Designer and style-icon Dannii Minogue has joined the QVC family with two new and exclusive collections we know you’re going to love! Dannii Minogue Petites is a fashion range like no other, where every detail from print size to collar size to knee positioning has been carefully thought-out to flatter a petite frame. The collection also offers regular sizes so whatever your height, you can feel fabulous in clothes that fit.
Looking for something to accessorise your new outfit? Enter, Dannii Minogue Diamonique, a jewellery collection packed with personality and inspired by magical moments. Every piece has been thought through from a petite’s perspective, so all the necklaces and bracelets are adjustable, and the earrings have been made lighter and smaller so they don’t pull the lobes or rest on your shoulder.
We recently caught up with Dannii herself to find out more…
Was launching a petite-focused range something you always wanted to do?
I’m 5′ 2″ but I didn’t really know I was ‘petite’ until my early 20s. Clothes just didn’t fit and I couldn’t work out why. I loved fashion but would always get the same feeling when walking into a shop, where you’d look around and think it all looks beautiful but there’s not one piece that’s going to fit and look good. So there was confusion, and I just knew I had to alter everything.
My grandma taught me to cut patterns and sew, I always knew I could tweak things but there’s only so much you can alter. Generally, people think if you take up the hem on trousers or the sleeve length that’s fine isn’t it? It’s not. The collar is too wide, the button is now so low your bra is exposed, the arm holes are too big. Even if you take the length of the trousers up, the knee drops down, so the wider part sits at a lower point making you look shorter.
“A common thread with a lot of petites is you have to know someone who can alter clothes.”
It’s hard to explain to someone who is not petite how stressful it can be. It’s caused me a lot of anxiety over the years because I kept thinking there’s something wrong with me, even though I’ve been quite small in dress size. People then say, well what are you complaining about? But I’m thinking, nothing fits me, what’s going on… because you feel like a little girl wearing your mum’s clothes. I expect as an adult to be able to get dressed properly to go to work or a party. I hate being an afterthought.
So, I wanted this Aladdin’s cave where you could come to if you’re petite and choose whatever you want. But the first thing is the education. Am I petite? What is petite? Because people don’t know. Our Petite collection is for anyone 5′ 3″ and under. I have a lot of girlfriends who are 4′ 11″ and I don’t want anything to arrive and to not fit them. That’s why we’ve gone all the way through with the sizing. Then because we’ve also added regular sizes, everyone can get involved! Even the jewellery is designed for both.
We’ve also given the collection an identity. Often when searching for petite items, it’s the same old clothes that were there years ago. The same problem occurs with plus size, “they’re plus size, they’ll be happy with something”, no! I want to wear stylish stuff like everyone else, at either end of the scale.
We love the look of the jewellery. Can you tell us more about this?
My wrists are tiny, so bracelets never fit me, they fall off. My ears are little so normal earrings pull them down. I’ve designed Dannii Minogue Diamonique with all of this in mind, from adjustable bracelets to small ring sizes. Because all the necklaces are adjustable not only can you wear them shorter if you’re petite or longer if you’re regular, you can also layer them easily with other pieces.
Do you have any favourites from either collection?
The denim jacket (also available in Regular) with the love and kisses detail under the collar! The love and kisses T-shirt as well (also available in Regular). I know there are guys and girls that want to buy this T-shirt. For me, that was my very first single and from that single came an album, then I arrived in London and the rest is history. It kind of started my whole adult life and now I feel like this is the start of the next stage for me, where I get to really flex this muscle of a brand that I’m so passionate about.
Are there certain pieces from both collections you’d put together?
The charm bracelet with what I call ‘mirror balls’ in-between the hearts and stars… I love it with everything! If it’s the ‘your house is on fire scenario’ and you can only take one piece with you, that’s the one.
Is there a story behind this design?
My first trip overseas inspired it. I was nine, my mum is Welsh, so we wanted to see Europe and go to Wales to meet relatives there. I was given a charm bracelet and spent the trip collecting these little charms as we went and it was the most special thing. We came back home through America and my dad took us to Disneyland in California, where he went to college. So in a way it was both of our parents taking us back to where they’d had their childhood.
It was funny because at the time I thought that was the only chance I was ever going to go overseas. I had no idea I’d do it again let alone travel all the time for work and it was like this little dream that you have around your wrist and all those emotions, where you think you could be greater than you are, be somewhere else or do something else. Who would have known that little girl at nine would then be zipping all over the world and flying all the time?
You’ve taken a lot of care when it comes to prints, why’s that?
If there’s a large print and you’re putting it on a smaller garment, it’s going to do something completely different, which is why we’ve reduced the prints in some cases by 30% – 40%. When you get it right and you see it all together on a petite frame, you think what’s she done? She’s done nothing, it’s just normal clothing. It’s going to look like that because it doesn’t look wrong.
Lastly, is there anything you’d like to shout out to your fellow petites?
Welcome everybody. This is a space where we can come together and talk about these things. It’s a chance to celebrate who we are, no matter what size and shape. After all, petite comes in all shapes and sizes!
Thanks, Dannii!
It sounds like there’ll be something for everyone in both collections and we love the look of it all. To discover your own favourites, head over to our new Dannii Minogue page and take the first step on your style journey.
