Our story

The best things in life should never be out of reach.

Top Shelf is the secondhand, peer-to-peer marketplace made for petite women. Here's why we started it.

43M+Petite women in the U.S.

And yet? We're still an afterthought in the fashion industry.

Petite sections are tucked away. The pieces we love rarely come in proportions that actually fit. Floor-length gowns need expensive alterations. Shopping feels frustrating instead of fun.

It shouldn't be this hard. So we decided to change that.

A saleswoman, prom dress shopping
“Nobody makes dresses for bodies like yours.”
Fashion that fits. That flatters. That includes us.
Why we exist

Like many petite women, I've spent years ordering piece after piece, only to send them back because they were too long, didn't come in petite sizing, or needed hemming that cost as much as the item itself.

I'll never forget shopping for my prom dress in high school, when a saleswoman told me nobody makes dresses for bodies like mine.

That moment stuck with me. Because we deserve better. We deserve fashion that fits, that flatters, and that includes us.

What we're building

Not just another resale app.

A marketplace designed for petite proportions

A community-powered shared closet

A more sustainable way to shop

A space where secondhand is the first choice

Filter by height, inseam and fit to find pieces that work for your body. Shop from women with proportions like yours, and resell what you've outgrown to earn back what you spent.

Because secondhand shouldn't be second best.

5'0"–5'2"Inseam 26–28"HourglassCurvyAthleticPearSize 4P
More than a marketplace

Short girls. Big community.

A place where petite women connect, support each other, and finally stop asking, “Will this actually fit?”

  • Every purchase supports another petite woman.
  • Every sale extends the life of great clothing.
  • Every swap keeps fashion circular.

We're building a future where petite fashion isn't an afterthought, and no one gets left out.

Carly, founder of Top Shelf, smiling in a white sundress and platform sandals 5'1½"
Meet the founder

Hi, I'm Carly.

I'm 5'1½", a proud petite woman, and a firm believer that business can be a force for good. I earned my MBA in Sustainable Innovation from the University of Vermont, where I learned that companies don't just sell products. They shape culture. That belief is at the heart of everything we're building here.

My career has always centered on community, from retail internships at Wayfair and New Balance to helping women feel supported at Weight Watchers, and now building global communities in my professional life. I've seen how powerful it is when people feel like they belong. Top Shelf is my way of creating that for petite women.

I don't have everything figured out. But I do have conviction, and I'm building a fashion space where petite women feel seen, supported, and never like an afterthought again.

If you're here, thank you.

Let's build this together. — Carly

Find your people, and pieces that fit.

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