The SHORT CUT: Bobon by Puey Quinones

Being 5"4, I may be a clothes horse at heart, but in build, am a clothes donkey. Getting items off the rack--especially dress shirts, trousers, jeans (outerwear is more outright discriminating since, through mirrors around the store, you can already see how physically inadequate you are)--is daunting, trepidation taking over as soon as you head to the fitting room. To put it simply, chances are slim to none that what you grabbed will fit.

So you take what you can. If you've long accepted your falling short of a few inches, you've probably taken into account a few rules in choosing pants (We'll take on the issue of tops some other time): 

THE BOTTOM LINE:

A. Shorts: Stick to why they're called such. For trunks, khaki shorts, whatnot, try not to get a pair that falls below your knees. Covering up an already existing lack of leg with a loose or long style won't help your height any. 

B. Pants: Slim, not skinny. You'll want to give an illusion of vertical prosperity. 

When purchasing, remember these basic points. The search for a good pair of jeans is tiresome (closest you'll come to the ends cupping your ankles would be a size 30 L), but coming close is half the battle. Then, you can CTRL + ALT on your swag by making a trip to your friendly neighborhood alterer.   

After recently acquiring some recession finds recently, I headed to Alterations Plus at The Podium. Pre-worked items: 

But there are better ALT-ernatives. This site's SHORT CUT section lauds all retail efforts out there to make life a little easier on the petite. 

    The frontage of Bobon at The Podium in Ortigas 

          An off-the-rack design I had altered. (About a week's wait for a sleek, perfect fit) 

There's BOBON by designer PUEY QUINONES, for example (located at Markati Palazzo, Level 4 of The Podium). Though Quinones' men's line is limited to a single rack at the store's frontage, all items are a notch above contempo-classy--hints of graphic fancy, with strips of floral lining, maybe--and may be subject to your own preference. Dictate the material, you may. And most importantly, off the rack can also be made to measure--for a teensy bit extra, of course. Shirts are priced from P 2,200-3,600. A blazer is P 7,000 (sometimes, sales can shed several thousand, making it P 4,000). A significant amount you pay, I know, but if textile tweaking is involved, then these threads are all worth it. 

Here's another variation--a little more snazzed up (check the detailing on this one) of the above design: