Tall - Where to Shop

England’s weather has suddenly lept into Spring with yesterday’s temperature of a whopping 11 degrees. Before we know it lambs will be bounding around the fields and I’ll still be wearing my dark, layered up Winter wardrobe. I don’t know about you, but some light relief from the endless financial doom and gloom is exactly what I need right now - so I’ve been making a shopping list!

This year’s Spring accessories trends are just the tonic for cheering us all up. Too many designers to mention showed big, bright and bold colours on everything from bags and shoes, to hats, scarves and jewellery for SS09. Here’s the first of several posts on Amazona’s pick of what we’ve got our eyes on to work this trend.

Bring a little sunshine into your life for only £14.75. This bright yellow clutch from ASOS will sort out this trend for you, and for less money than a drink with the girls!

Continuing with the ‘bright and bold’ trend, top of the shoe pick is these ultra sexy, purple heels (again from Amazona Style). Putting on an outrageous pair of heels never feels to make me feel like a million dollars! This pair are £69.00 in the sale and available in UK sizes 9-11.

If you’re wanting a daily boost to your commute, how about swapping your standard (no doubt in black or brown) work bag for this bright blue, buttersoft leather bag from Blondie Mania at £82.50.

If you’ve got the eye of the tiger and maybe that jungle feeling too, then this season’s tribal prints may be just up your street! Too many clichés? Possibly. The SS09 catwalks were inundated with bright colour and print and after an AW08 filled with gothic black lace, maybe we are ready for it?

The prints vary from outlandish (see this season’s Louis Vuitton) to muted and effortlessly stylish (DKNY’s print offering). If you still can’t bring yourself to wear animal print, then try accessorising with chunky bangles and statement tribal necklaces and earrings. Hair is wild like that of an extra from The Lion King. Browns, oranges, reds and greens are back, so just when you think that you can’t take any more of the British winter (and piles of snow!), put on a vibrant, print dress (Anna Sui’s is perfect!) and your day will be instantly brighter!

I have unfortunately found just a few offerings on the British High Street for tall women. Both Topshop and Dorothy Perkins have animal print T-shirts on offer for longer torso-ed ladies, plus Topshop also stocks a leopard print cardigan to throw on over jeans. Finally, tallgirls.co.uk has a tribal kaftan in store at the moment. However, we must think outside the box. If you are taller than the average woman, expect dresses to be a bit shorter on you, wear with leggings or jeans if you want to. I love wearing black leggings with everything and to really bring your outfit bang up-to-date, team a tribal print with black leather-look leggings. Many High Street stores have extra long sizes in leggings, including New Look, at pretty reasonable prices.

Dorothy Perkins

TopShop

TopShop

Tall Girls

photo credits: vogue.com, plus other stores online.

As a tall girl, people always look at you. They may be thinking how wonderfully tall and Amazonian you are, or they may be looking at you like a freak show. I’ve had both (Hong Kong was NOT a fun place to holiday for me!). However, trawling the Internet recently for tall girl fashion, I found a fun way to really give them something to look at! If they want to talk about you, give them something to talk about! Tall Girls have a range of fun basic tees with slogans ranging from “You should see the size of my dad!” to “BFG” and even “No, I don’t play Basketball!”.

My personal favourite is “I’m up here!” as it’s amazing where a short guy’s eyes will wander when faced with a tall beauty in front of him and trying to look forwards! And for you Amazonian goddesses out there, try the “Amazon Girl” green tee. So why not snap up one of these beauties now and grab attention for all of the right reasons!

Here we are in the midst of Awards season with the Golden Globes behind us and the Baftas and the Grammys this weekend. The media is full of ‘Best’ and ‘Worst’ dressed lists with Hollywood actresses parading in some seriously glamorous gowns which, for us tall girls seem purely aspirational. Whereas the high street is providing an ever increasing choice of party dresses and evening gowns for your average woman, tall women are left out in the cold wondering if this is one area of fashion where we fear  we may never tread.

I was recently reminded of the near catastrophic stress caused by my need for a full-length evening gown last year. The joy of hearing of my brother’s engagement was swiftly followed by a panic about what on earth I would wear to a very glamorous, Spanish (or maybe ‘Spanglish’) wedding.
At 6ft2, evening gowns have not featured highly in my quest for clothing to fit my amazon stature. My years of searching for jeans, suits, shoes and t-shirts have been fruitful, however, it is nearly 9 years since I had to wear an evening gown so I really didn’t have any clue where to look.

