Fashion

I Tried on Every Fall Dress at J.Crew—These Are the 6 Best for Petites

Including one I left the store with

Stephanie Maida

By Stephanie Maida

Published Aug 18, 2025

PureWow editors select every item that appears on this page, and some items may be gifted to us. Additionally, PureWow may earn compensation through affiliate links within the story. All prices are accurate upon date of publish. You can learn more about the affiliate process here.

J.Crew Petite Dress Try-On: Original photo of Stephanie Maida wearing purple dress and striped mini shirtdress, models wearing cheetah print slip and denim mini dress

Shopping online as a shortie can sometimes require complex math equations (take the height of the model, divided by the length of your leg times the square root of the skirt length, etc.) and careful consideration. Unless you’re browsing petite-specific sizing at a petite-friendly brand, it can be difficult to gauge how a certain piece of clothing will look on your body.

But luckily, you have me as your short-girl guide. I’ve been hitting dressing rooms at all our favorite retailers to give you a petite’s-eye view of the styles you’ve been on the fence about, so you can see how they look on someone who’s 5’1”—and learn whether they’re flattering on folks of less-than-modelesque proportions. My most recent stop? Our beloved J.Crew.

Although the brand offers pants and jeans in petite (and tall) lengths, most of its dresses come only in standard sizes, so hemlines and hiplines aren’t always going to hit at the right spots on a short person. To see which ones actually do, I plucked every dress—12, to be exact—off the rack at my local J.Crew and took them into the dressing room. Here are the six I’m giving my petite stamp of approval.

Want to know which buzzy products are *really* worth buying? Sign up for our shopping newsletter to uncover our favorite finds.

Senior Commerce Editor

Stephanie Maida

Senior Commerce Editor

  • Oversees PureWow's coverage of sales and deals, celebrity commerce and new launches across categories
  • Has worked as a writer and editor for 10+ years
  • Studied journalism at New York University

read full bio