At Bomb Petite we like to offer a platform for real petites, their experiences and style journeys. This is why we have chosen to feature ‘My Petite Story’ by Poppy Chanelle. It is an inspirational and heartfelt memoir.

Poppy has collaborated with Bomb Petite before – she was our model (you can check out that post here). A big thank you to Poppy for sharing her story. If you like what you read, you can get more of the same at Poppy’s wonderful blog Miss Everyday Elegance.

Growing up I never felt self conscious about my height, until I reached adulthood, and had to learn the hard way how important your clothing choices were in regards to the impression you made, and the way people treated you.

I was often picked up and carried around unexpectedly at random times of the day.

As the years rolled on my classmates shot up in height, and most of the boys towered over me, which meant I was often picked up and carried around unexpectedly at random times of the day.

At this point buying clothes was easy and enjoyable, as I could shop in the teenage sections of the high street stores, and keep up with the current fashion trends.

It wasn’t until my first year at beauty college, where finding clothes to fit started to become a struggle. When my friends started to shop more in womenswear, I still needed to shop in the children’s sections. Buying clothes that didn’t fit became the norm.

Towards the end of my first year at college, I began to feel tired all the time, falling asleep in the day, and my weight had dropped below six stone, and worst of all I began losing a lot of hair. I was diagnosed with the endocrine disorder “Growth hormone deficiency”.  And so, within a couple of days of my 17th birthday I started injecting with growth hormone every night. After a few months of taking it, my energy levels, and skin had improved along with some healthy weight gain, and my hair was also showing signs of improvement as well.

My diagnoses had been made quite late, mainly because the women in my family are all round 5’2, so for me being short didn’t really seem like anything out of the norm. I have still managed to get a small increase in my height just scraping 4’11, and who knows, I could reach my predicted height of 5’1, as I will remain on growth hormone until the age of 25.

The women in my family are all round 5’2, so for me being short didn’t really seem like anything out of the norm.

After finishing my national diploma, I began volunteering at my local Oxfam boutique in Chelsea where I developed a passion for fashion. It wasn’t long before I got my first proper job at Laura Ashley on the iconic King’s Road in London. Each season we had to wear the collection as our uniform. The fit of the clothes wasn’t the only problem…

At first I chose clothing that I would normally go for, i.e. really cute dresses that were a fit and flare sort of style, but because of my height and baby face I didn’t realise that they made me look about 12, and so the customers treated me as such. Customers were really rude, they did not want to deal with me, or want my opinion or help, and would often ask to speak to someone else instead. I didn’t think they were treating me like this because of how I appeared, I just thought wow, these customers are really tough!

The next season, just by chance, I chose for my uniform more mature, smart classy dresses that were fitted in style and these also showed off my figure. From the first day I wore them I couldn’t believe the changes in people’s reaction to me. The customers started treating me totally different, like I was a different person.

From the first day I wore these smart classy dresses I couldn’t believe the changes in people’s reaction to me.

Some of you may say,” oh you probably just got better at your job”, but no, as when I reverted back to the old style of dresses, the rudeness from the customers returned also, which made me feel self conscious about my height, so from that point I only chose the sophisticated dresses to wear, which gave me an added confidence boost, and also enabled me to do my job properly.

I have learnt to embrace my height, and turn it into a positive when people try and use it to put me down, plus it’s a good excuse for my massive shoe collection, as you can never have too many high heels I say!

It’s a good excuse for my massive shoe collection, as you can never have too many high heels I say!