Yesterday I was shopping at the mall, and I went into Gap and a very tall woman was working the fitting room area. I was only trying on tops (because Gap doesn't carry extra talls in-store), and she asked me if I wanted to try on any jeans, because whenever tall girls return tall jeans that they ordered online, she keeps them in the back room for her tall shoppers. Sadly, the one pair she had in my size didn't work for me, but I thought it was so great of her to do that!
I've heard of other tall girls who make friends with a sales person at other stores which carry talls online, but not instore. Then, that gives you the opportunity to try things on in-store and not have to pay shipping (or worry about returning it when it turns out the item doesn't fit). Then, the person gives them a call whenever something in their size gets returned. I need to make some of these connections!!
On an unpositive clothes-related note, I tried on several skirts yesterday and remembered I can't buy skirts from regular stores :( Skirts that are meant to be below the knee are just above the knee... skirts that are meant to be just above the knee are mini-skirts... UGG! I like myself (professionally speaking) much better in skirts than in pants. But skirts are SO hard to find at the right length! Even at Tall Girl (which carries professional clothes), they don't carry many skirts, because apparently most women wear pantsuits these days. Is it so unheard of as a female professional to want to mix it up now and then and wear a skirt?
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
It's Not Flattering (Your Input Needed).
One of my biggest pet peeves related to tallness is that whenever I mention the fact that I'm tall online, I'm suddenly inundated with messages from men who are complete strangers and "like tall girls" and "want to be friends."
All of a sudden today I started getting lots of friend requests on Facebook from men I'm positive I don't know and their profiles are extremely limited in personal info (which is incredibly sketchy to me). I was scratching my head trying to figure out what could have sparked this surge in messages. My facebook profile is private and I haven't posted links to it anywhere. Suddenly it dawned on me -- I joined two tall girl communities on Facebook today. Now, I will probably go back and remove myself from those communities, solely because I hate getting an inbox full of requests from men who just want to be my friend because I'm tall. This is probably too dramatic, but it makes me feel dirty.
I think it's nice that there are men out there who like tall women--even short men who like tall women. I know many tall girls who are dating or married to short men. But when someone instantly friends me because I happened to join a tall community, and wants to be my friend on a site I consider meant for REAL friends, not complete strangers who I've never even talked to before, I find that really creepy. That seems a lot more like a fetish than just a general interest.
This has been something I've always struggled with, and in fact I've considered making a tall girl community in the past but feared doing so because I knew it would be a magnet for men with tall fetishes. I want someone to want to be my friend because they've actually TALKED to me and liked my personality. And although I'm currently unavailable, I want someone to find me attractive as a whole package, not just for my height statistic.
I know it sounds harsh, but I think it's just plain WEIRD to go online stalking out tall chicks and trying to add them all to your online profile. For anyone who thinks that is somehow flattering to a tall female ("Oh, some people do actually want to be my friend and do find tall women attractive? I'm so shocked and honored! Of course I'll be your friend!"), it's not true. At least not for me.
Maybe I'm just a jerk... and I really LOVE being tall, but there is more to me than my height. I love to talk about height online because I think it helps as a tall female to share our experiences because most often in person the other tall girls are few and far between and our tall male friends or other girl friends just can't truly comprehend what it is like to be a female in such a tall package. But I do not want to be turned into some kind of object. I am not another form of a school girl, a sex kitten, or a scantily-clad amazon woman. I'm a tall female, and I want to be respected and befriended for who I am, not how tall I am.
I'd love some insight on this. From tall females only, please. Do other tall girls feel the way I do, or do you appreciate this type of attention?
All of a sudden today I started getting lots of friend requests on Facebook from men I'm positive I don't know and their profiles are extremely limited in personal info (which is incredibly sketchy to me). I was scratching my head trying to figure out what could have sparked this surge in messages. My facebook profile is private and I haven't posted links to it anywhere. Suddenly it dawned on me -- I joined two tall girl communities on Facebook today. Now, I will probably go back and remove myself from those communities, solely because I hate getting an inbox full of requests from men who just want to be my friend because I'm tall. This is probably too dramatic, but it makes me feel dirty.
I think it's nice that there are men out there who like tall women--even short men who like tall women. I know many tall girls who are dating or married to short men. But when someone instantly friends me because I happened to join a tall community, and wants to be my friend on a site I consider meant for REAL friends, not complete strangers who I've never even talked to before, I find that really creepy. That seems a lot more like a fetish than just a general interest.
This has been something I've always struggled with, and in fact I've considered making a tall girl community in the past but feared doing so because I knew it would be a magnet for men with tall fetishes. I want someone to want to be my friend because they've actually TALKED to me and liked my personality. And although I'm currently unavailable, I want someone to find me attractive as a whole package, not just for my height statistic.
I know it sounds harsh, but I think it's just plain WEIRD to go online stalking out tall chicks and trying to add them all to your online profile. For anyone who thinks that is somehow flattering to a tall female ("Oh, some people do actually want to be my friend and do find tall women attractive? I'm so shocked and honored! Of course I'll be your friend!"), it's not true. At least not for me.
Maybe I'm just a jerk... and I really LOVE being tall, but there is more to me than my height. I love to talk about height online because I think it helps as a tall female to share our experiences because most often in person the other tall girls are few and far between and our tall male friends or other girl friends just can't truly comprehend what it is like to be a female in such a tall package. But I do not want to be turned into some kind of object. I am not another form of a school girl, a sex kitten, or a scantily-clad amazon woman. I'm a tall female, and I want to be respected and befriended for who I am, not how tall I am.
I'd love some insight on this. From tall females only, please. Do other tall girls feel the way I do, or do you appreciate this type of attention?
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.
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.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Let's Get Started.
I have already started a listing of links on the right for tall girl shopping resources, and other tall women communities and/or blogs. If anyone has any further links to suggest, please do so in a comment here and I will add it to the sidebar!
-Michelle
-Michelle
Here We Go!
So, I read an essay on NYTimes.com called Life as a Tall Girl by Becky Thomas. It's exciting, as a tall female, to finally see what you go through being recognized in such a big way (no pun intended).
Anyway, this reminded me of the blog I originally started a few years ago that I planned to use to talk about my experiences as a 6'4" female, and to share resources with other tall women (and hopefully have other tall women contribute their own resources as well ie places to find long pants and larger shoes sizes, for starters). Sadly, I got wrapped up in graduate school and forgot all about that blog.
So here I am. Fresh start. New blog. I plan to add a few other tall super tall, gorgeous females I know to contribute. I need other posters to keep this thing from lapsing :)
To all the tall ladies out there who will hopefully happen upon this blog, you are not even close to alone!
-Michelle
Anyway, this reminded me of the blog I originally started a few years ago that I planned to use to talk about my experiences as a 6'4" female, and to share resources with other tall women (and hopefully have other tall women contribute their own resources as well ie places to find long pants and larger shoes sizes, for starters). Sadly, I got wrapped up in graduate school and forgot all about that blog.
So here I am. Fresh start. New blog. I plan to add a few other tall super tall, gorgeous females I know to contribute. I need other posters to keep this thing from lapsing :)
To all the tall ladies out there who will hopefully happen upon this blog, you are not even close to alone!
-Michelle
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