My height (or lack thereof; I’m 5’2″) often presents me with the challenge of finding clothes that fit right off the rack, so I try to always stick to stores that offer petite sizes whenever possible.

In an attempt to save me from myself, my general rule of thumb is to only splurge on an expensive piece if it’s going to be timeless and will literally last me decades. If I’m trying to find something of good quality at a reasonable price-point, ASOS, Nordstrom and Zara are my picks. If I’m looking for something really trendy that probably won’t for last more than a season, I will shop in less expensive stores like Forever 21 and H&M.

My favorite clothing stores:

• ASOS (offer Petites)
• Bloomingdales (offer Petites)
• Bloomingdales Outlet (offer Petites)
• Forever 21
• H&M
• Nasty Gal
• Nordstrom (offers Petites and complimentary alterations with your Nordstrom credit or debit card)
• Nordstrom Rack
• REVOLVE
• Shopbop
• Target
• Tobi
• Zara

To adorn my feet:

• DSW
• Nordstrom
• Nordstrom Rack
• Zappos

For all my jewels:

• BaubleBar
• Francesca’s
• J. Crew Factory
• Stella & Dot

Tips:

Visit a tailor. Though this applies to everyone, it especially applies to petites. Clothes will never fit anyone like they fit the models, so having a piece of clothing altered to fit you personally will make a world of difference. I recently took my ill-fitting 7FAM Skinny jeans to be hemmed and tapered (tapering is what gets skinny jeans to hug your ankles), and after I got them back they fit like a second skin, and I felt like a million bucks.

My favorite San Francisco tailors are HB Alterations and Wendy’s Custom Tailoring.

Take care of your shoes. Good shoes are hard to find, so if you’re like me you will wear your favorite pairs to death, season after season. However, if you take your shoes in for maintenance when they start showing signs of excessive use (like worn-down heels, discoloration and/or scuffing), you can easily extend their lifetime. If you purchase an expensive pair (e.g. Christian Louboutin or Jimmy Choo), I strongly recommend resoling them before the first time you wear them out.

My favorite San Francisco cobblers are Shoe Craft (great for quick and dirty fixes like replacing heels or shoe stretching) and Anthony’s Shoe Service (great for true TLC and resoling expensive shoes).