Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Long and leggy

I'm barely 5'3" so when my friend Kathryn asked me If I knew where she could find an outfit for a friend's wedding, I was stumped. You see, Kathryn is 5'11" and few stores cater to women of her stature.

I started going through my closet and found a little black dress I bought for a wedding a couple years ago - the one I had shortened by 8"! I bought it at David Findlay. At that time - in addition to their biz wear - they had a small collection of evening wear.

I also suggested Want because they carry an extensive collection of special occasion dresses.

Along the way Kathryn bought some great separates at Tzatz! and a great Teenflo jacket at Winners. She ended up finding an outfit at The Oyster in Burlington on a referral from her friend Judy.

I have a some other friends like Kathryn. Their biggest complaint about finding clothes are:
• pant legs and sleeves are too short
• limited selection
• boring, matronly clothes

With help from my friend Carol, Kathryn and Cindy, I've compiled a list of stores either specialize in catering to the long and leggy or just happen to carry clothes that fit:

Banana Republic - just introduced tall sizes (US only)
Club Monaco - jeans for women up to 5'10"ish.
David Findlay - great for tailored business suits
Franco Mirabelli - another great place for business attire and special occasions
Gap/Old Navy - tall jeans
Long Legs - great store for tall women with a flare for fashion
Lululemon - where else have you seen yoga pants shortened?
Tallcrest Shoes - shoes starting at size 10-13
Tall Girls Shop - basics, conservative business wear
Tall Like Me - huge selection, including maternity and yoga wear
The Oyster - awesome high-end clothes
Tzatz! - exclusive labels, urban style, sometimes glitzy
Want - hottest fashions, big selection of party dresses
Zara - high fashion, small fit, reasonably-priced

For more tips, check out Tall Women Fashion "411"!

Note: Not all of these stores specialize in tall sizes but they're loved by tall girls anyway. Check them out and let us know what you find. :) Long and leggy? Tell us about your favourite shop.

Technorati tags: fashion, shopping, tall women

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:38 am

    Thanks Eden! This is a great resource for us long in the leg.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6:43 pm

    Eden, you do a great job on your blog. It was so well written - and I'd never heard of tall women 411 before. Very cool!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous6:46 pm

    Reitmans carries tall sizes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous6:47 pm

    I get things from www.luxuriouslytall.com. I am 6' and they carry larger sizes as well as the size 4's and 6's.

    Tallsandi

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think I need to include more posts for women like you. Thanks for all your positive comments and tips.

    Eden

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey All

    I'm new to all of this blogging, but found your site when I was at work on the internet...I think it's great that you're offering advice for tall women. I'm not overly tall (5'8) but I do have trouble getting jeans and trousers to fit me from the highstreet.

    Luckily I work for a company called Long Tall Sally, and we specialise in clothing for tall women. Although we're UK based, we ship internationally: http://www.longtallsally.com/Default.aspx

    I've also come across a coule of websites which have links to lots of resources for tall women: http://www.extratall.co.uk/ and http://www.tallclothingmall.com/index.html

    There are a number of other retailers that are good for tall clothing. Tall couture's great for designer style wear and Topshop and Dorothy Perkins are great for cheaper more fashionable clothing (they both have special capsule tall ranges).

    Beth

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Beth,

    Welcome to Bargainista and thanks for sharing. What are your rates for international shipping?

    Thank you very much for being upfront about your connection to Long Tall Sally. I was upset when I read a post on another blog recently where the commenter was pitching her company but she didn't disclose the info. to the other readers (I know her and her relationship to the blogger).

    Let me know if you'd like to work with me on a post about shops for tall women in the UK.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Bargainista

    Yes I would love to help with your posts. Even though I work for Long Tall Sally, I understand and appreciate that people are not solely going to shop with us. I mean, how many people just shop at Topshop???

    I love the fact that you can shop across the highstreet, from value to designer, and create a totally individual style, and I don't think this should exclude tall women.

    Let me know how I can help...sounds fun!

    Beth

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beth, why don't you write a post about shopping in the UK? It can be about Tall Sally, other shops for tall women or something more general. E-mail me at bargainista at gmail dot com.

    Cheers,
    Eden

    ReplyDelete

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