The video below inspired this post. It’s about three years old, but I still love it. It’s musicians from around the world singing Stand By Me for the organization playingforchange.org (musicians can sign up on playingforchange.com). For those of you who don’t know me, I love my oldies! The Pandora Etta James station is on constant rotation.

I think the video below is a reminder that everyone needs someone and that it’s important to have and give that support to others. This week was a good reminder as I listened to friends around the US share interesting items going on in their lives. Also, when a buddy of mine complimented my last article telling me that she found it inspirational.

Anywho, just wanted to share. I thought it would be cool if I could get video clips from others around the world stating why they love being tall. Interested? If so send me a note on my contact page: tallook.com/contact. If I get enough responses I’ll combine all the video clips into one video and post it on my Vimeo and YouTube account.

Enjoy

Source: tangelasmith.com

Last week I was able to catch up with WNBA San Antonio Silver Stars’ Tangela Smith during her first week of training camp. Standing at a beautiful 6’3” she answered my questions about being tall, tall fashion, and what she’s been up to. Sorry sports junkies, I didn’t ask any sports related questions. After you read the interview I encourage you to read more about her at any of these online locations:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

 

Articles:

WNBA Stats Page

Silver Stars Trade for Tangela Smith

With 3-pointer, Fever’s Smith can do it all

Tangela Smith: The Silent Assassin

Tangela Smith: The WNBA’s New Ironwoman

What is your non-profit organization T.R.I.O. about and how can young female athletes sign-up?

T.R.I.O (The Responsibility is Ours) is being formed by myself and another female athlete (track star). Together we would like to provide an extensive mentoring program designed specifically for young ladies who share the desire to obtain an athletic scholarship. We will take the time to educate them as young women and prepare them for life as student athletes and professionals. Our website is in the process of launching really soon and this is where the young ladies will be able to sign up.

On your site you mention you have a passion for modeling. What would be your dream modeling job?

I’ve always wanted to model since I was a child. Since I’ve been playing basketball I haven’t had the chance to pursue this career like I really wanted to. I have done some things here and there but if I could I would just like to maybe do some commercial work with anyone who is interested in helping tall women find the right clothing and shoes. There use to not be a lot of sites for tall women to buy clothing and shoes, but now there are a few and I would like to model for those companies. I have always had a passion for doing runway as well.

Source: tangelasmith.com

Where do you purchase tall clothing that matches your style? What is your most challenging fashion find?

I mainly find all of my clothing and shoe needs online. For jeans I shop at longtallsally.com, alloy.com, heightgoddess.com. For shoes I shop at barefootess.com and nordstrom.com. I wear a size 12 in women’s shoes and although now there are a lot of places to go to find big sizes, they don’t always have the cutest styles. My dream is to start a jean line for tall women and also a shoe line.

Most annoying tall question asked by a stranger? Your typical response?

People still ask me “how’s the weather up there”. I don’t usually respond. lol

Favorite shoe find?

Right now I’m in love with Toms shoes and I’m very excited that they come in a size 12. I also love wearing heels to make me even taller.

You recently had several rooms in your house redesigned [Riles Staging and Realty]. I’m sure there were a few items that were specifically chosen to accommodate your height. Any favorites?

I love my new couch for my sitting room. It’s long and has deep cushions. Very comfy. That’s absolutely my favorite out of all the items. I also have a high dining room table that accommodates my height great!!

Source: rilesstagingandrealty.com

Advise to tall teens and others that may be struggling with embracing their height?

I would just tell teenagers that may be struggling with their height to just embrace it and walk with confidence because their is nothing you can do to change it. Tall is beautiful and sexy but you have to own it!!! There is another great website to go to learn about all your tall fashion needs and the website is called tallswag.com. It’s awesome.

Source: tangelasmith.com

As I hear about new tall stores and clothing lines I pass them on; however, I realize some are a bit pricey and may not carry plus sizes – especially if it’s a start-up. I received a comment last week that stated:

I love that there is yet another site…with clothes for tall women that A) I cannot afford and B) doesn’t carry my size. Very disheartening that being tall, a size 16 and on a fixed income is such a bad combination. Nice pants though.

In response, I told her that I would do an article on tall plus size clothing that are affordable. For this article I chose jeans since the article she commented on featured jeans. There are some sites that always have affordable options, where as, other sites you have to catch what you want on sale. I have a special email set up just for this purpose. I signup for emails from my favorite sites so when I’m ready to buy I don’t have to go hunting for coupon codes. Also, if I notice something I want is on sale I jump on it immediately.

