If I had a penny for every time I tried on a dress or a pair
of jeans in a shop, only to remark “It’s too short” I would be a millionaire by
now. At a quarter of an inch shy of 6ft, I have always had huge difficulty finding
clothes to fit my frame and frankly I am sick of putting up with ‘ankle biter’
trousers or dresses so mini you can’t bend over. At the risk of turning this
topic into a rather enraged rant at the fashion industry, I just wanted to make
this point.
For starters, there seems to be an inexplicable lack of tall ranges
on the high street but yet you can find an array of petite clothing on pretty
much every corner. New Look, Topshop, Next and Debenhams all stock petite ranges
but in contrast offer a pitifully small tall range that is increasingly now
only stocked online, (useless when you need to try things on.) To perfectly illustrate
my point, some simple research will identify this problem. For example, on the
New Look website they stock in total: 215 items in petite and only 147 items in
tall. Whilst Debenhams, stock 517 items for petite women versus 116 in tall, Next,
a ratio of 712: 390. And even Topshop, who is often praised for its range of
niche clothing have just under 100 items more in petite than they do in tall…. the
list goes on. Why does this seem to be such a one way street? Literally. Of
course, there is always the argument that any specialist clothing is hard to
find but a half decent tailor, or perhaps even a handy mother with a sewing
machine could take material up a few inches. It is going to be much harder to
add material that simply doesn't exist.
Admittedly, I have a rather biased opinion toward this issue
and feel free to disagree with me if you will but I feel like us tall girls should
have a revolt. The human population is only getting taller so it’s about time
we started being catered for. I for one am not willing to fork out £70 for a
pair of jeans or £80 for a dress just to get something that fits (I’m a student
after all) and why should I? It realistically should only cost an extra few
quid maximum to lengthen material outside of the regular sewing patterns. However, as I am not able to conjure up a solution to this out of thin
air, I’ll provide a run-down on some of the ‘options’ out there for tall
females who are having a tough time.
Long Tall Sally is the obvious choice and great if you are
over 45, looking for M&S-esque fashion but it can set you back close to
£100.
Their basics range, however looks like it could be refreshing
to pretty much all ages and tastes even if nothing else takes your fancy.
http://www.longtallsally.com
I would also recommend a look at http://www.tallgirls.co.uk/
Again,
it is not budget shopping but it is much more current in its trends. I simply
love these tunic dresses at the moment and it would be refreshing to have a
dress that I don’t have to team with leggings, as it modestly falls just
above the knee. Subsequently, I have purchased this one and I will let you know how I get on.
Finally, If you are willing
to search across the pond. Old Navy, an American Company, do quite an extensive
tall range that shouldn't break the bank too much (although this is without
shipping.) I can’t say their styles will suit everyone but I managed to find a
pair of pretty cute shorts for the summer season. It’s worth taking a look.
And
that’s about it I’m afraid. To my fellow tall girls, I wish you luck in your future
fashion finds and remember height is a good thing.
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