On previous trips to New York department stores,  I knew I had seen evening dresses what would fit me far better than anything I could buy on the high street here in England. There is something about the American cut and fit that suits us tall girls and women better than anything here in the UK. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to the Big Apple before the wedding: what was I to do!?

With two good friends for moral support in tow, I set upon Oxford Street one Saturday. I recalled the ‘Designers at Debenhams’ range used to have some great styles – I should emphasise ‘used to’.  Their cut and fit, even girls of an average height (5ft 7 or so),  was appaulling! Monsoon (too short), Long Tall Sally (frumpy), Karen Millen (might fit my left leg at a push) were equally disappointing. I even ventured into some of those old-fashioned evening dress shops run by frighteningly matronly, middle-aged women who seem to intent on making you look like an extra from Dynasty circa 1989. Everywhere I tried the gowns were not only badly cut, with cheap fabric and frumpy designs, they were also on average about 8 inches too short - guaranteed to make you look like the hillbilly sister from down on the farm. At this rate I was going to make it on to the ‘Worst Dressed’ list at my brother’s wedding!

Convinced I would be ex-communicated by my big brother if I didn’t manage to pull something off (he works in sports media, darling, hence he has the most fashionable and sophisticated friends), my thoughts turned back to the US. How could I get a dress from an American brand here in the UK? Then I had an idea. Bridesmaids dresses! If you’ve never been to an American wedding, you’ve probably seen them in films. Far from dressing their best friends in grown-up versions of child pageant dresses, as we seem to be rather fond of here, their bridesmaids and maids of honour wear dresses more akin to film premieres than ‘Miss Junior Oklahoma’.

I hunted down all the stores in West London who sold two brands in particular: Dessy and Watters.  Both of these brands have several ranges, totalling hundreds of styles in a massive array of colours.

If you’ve never ordered from a Bridal Shop before, this is how it works:

-    These dresses are made to order in standard sizes. Shops have many different styles, all in a different   colour variation so don’t expect to get to try on the style you want in the right colour.

-    You choose a style, and then a colour. The staff will advise you on the size required.

-    You can choose to have up to 6 inches added on the skirt of the dress (which I needed).

-    Once ordered, your dress will arrive between 6-12 weeks later.

-    On arrival, it is best to try the dress on with a seamstress present (any good bridal shop will have one they use) as usually, they can suggest ‘nips and tucks’ to the dress to make it truly fit like a couture gown.

In the end, my gown cost £160 plus £40 for the seamstress’s alterations. Plus, I think I avoided all the usual pitfalls for tall girls - my dress was a lovely, amethyst halterneck number in chiffon and matt satin which was full length, even with my 4 inch silver high heels (from Amazona Style). I felt like an Oscar-nominated starlet!

So, before the wedding season sets in, your next black tie invitation or your invite to a film premiere with Will Smith (I can dream!), why don’t you plan ahead and check out what‘s on offer from those US dress companies.  Almost guaranteed to make you look like a film star!

www.dessy.com

www.watters.com

Photo credits: www.houseofbrides.com; www.dessy.com; www.watters.com

Now ladies, you know we here at Amazona consider finding jeans in the longest inseams almost a full-time occupation and we thought everyone knew about the brilliant site ‘SearchByInseam’ but it seems we were wrong.

SearchByInseam is an American site which allows you to use a search facility to choose inseam, rise, brand or price, or a combination of those factors. It also doesn’t just cover jeans (includes maternity and plus-size) but also leggings, trousers and workout gear.

One quick search on 38 inch inside leg with a low rise came up with a grey pair from tobi.com or a pair of wranglers. The site provides you with an image, price and one-click to the site to buy them. Drop that inseam to 37 inches and you have more than 12 brands to choose from!

We’ve found it’s good to check in there once in a while as the searches do pull up different products on occasion and whereas SearchByInseam does not cover all the extra-long brands available, it certainly showed us a few that we never knew existed!

Check it out at www.searchbyinseam.com.