I hope the options below provide you with a few places to look for affordable plus size jeans and pants. I made sure I picked items under $100, but I know even the $50-70 can be a bit steep in this economy. As I find more stylish affordable options I’ll post them. I try to offer a range of sizes and prices if available.

Target: Mossimo® Womens Bootcut Premium Denim Jean – Assorted Washes
34″ inseam
$27.99
Size 6-16

Avenue: Tall Basic Straight Leg Jean
35″ inseam
$39.90 on sale for $34.99
Size 14-26

Torrid: Curvy Skinny Jean (Extra Tall)
36″ inseam
$58.50
Size 12-28

J.Jill: Authentic Fit Slim-leg Jeans
35″ inseam
$79 now on sale for $49.99
Size: 4-18

Gap: 1969 perfect boot jeans
37″ inseam
$59.95
Size: 2-18

Ashley Stewart: 5 Pocket Skinny Jean Tall Length
36″ inseam
$29.50
Size: 12-26

Roamans: Tall Flare Jeans with Invisible Stretch by Denim 24/7
36″ inseam
$74.99 currently on sale from $37.49 – $44.99
Size: 12-32

Lane Bryant: Bootcut jean with T3 Tighter Tummy Technology
35.5″ inseam
$69.95-see site for sale
Size: 14-28

I was in Florida recently and while there a friend took me to one of their outlet malls to do a little shopping. My first stop was, of course, Ann Taylor to see if they had any blazers or summer shirts on sale. I found a few and everything was luckily 40% off, yay. While there I also saw some Bermuda shorts. My fashionable tall plus size friend, who has promised to write articles for Tallook on the subject, told me that she read Bermuda shorts look good on everyone regardless of height or size. I tried them on and they looked pretty good! The nice thing about Bermuda shorts is they come in varying lengths, usually 12 – 15 in. You can wear them above, at, or below the knee—the style choice is yours. To get you started I featured a few below.

GAP: 1969 Denim Bermuda Shorts

Tall inseam: 14in
Size 4-16

Macy’s: Style&co. Shorts, Denim Tummy Control Bermuda

Tall inseam: 15in
Size 4-16

Ann Taylor Loft: Marisa Ripstop Cargo Shorts

Tall inseam: 13.5in
Size 00-18

If you prefer cropped pants check these out.

J.Jill Easy Linen Cropped Pants

Tall inseam: 28in
Size: S-XL

Asymmetric Wide-Legs

Tall inseam: 28.5in
Size: 4-12

National Stand Tall Week is coming up! Go to the website to find out more information: www.standtallweek.com. The webpage links to their online community page that includes tall forums and other goodies. LTS will be celebrating this week with a pop-up shop in NYC and they will be scouting for models in Manhattan. The goal of this week is to get talls to embrace there height and stand tall. LTS will also be offering daily deals on their FB and Twitter accounts.

More info from the site:

April 16th – 22nd is officially “National Stand Tall Week” – a week designed to empower tall women to be proud of their height and, simply put, stand tall!

 

There are compelling reasons why women should stand tall, especially now. According to Arianne Cohen, author of The Tall Book: A Celebration of Life from on High, studies have shown that tall people are . . .

 

• Richer: Talls attract money – to the tune of $789 more income per inch per year. For a tall couple, that’s $1.5 million over a lifetime.
• Smarter: Tall people are 8% smarter than average height folks. The boost is attributed to good prenatal and childhood nutrition and care.
• Powerful: Tall people are five times more likely to become CEOs, and dominate the upper echelons of the working world.
• Alive: If you’re tall and lean, you have an approximately 50% lower chance of dying at any time than the average population.
• Expensive: In the two largest tribes of Sudan, the Dinka and the Nuer, an average wife’s dowry is 50-70 cows, while a tall bride goes for 80-120 cows.
• Scrunched: Most products, public transportation and furniture are not designed to fit the top 21 million Americans – and designers say as much.

 

Stand Tall Week brings a special website at www.StandTallWeek.com, as well as a week-long pop-up shop in NYC, a recent survey that details how women across the country feel about their height, daily deals from Long Tall Sally, and more!

So at the start of next week wear super high heels so you’re that much taller!!

I haven’t written a guest blog post in four months as I’ve been planning my wedding! My fiancé (6’ 4”) proposed on January 14, and my weekends are now filled with trips to the florist, bakeries and dress shops. For those of you who haven’t taken a trip down the aisle yet, if you are worried about wedding dresses being too short… well, you should be. Like everything else we encounter in life, dresses are made for average height women. When you walk out of the dressing room with five inches of your ankles exposed, it makes the moment a little less magical. Now, the good news is that there are plenty of designers that allow you to order extra length in your dress… of course, that comes at a cost. The average price I was quoted was $200. That doesn’t include the inevitable alterations you’ll need to make the dress fit your longer torso correctly.

