Friday, March 28, 2008

Dealing with Our Long Legs--Resources for Long Jeans.

As a tall woman, one of the hardest things has got to be accomodating our long legs. I've always been secretly jealous of my girlfriends who can walk into a mall and every store has endless jeans and dresses which are long enough for them. I also secretly hate them when they try on 100 pairs of pants and complain that they couldn't find any jeans which fit them right (I think... you just tried on ONE HUNDRED PAIRS OF JEANS which were all long enough!)

For me, the only qualification for jeans for the longest time has been "are they long enough?" That one requirement has been so hard to find, that I haven't had the luxuries of considering "how does my butt look in these? how do my legs look? do they fit too tight or too loose in the hips/thighs?" For the longest time I just bought mens jeans. And many of my fellow tall females still do this.

However, these days there are a number of options that provide up to a 37" inseam (and even longer!) in WOMEN'S styles! So for those of you in need of some advice where to find good jeans-- here are my discoveries so far:

GAP. My first female jean discovery--- Gap.com! They actually carried jeans online in women's styles in extra long! I didn't get the luxury of trying them on before purchasing, but at least I could wear WOMEN'S JEANS! These days, Gap.com not only carries tall women's jeans, but select other tops, coats, sweaters, pants, etc.

Tall Girl. My second female jeans/pants discovery--- Tall Girl! At the time I first discovered this store, the closest one was in CANADA, so my mom and I drove up there to buy me some professional clothes and shoes (sadly, you can only get shoes at the Canada stores) for my then new office job. They have some pretty cute jeans in women's sizes, but I have used the store primarily for suits and dress pants. Often, the pants are TOO LONG on me (37" inseam here). These days, there are stores all over the country and you can also order online :)

Alloy. My third discovery--- Alloy.com! This site is AMAZING. The jeans are generally quite a bit cheaper and more fashionable than both Gap and Tall Girl, and they go up to size 25 or so, and inseams up to 37". A few times the jeans I've bought have been a little too long... that is such a great feeling!

Buckle. My fourth (and possibly favorite): Buckle! Buckle stores (nationwide chain) carry a pretty wide selection of jeans that come in long, extra long, and extra extra long sizes. I love being able to walk into a regular store in the mall, and try on several pairs of jeans that actually fit and walk out with new pants! (verses having to wait for the internet sites). The only downside is that the jeans rarely go above the 13/14 range, so if you wear a bigger size than that (which most tall women do) it might not be so successful for you. The store in my hometown (Portland) even has a whole WALL of just tall womens jeans separated out from the rest!

These are the only four places I've bought pants from, but if any of you have further suggestions for places where you've actually purchased pants, please let me know so I can add your suggestions. I say actually purchased because I've seen some websites out there but I'm always really cautious about buying something from a website if I don't know anyone else whose bought something from there before (I'm a little paranoid about online fraud!)

I hope these resources help! Future posts on shoes and dresses to come.

3 comments:

ceoh said...

Aussie resources: had good experience with Pop Jeans, made in England (only one retailer I know of in Australia is Out of the Closet in Melbourne.) Also Lucky Brand retails through Just Jeans and has lovely longs and extra-longs. Can also try makeyourownjeans.com but, though they delivered on time and the denim was good quality, I found that the jeans were a terrible shape for me, and made too large even though I'd specified measurements. But some people like them.

Unknown said...

For those of us "plus-sized" fat chicks that just need a good pair of decent long-lasting jeans...

Lane Bryant (mostly online, but you can check the stores) go up to a size 32. Although the pants aren't listed as "talls" I'm 6' even and the pant leg drags! WOO! They do have tall professional pants, and they really are wonderful and decently priced. The Avenue is another good source for tall-chubby jeans...however, they are made out of stinky spandex, so they stick to your butt like glue. Not so fun. Hope that helps!

katie said...

I am 13 years old, 6 feet 2, and still growing! I tend to find in junior sizes, Macys imperial star jeans run longer, and also some JCPenny jeans come in long sizes (thogh not quite long enough for my 4 ft long legs...)