Another suggestion is J Jill. Stores are mainly at high end malls, but they have a very nice catalog (which is online). I *love* their clothes. They are much more stylish than a lot of Talbots' clothes (some of which I find rather dumpy), yet not teenager-trendy like Bloomingdales. I also have good luck with Liz Claiborne and LL Bean petites. That said, finding a new store that consistantly carries clothes in one's personal fit can mean shopping around and trying stuff on. Also, as I've grown older, "shop 'til I drop" means I "drop" a lot sooner. ;) So I don't have the energy to physically shop around. When I first did online shopping I sent a lot of stuff back. Some Petite lines can be either too loose or too tight. You just have to try them. (Nordstroms, BTW has a nice return policy.) It wasn't that many years ago that there were no stores catering to petite sizes. I remember when there weren't even any petite clothes at all! (You probably weren't even born yet. :)) We had to do a lot of hemming, let me tell you. Just as a guess, the petite-only stores (and P-clothing lines in higher-end retail stores) may be suffering from increased online shopping and cheaper lines in discount stores. I'm sorry to see PS disappear, but then I haven't been patronizing them either. :q

You'll likely find a disclaimer on the back of pattern envelopes that will state the patterns are not to be used for commercial purposes. While it's perfectly all right to produce a single garment for a customer who pays you to do so, using a commercial pattern to mass-produce clothing for resale is a violation of the pattern company policy. People will tell you that if you change the pattern 10 or 15 or x percent you can call it your own. They are wrong. I can't tell you that they'll catch you. I can tell you that they'll be well within their right to sue you and they certainly have the money to do so! Mass-produced clothing is sometimes awfully drafted. I bought a couple blouses in size "large" from a well known retailer. While they fit through the chest, (I'm a commercial size 12-14 by the way) the neck was fully three inches too big around. Plus sized clothing is often made bigger all over, and that's bad pattern making. My bust, at 40 inches, is 33% larger than my size 2 pal, but my shoulders aren't 33% bigger, nor is my neck! It takes a lot of finesse to make a truly good fitting plus-sized garment. Since using commercial patterns isn't feasible do you have pattern making skills to produce your own? Do you have plus sized friends who can try on your garments and model them? As for your friend's assessment that "if she would carry all plus size clothing she would be sold out all the time" that's interesting. Why isn't she carrying it? What is her market? What are her price points for tops, pants, dresses? What income level is she selling to? I work in a very small city of about 65,000. A woman who had run a couple successful businesses opened a resale shop for plus sized women and it struggled for a year or so before folding. The prices were *very* reasonable. The clothing was carefully chosen - nothing shabby or dated looking. She knew fashion and had a passion for it. There just weren't enough customers.

THANK you both so much! I went back to read what exactly my architect said because I want to make sure I passed the problem he is having right for you guys and here is it: "In the process of preparing the permit drawings I have hit a snag. The planning we have done has been based on using the existing kitchen drain. The initial site visit has me believing that drain to be a 2" pipe. This is one of the things I need to verify during my final check site visit. All the piping would work with a 2" drain - but - for an automatic clothes washer the drain requirement goes up to 3" when the standpipe (pipe the washer drains into) hits the vertical sewer. I do not expect to find the pipe that I am assuming to be 2" is 3". ... Assuming the pipe is 2" the option to not doing potentially major plumbing work to get a 3" drain is to put a small laundry sink next to the washer for it to dump into." And here is section 802.4 of the code: Given that extra info, do you think I am still ready to go as it is or should I present my architect with my contractor plan to get around the issue and not have a laundry sink by the washer/dryer? Thanks again!!!

I remember when DD became engaged. We had the whole family here for Christmas, as usual, and she was arriving here the 24th and flying to fiancee on the 26th for their splashy engagement party in Louisiana that night or the next. She needed a dress, and so I ran out to two Macy's on the 24th to find a cocktail dress that would fit her. I brought home every petite 0 and petite 2 that looked possible, maybe 8 dresses. I hoped we could keep 2 or 3. All of them were too big except one would work because it was cut on the bias and draped on her well, even though it was a tad big too. So as her dad took her to the airport the morning of the 26th, I returned the dresses. That red satin Jones New York dress still fits and is a lovely dress for fancy occasions 12 years later.