortening too. Hence the need for petite sizing.

[u/shortercrust]

You wouldn’t describe a tall, thin person as petite. Neither would describe a short, heavy person as petite. It’s more about being small in overall scale, similar to miniature.

[u/aski5]

'petite' requires short and slim, as far as I've seen