Hello, world.

Surprisingly enough, this photo is from two years ago. Little girl, big book. (There's another version of this photo from 16 years ago, too. Trend? I think so...)

My name is Ma'ayan Plaut, and I'll be a guest contributor here at Little, So Chic. I'm not so good at fashion and stuff (though I appreciate it, it's a hard to appreciate something so difficult for me to wear. Sandhya's post about how cutting/hemming your pants doesn't make them "fit" is a good reason why.) so I'll be contributing "short" stories about my life as a short person.

I'm 4'10'' and have been since I was twelve. I've been told I have a big persona and people don't realize I'm short til I'm standing next to them. Being little doesn't mean you can't act big.

I work predominately in higher ed communications, specifically on the web, where no one can see what height you are. Even if you can't see it, I'm sitting with my 4-inches-too-long pants with my ballet flats behind my desk riding my kids' sized bike to work every day.

Casual Introductions

In a world where height reigns supreme, Amazonian goddesses float along couture runways and grace the covers of Vogue, Elle, and Visionaire. It would be nice if the perks stopped there, alas height is just as important in playing essentially ever sport I attempted as well as to not being stepped on while worming your way through large crowds. Eventually I found myself (and thankfully stopped trying to play organized sports).

The struggle to find pants that don't drag on the ground, however, never stops - though I do respect that tall women have the opposite problem. I've been told countless times, "At least you can hem your pants. You can't add to the bottom of your jeans." Any true fashionista knows that simply chopping several inches off the bottom of a pair of pants doesn't magically make them fit. The width of a pair of pants meant for a tall girl's lower thigh, no matter how skinny she may be, does not correspond to my ankle. I can't recall how many times I've accidentally tried on capris and then, wondering why the fit is so awkward realize that they are not petite length pants.

I can live with looking a little harder to find shorter inseams in the same way that wider girls can live with shopping for plus-sized clothes. What I cannot live with is the exclusion of the shorter girl, that is shorter than 5'5" from the wonderful world of high fashion and couture as an art-form. If the average American female is 5'4" (I've allowed an extra inch above, which is fair considering the "Petite" cycle of ANTM had girls up to 5'7"), just as many of us fall below that mark as those who fall above. The average female super model is generally between 5'8" and 6'1", a good 4-9 inches above the average girl. This blog is dedicated to the rest of us who, whether 5'2" or 4'9," know their Louboutins from their Blahniks and that petite section isn't limited to outdated holiday sweaters and sportswear for senior citizens.