After visiting five stores and experiencing extreme frustration, I stumbled upon a collection of wedding dresses that were all long enough for my 6’0” frame! Pronovias did a special collection with Manuel Mota featuring dresses that were more couture than their typical line. I tried on several and they all hit the floor. I finally got my “wow moment” and was able to buy a dress without spending a fortune. The dresses I tried on ranged from $1800 to $2400. They were all stunning and super long.

I ended up buying the Silaba dress from the 2011 Manuel Mota Pronovias collection for $2300. It’s an off white, strapless (slight sweetheart), mermaid, delicate lace gown. It has pearl and rhinestone appliqué at the waist. (P.S. If you are getting married next year and interested in buying this from me, I’m planning to sell it after my wedding in November 2012. It’s a bridal size 10, which is typically the sample size, and I’m not having any alterations done.)

Silaba 2012 Fashion Collection

Sarah Baker

Sarah is a marketing and communications professional with a love for traveling the world, playing beach volleyball, visiting museums, supporting charitable causes, and trying new things. She is proud to be 6’0″.

This new store, Quincy Apparel, is geared towards the working women. The site states the co-founders Christina Wallace (6’0″) and Alex Nelson met as sectionmates at Harvard Business School where they bonded over an appetite for fashion and the struggle to find “tall girl pants.” Oh how we all can relate. They just released their collection of blazers and later this month are due to release blouses and dresses. On the site you’ll notice they’ve taken a different approach to picking the right size. The sizing is determined by bust size and if you’re petite, regular or tall. That’s right, if you happen to have a little at the top you don’t have to worry about the button pulling. These blazers don’t come cheap; however, if it’s a quality garment and you have it to spend it’s worth the investment.

Madison jacket $198

Chelsea Jacket $238

While on Twitter yesterday I realized I missed a message from the owner of Talltique letting me know about her new store located in Arlington, VA. You can only visit the store by making an appointment and their online store will open later this year.

I thought the write up on this site was interesting. Here are a few excerpts from Talltique‘s pages:

At Talltique we are revolutionizing the way that tall women shop for clothes. We focus on providing the highest quality garments specially tailored to fit the frames of women 5’10” and over. Many of our garments are handmade in the USA from organic fabrics. Our goal is to carry yoga clothes, business suits and everything in between.

 

Beginning on December 15th, 2011 you can make a private appointment to shop in our showroom in Arlington, VA. Our personal stylist can also bring styles on the road to do personal wardrobe consultations in-home (up to 2 hours away from Arlington, VA).
Our online shop will open later in 2012.

 

Talltique is the dream come true of Helen Pappas. Helen stands 6’3” and has been fed up with her options for shopping for clothing for years. She recently graduated from Georgetown University Mcdonough School of Business and is combining her business degree with her love of fashion and discontentment with the current options when shopping for extra-long clothes. With the help and support of her sister Irene, who is currently studying fashion, Talltique is breaking the mold when it comes to clothing shopping for tall women. We do this by selling stylish and high-quality clothes cut specifically for tall women. While our clothes are cut for women 5’10” and up, we specialize in fashions for women over 6’. We also hold ourselves to the highest standards of green business practices.

 

Here are a few pieces from their showroom. I may have to make an appointment!!

Mid Victorian Hoodie Front by Prairie Underground

Infinity Dress by MJVO

Back Slouchy Black Top by lamixx

Dark Rinse Denim Yoga Flair by Second Denim Co.

As I was catching up on my blog reading I happened upon an article on mantyhose that were created by designer Emilio Cavallini. So I thought maybe since they are unisex pantyhose that longer lengths would be available. Nope! Even unisex tights fall a bit short. Largest size is 5’11″ 176 lbs.

Here are few styles:

HORIZONTAL STRIPES TIGHTS, 80 DENIERS

DOTS TIGHTS, 80 DENIERS

BLACK TIGHTS WITH WHITE OR GREY SIDE BAND, 80 DENIERS

I really tried to pass the Nordstrom Rack and only head for Cosco, but a little voice in my head told me to take a peek at the size 13 section. They have a ton of wedges and cute flats out for the summer. However, these boots (Indigo By Clarks Women’s Water Row Ankle Boot) caught my eye. They fit true to size and they were on sale. Originally priced at $124.95… then marked down to $89.90… and then an addition red tag markdown making them a mere $49.90. My kinda of boot. I like the ruggedness of the boot and they will look good with jeans and skirts. Finding them higher than a size 12 might be tricky (Amazon and Nordstrom’s still have 12s left online).

Don’t talk about my rolled up pants. I just wanted to show off the boot.