This is not my most glamorous outfit, but it’s ideal for I muddy walks with my rescue dog, Bonny. Generally, I hate the advice that petite women should wear children’s clothes: most little girls don’t have curves, whereas a lot of petite women do - think J-Lo or Emma Bunton. But these jeans, from Miss Evie at Peacock’s, are an exception. I can’t claim that they’re particularly good quality, but they were inexpensive and are cut below the waist, which means that they fit fairly well.

The coat is from Next to Nothing. As I have eczema, I can’t wear wool, so finding a small coat which keeps me warm is not easy. But this one fits well, despite not being petite-sized. I’m quite happy for these sleeves to cover most of my hands - it keeps them warm.

The T-shirt is so old I can’t remember where it came from. The scarf, which was originally white, was tie-dyed to the same colour as the T-shirt using Dylon machine dye. The non-leather, vegan walking boots are from the ethical wares catalogue (www.ethicalwares.com). Many of their shoes and boots are available from size 3 upwards. Ethical Wares also promotes fairer working practices.

My best friend teases me about buying so many clothes from Next, which she dismisses as too bland. But I can almost guarantee that Next size 6 petite will fit, even if I’m buying from the catalogue. In fact, my husband bought me the cords and the T-shirt without me even being there. The cardigan is from New Look, and I’m wearing my walking boots from Ethical Wares.

I love breaking the rules which magazines so often prescribe for small women - such as, "don’t wear short skirts, they’ll make you look shorter" and "don’t wear high heels, they’ll draw attention to your short legs". Interestingly, we are also told that flat shoes will make us look short. Not all petite women are the same shape, so generalised rules are unhelpful.

This outfit revolves around the item which is so difficult for petites to get hold of - namely a genuinely short skirt, here from La Redoute. It’s not specifically petite sized, but it’s only 35cm long. My only complaint is that La Redoute’s sizes are bigger than the sizing chart in the catalogue would indicate: despite being designed to fit on the hips, this size 8 is a bit loose and I will probably get it altered.

The camisole top is from Next last season. It’s regular size 6 (something else which came up big!), but their strappy tops are quite often OK for larger petites. I’m a big fan of wearing Next vests as T-shirts in the summer: they’re usually designed to stretch, so if you’re small they just don’t stretch quite so much! The fabric boots are from Peacock’s.

I like a combination of cream and red or pink for gigging - it creates a soft, folksy edge without descending into kitsch. I’d normally team this outfit with a cream shirt, as below, to protect my neck from sax and guitar straps.

I hope some of the comments in this article are useful for bigger petites or those on a strict budget. If anyone knows where I can get hold of fair trade clothes in petite size 6-8, then I’d like to know.

I think we need to hear something from some of the smaller petites, who must have a whole different set of problems and solutions. And what about the petite men out there?