Recently, I stumbled across a tall dress from ASOS which
pushed me to write this post. Like every girl with an ASOS account, I was
tempted by the sale email I received on my phone and decided it was time to
have a browse (after all, pay day had just blessed my bank account). In
nearly every clothing shop, the items I try on hang closer to my
waist than my legs. Even though ASOS is online, I am familiar with their
length-less clothing, but they do sell some wonderful pieces. Anyways, being 5'11,
it is always a joy to see the 'tall section' logo pop up.
The tall section for
a girl of my height, is a beam of light at the end of a very dark (and
hopeless) tunnel. Luckily, I found a dress that looked chic, cheap and
cheerful...finally! I couldn't resist really because the item I found also
belonged to the 70% off SALE
Unfortunately, this
shopping conundrum is a reoccurring situation I find myself in. People are
probably sick and tired of hearing my moans about being tall. But if
more people were my BFG height, they would understand how frustrating
it is to find clothes that fit (or look remotely respectable). Only the
other day my sister said to me in the Urban Outfitters changing room: 'Kates
that dress looks beaut on you...but it is quite short'. I told her that if I
lived my shopping life with that mindset, I would not own a single item of
clothing (unless it was a midi dress - which would still probably look tiny on
me). So, is it such a surprise that I don't want a dress that's going to
reveal my backside when I bend down? Why should I have to spend money on
clothes that don't fit me in the first place?
I read a
compelling article by Elle magazine a couple of months ago which really
outlined the struggle tall girls face when shopping. It made me giggle because
they described the tall section in shops as being like an unknown land, hidden
or shoved into the corner of a fashion store. It was so correct and
so relatable, only the other day I was in Topshop and there were signs
everywhere boasting the 'petite' section. The same could not be said for
the tall section, which took me about ten minutes to find and had a mere eight
items of clothing to choose from. Out of these eight items, about two of them
were wearable, both in terms of length and actually being fashionable / not
plain and drab.
In a separate Topshop store I went to the counter to ask where the tall section was. The sales assistant told me: 'Oh I think we've got rid of it, except the jeans' - well that just says it all. In the end the lady did find a (small) tall section with around four items in it. The clothes had been moved from upstairs and by the sounds of it, were due to be discontinued in this particular store. You would think tall girls were a rare animal species that are going extinct! Unfortunately, I had to fake a smile and thank the shop assistant. No, it is not her fault, but I can't say I was happy to find four items in the whole of the store that were going to fit me...
What baffles me the most is that the fashion industry crave tall, slender models and even deny models who are below 5'8/9. So, why is it clothes are not tailored for a tall frame, when they are modeled by an above average height? It is most often the 6ft models that prance down the catwalk, showcasing the latest fashion pieces. Yet, a small minority of clothes on the high street, online and by top designers, actually fit tall girls in terms of length. To me this makes NO sense!
In a separate Topshop store I went to the counter to ask where the tall section was. The sales assistant told me: 'Oh I think we've got rid of it, except the jeans' - well that just says it all. In the end the lady did find a (small) tall section with around four items in it. The clothes had been moved from upstairs and by the sounds of it, were due to be discontinued in this particular store. You would think tall girls were a rare animal species that are going extinct! Unfortunately, I had to fake a smile and thank the shop assistant. No, it is not her fault, but I can't say I was happy to find four items in the whole of the store that were going to fit me...
What baffles me the most is that the fashion industry crave tall, slender models and even deny models who are below 5'8/9. So, why is it clothes are not tailored for a tall frame, when they are modeled by an above average height? It is most often the 6ft models that prance down the catwalk, showcasing the latest fashion pieces. Yet, a small minority of clothes on the high street, online and by top designers, actually fit tall girls in terms of length. To me this makes NO sense!
Yes I have long legs, in
fact I look like Mike Teavee's character at the end of Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory (I'm talking about the strangely stretched dude obsessed with
TV). People constantly say 'wow your tall' - woah reaaaally?? 'You should
embrace it' they say, well I'm trying to... but fashion retailers are evidently
making this very hard for me! To be honest though, I'm growing to like (not
love, I'm not quite there yet) being tall more and more over the years because
I feel much more comfortable in my own skin.
When I was a teenager, I
HATED being tall. I used to hunch over because I wanted to be the same height
as my friends, I would even crouch down to 'fit in' and go unnoticed.
Despite my best hunching efforts, I stuck out like a sore thumb because my
friends were teeny and I was (in my eyes) gigantic. Even with their heels on,
my friends and I looked ridiculous stood next to each other.
I was also super
skinny when I was younger - like all bones and no flesh kind of skinny which,
yep you've guessed it, I also hated. I used to hope and pray I would put on
weight because I didn't appreciate my body and the skinnier I was, the lankier
I looked and the more attention this drew to how stupidly tall I was. I just
kept growing and growing like a bean sprout, and everyone else seemed to stay
the same or reach a normal height. When everyone had the joy of glamming it up
in heels on nights out, I had to play it cool in flats and deal with it because
me... in heels? No way. Plus, finding smallish heels for my size 8 feet was far
too much effort on a leisurely shopping trip.
Yes shoe shopping is a
nightmare, I mean what 5'11 girl do you know with small feet? And as I've
discussed, clothes shopping is the bane of my life because it never seems to
get any easier, so I am forever stuck in a vicious circle. But, I've got to
remember, I would probably be a blob if I was smaller because I love food too
much and eat a lot of it without putting a great deal of weight on. So, I am
lucky in that sense. Plus, on the flip side, a lot of people are in the
opposite position to me - they are small and wish they were taller. But
regardless of all of this, I still think the fashion industry have a long way
to go in terms of making tall ladies' shopping experiences more enjoyable. They
need to remember that although models might work short garments on the runway,
us normal ladies in the 5"8 and above club really struggle to find
well-fitted clothes that we feel comfortable bending down in.
Are you a tallie who
feels the same way? Or are you a smallie, who faces similar petite
problems? Let me know in the comments below!
Katie x
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