I’ll get straight to the point: I have a really dinky torso. The distance from my shoulders to my waist is…how shall I put this?…a very short ride. As a result, most women’s tops are far too long on me. What is meant to reach to mid hip can easily extend far below my butt, making it impossible to tuck in and laughable to leave out. Even petite-sized tops don’t solve the problem, because short-waisted and petite are not the same thing.

Cropped tops have often been a good solution for me. Until recently, cropped tops were designed to hit just a bit above the waist on a more evenly proportioned body. That meant they landed an inch or two below my natural waist, which is ideal.

Then came the let’s-show-as-much-skin-as-possible movement, which elevated  cropped tops to just below the bust. Now they’re not even remotely suited to anyone with less than stellar abs. And even if you’re an astonishingly fit woman, they’re not an appropriate choice for anyone much over twenty.

So now what?

While shopping in Nordstrom just before Christmas with my friend Heidi, we happened to walk past the girls’ department. Mixed in with the ruffly dresses and the frou-frou tops—the obvious signs of the holiday season—was an assortment of simple crewneck sweaters. I spotted one I particularly liked and pulled it from the rack.

“That’s really cute,” said Heidi, whose fashion sense I trust implicitly. “You should try it on.”

“But it’s a kid’s top!”

“But it looks like it will fit.”

I looked at the tag—extra large—and decided to give it a shot.

Body length: check. Fit in shoulders: check. Room for boobs: check. Sleeve length: inches to spare! The muted, multi-colored fabric—with just the teeniest bit of shimmer—and the black banding would be ideal with my mostly black wardrobe. And the price tag was well below what I would expect to pay in the women’s department. So I bought it.

This is not to say that I will henceforth do all my shopping elbow to elbow with fashion-hungry ten-year-olds, but my positive experience will keep the door open in the future.

PS – I wore the sweater today, and received three compliments. Definitely a plus!

Elle Gianforte is an award-winning writer and published author whose work includes non-fiction books on a variety of subjects, including adoption, fashion, food, design, healthcare, and memoir. She is currently co-authoring a new book, Don’t Stop Now, Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life (DontStopNow.us). You can see a complete list of books on her Amazon author page.