Inde Navarrette Breaks All the Rules of Petite Dressing

As a fashion editor, I’ve heard the rules of petite dressing approximately a million times. Wear high-waisted pants to elongate your legs. Don’t let oversized clothes overwhelm your frame. And, of course, heels are your best friend. I’m not petite myself, but I’ve covered enough fashion trends over the years to know the rule book practically by heart. Inde Navarrette, apparently, has no interest in reading it. 

The 25-year-old actress, who stars in Obsession and was recently cast in the upcoming X-Men, is just 5 feet tall, and wears pretty much everything petite women are traditionally told not to. And it works so well! So I went directly to her stylist, Enrique Melendez, to find out whether there’s some secret formula behind Navarrette’s rule-breaking proportions. Turns out, the secret may be caring a lot less about the rules in the first place. “I don’t think any rules enter either Inde’s or my minds when it comes to trying to look leaner,” he tells me. Instead, the two focus on making sure everything is proportionally accurate. And after looking through Navarrette’s best outfits, I’m starting to think the traditional petite-fashion rule book could use a rewrite. Take a look at five petite fashion rules Navarette loves breaking. 

Low-rise pants are a calling card for Navarrette, who is a major fan of Y2K fashion. And according to Melendez, there’s no reason petites need to avoid them. Rather than focusing on where the waistband should hit, he looks at the outfit as a whole. “I think it’s all about balance,” he says. “And choosing the right pieces that complement each other.” That might mean pairing a lower rise with a cropped top or adjusting the length of a pant so the proportions work specifically for Navarrette’s frame. Which brings us to Enrique’s not-so-secret weapon: “Everyone’s secret weapon should be a good neighborhood tailor.”

The midi skirt has long been treated as somewhat dangerous territory for petites. Too long and it supposedly overwhelms your frame; too short and, well, it’s no longer a midi. Navarrette wears them anyway. Enrique’s solution is to not get hung up on what the tag says. If a traditional midi is too long, he suggests shopping for a regular below-the-knee skirt instead. A hemline designed to hit just below the knee on someone who’s 5-foot-6 or taller may naturally fall at midi length on someone who’s 5-foot-3 or under. Or, of course, just wear a mini.