Last night I left my cozy apartment to venture out to the mall. I was looking for pants, a skirt, and a dress… maybe even some shoes. I think we’ve all had those shopping trips where nothing really works and I DEFINITELY had one of those trips. It is particularly frustrating when you are really busy (like me as a student) and you pull yourself away from whatever else you have to do only to come home empty handed. Also, as a person without a completely typical body shopping trips can be even more complicated.
I wear jeans pretty much every day so I thought it would be nice to get some pants that aren’t jeans. Maybe some cords perhaps? Maybe something else? I was disappointed to find, however, that most stores that offered long pants did not seem to realize that tall girls might want to wear pants other than jeans. It’s the worst when the pants look ok… but you know that as soon as you put on shoes of any kind they will turn into floods. I’ve been fooled into that trap before – now I’m too old and wise to fall for it. So needless to say I didn’t find pants at the mall.
Skirts should be easier to find, right? I mean.. I’m not looking for a skirt that covers my ankles so I should be all good. Actually, I was looking for a shorter skirt and that was where I had my challenges. The skirts that looked about the length I wanted on the hanger were RIDICULOUSLY short-looking on me! Serious mini skirts here. But then if i found a longer skirt it was practically knee-length. There was no happy in between skirt for a tall girl like me. I shouldn’t have to change the style I want just because of my few extra inches, should I?
So… I decided to try dresses. I have a semi-formal event this weekend a few dresses at home to wear but really, we all like excuses to buy new dresses, don’t we? I actually normally like shopping for dresses. I find they generally fit tall frames really well. Finding dresses for me is usually a snap! Last night though I found that all the dresses I tried on didn’t fit in the back. I think the length of the torso part of the dress was too short so it was gathering up 3/4 of the way down my back. Not a good look, let me tell you that. Stores that specialise in clothing for the taller girl generally drops the waist to avoid this problem. Still… I found it worse than usual last night. Maybe I was just already in a bad shopping mood from my lack of pants or a skirt.
Onto shoes and boots. Here I am pleased to report that I found lots of really nice shoes in mid-height or low-height heels. I noticed this particularly with boots which is a change from other years where I have searched high and low for boots without luck. This isn’t to say that tall women should steer clear of heels – quite the opposite – I am trying to embrace heels more. But I do know that a lot of us also like finding stylish shoes that aren’t going to add 3 inches to our height. Due to one issue or another (stock issues etc) I didn’t come home with shoes or boots either.
In a post a few weeks ago I blogged about my shopping tips (http://tallorder.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/tall-girl-goes-shopping-and-avoids-tall-girl/) as well as some online places to shop with great stuff for the taller frame. Two people commented (thank you Jheri and Sandra !) to suggest some additional sites: makeyourownjeans.com and http://www.luxuriouslytall.com
I hope your next trip to the mall is more successful than mine 
