plump-petite

I’m short. But I have fairly long legs and a short torso. And to make matters worse, I’m plump and rather busty. Okay, busty is not a huge problem per se but it sure doesn’t make shopping any easier.

I’m what I like to call plump-petite. Unfortunately, clothing manufacturers have not mastered this particular sizing situation.

Mark’s Work Wearhouse, for example, makes pants in a 29 inch inseam. Wonderful, right? Except the pants in question are so high-waisted that they come right up to my bottom of my busty region. Not flattering.

But pants are not my current dilemma. I have lots of pants at the moment. What I’m lacking is shirts.

Not tunics, or fancy embroidered blouses, or any top that involves ruching. I want a lovely, high-quality shirt that doesn’t come down past my bottom.

Well good luck to me. I am at a loss.

Eddie Bauer makes just the shirt I need. In fact, I have two: a brown one and a blue one. But the trouble is I’ve gained a bit of girth since last fall in the chest area. My pants all fit fine as do my jackets and sweaters. But not my tailored shirts.

So my Eddie Bauer shirts are a bit too tight to wear to the office. I’m a bit modest and I don’t want to show the girls off in a workplace setting.

But the next size up (in the realm of ‘plus sizing’) doesn’t offer the petite length. I guess chubby people in Eddie Bauer land are all tall.

No other store that I have found sells a (nice) shirt in a petite length for those of us who are blessed with some curves.

So I’m left with looking at tunics and stupid looking frou-frou things trying to find something — anything — that does not look utterly stupid on me.

Damn.