My daughter is a fluffy chickie (28 years old) and we both agree that most of the women's sizes are frumpy. My complaint as a petite size 16 (yup, fluffy, too!) is WHY do they make pleated pants? Unless you are an absolute toothpick, no one, but no one looks good in pleated pants! Daughter's favorite place to shop is Lane Bryant. They are expensive, but when they have sales, they have terrific sales. She often will get t-shirt tops for under $10 (and they are cute), jeans for $15 (their new sizing is awesome) and bras buy 2, get 2 free. They also do a catalogue and online. Check them out...their clothes are more "hip" than Kohls or the other department stores.
My other gripe (besides pleated pants) is how come a petite is now based on a 5'5" woman? Last I checked 5'5" was average. I have to cut off what seems like half my pant legs to get the length correct. Boot cut? Not after they're hemmed - they're now straight legs. Fancy trims like zippers at the hem...nope, won't work for me since you usually can't shorten these. Cuffs? Hahaha...keep dreaming. Oh well, at least I have a lot of denim scraps for quilts.