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The Best Looks For Petites


Teresa Nivar

The Dress and Jacket Strategy

Teresa Nivar
Police Officer
33, 5'4"

Uniforms don't come in petite sizes, so Nivar has hers taken in.

  • Pinstripes look professional and give an enhanced vertical line.
  • Switch to evening simply by removing the jacket.
  • "Petite sizes aren't just smaller than misses'; they're proportioned differently, with shorter neck-to-waist and waist-to-hip measurements," says Kim Williams Dahlman, author of The Petite Handbook
Jacket, Calvin Klein, $198. Dress, $168. Short necklace, Dean Harris. Pendant necklace, Irene Neuwirth. Rings, Helen Ficalora and Jane Taylor. Shoes, Yves Saint Laurent.