The size and length of Ally's famously short skirts were a topic of last night's episode, with the storyline addressing short skirts and their place in a courtroom.

But size 0? What the heck does that mean?

"It means you're really tiny," muses Cheryl Potter of Jo-Ann's Fabrics in Palm Beach. "Anybody who wears a size 0 in women's wear could wear children's clothes."

They carry no size 0 patterns. Neither does the Lantana Sewing Center, and neither does Simplicity, the New York-based pattern maker.

Flockhart could, however, pop into Petite Sophisticate at the Palm Beach Mall.

"Generally, a size 0 has a 23-inch waist," says Bonnie Daniels of Petite Sophisticate, also in Palm Beach. About half of the store's clients come in looking for 0s, she says.

But 0 means nothing. Zip. Doesn't math apply?

Nope. "I suspect that size 0 is an attempt to appeal to what is sometimes called 'vanity sizing,' " says Jack Morgan, director of communications for the American Apparel Manufacturers Association. "The idea being that women are going to feel more confident in a smaller size."

And if you are too small for size 0?

He chuckles. "Maybe they can come up with a minus 1."

Rachel Stanley is the costume designer for "Ally McBeal," which centers on a Boston law firm. She wouldn't talk sizes for any character -- that's too personal, she said.

Ally will be getting some knee-length looks this season. Flockhart asked for it, Stanley says. "She wanted a change."

And rumor has it, a line of Ally-inspired clothes is being developed.

"I know nothing about it," Stanley says.