I spent most of November and December with wet feet from leaking boots and torrential downpours in delightful Birmingham at university, then in a soaking Barcelona, at home in Lincolnshire and at my boyfriend’s house in Hertfordshire. Moral to the story? Stop wearing leaky boots. Glitch to this solution? Try finding me some that fit the mould!

Back in October, I fell in love with a pair of boots that I bought very cheaply on a whim from Primark. I wasn’t sure about them at first, but I had been after some ankle boots for a while and they seemed worth it at the time. After about a week of not taking them off, I was hooked and kept thinking to myself that I should go and get them in other colours, or just a back-up pair just in case. Did I bother? No. And, about a week after that, the inevitable occurred. They began to leak. Nothing can compare to that feeling of soaking wet socks at the beginning of the day when you know that you won’t be warm and snuggly again until at least 6pm. So I stopped wearing them, unless I was convinced that it wasn’t going to rain, but that didn’t last long as my trusty black sheepskins, bought from Barratts by my mother as a present before I moved to Santiago, also began to leak and then fell apart. At this point, I was pretty screwed. I had work piling up, both pairs of black boots leaking, the weather was not my friend and I just didn’t have the time to go shopping for more. So I kept telling myself that when I did have time, all would be well.

However, no such luck. I couldn’t find anything that matched my Primark beauties (I was looking for the exact style, but much better quality, and couldn’t even replace them for the time being as they had sold out everywhere I went!) Finally after weeks of making do, I found 2 pairs of boots, in New Look of all places and I love them both!  The first is a gorgeous pair of fringed ankle boots in black suede for £30 (minus student discount!) and the second were half price (reduced to £30) leather faded black cowboy boots, with a slight heel! (I continue embracing my height, Amazona!) It is very difficult to find a pair of boots for a reasonable price in a wide UK size 8, when you are quite picky about what you like! What made it all even better was that my boyfriend bought me BOTH PAIRS as a belated Xmas present! (Yes, that is how long it took me to find the flippin’ things!!)

The plan now is to alternate wearing them along with other shoes so that I never end up in that situation again! I shall also be using protector spray on them to keep them in tip top condition. I can only hope that this all works!

If you’ve been searching for the perfect pair of winter boots (anything but wellies!!) but never found them, tell us what they are and we’ll endeavour to get them in at Amazona Style!

It seems despite the credit crunch, there’s one group of businesses that are seeing a boom in business – tailors.  Many of us are adopting a ‘Make do & Mend’ attitude rather than splurging on new purchases and with a good tailor isn’t just a case of investing in a bespoke creation or getting some repairing and hemming done – they can take an old dress or jacket and create an entirely new product with new additions or re-shaping.

Apsley Tailors in Pall Mall has also noticed a marked increase in demand for what they call ‘homage tailoring’ – having a favourite garment remade in alternative fabrics or sizes rather than investing in new designer pieces.  Having said that, it’s not cheap – jackets and skirts start from £400 and wool coats from £680.

For any woman or girl who is extraordinary in her proportions, whichever dimension, a good tailor is something you should have access to throughout your life.  For tall women, a tailor can be a lifeline.

I may have had a predisposition to liking tailors since my favourite shirt, and the one that I have worn until it now hangs off me in threads, is actually one of my grandfather’s bespoke  shirts from Turnbull and Asser which was made for him as a young teenager.

When I was around 15, my mother agreed that I should have a long dress made for me as we couldn’t find anything to fit on the high street.  I had a dress made by a  local dressmaker  and all I remember saying was that I didn’t want an empire line dress. What did they make me? Yes, an empire line creation worthy of a BBC period drama.  This experience put me off the whole dressmaking/tailoring business for a long time!

It wasn’t until 5 years ago when I started travelling to Hong Kong regularly that I even thought of using a tailor. The UK tailors were always way out of my price range so it had been ten years since my last foray into bespoke.

The first time I was in HK I stumbled upon Raja Fashions in a side street off Nathan Road. This is quite a well known tailor as they have a slick PR machine and travel to large cities around the world, including London, taking orders.  I ordered two pairs of trousers, three shirts and a coat (think long, sophisticated trench coat in a very Chanel-esque, cashmere dogtooth check.  I wore the shirts to death (they were copied from the original Turnbull & Asser I loved so much)  and the coat is briliant for dressing up some dark trousers for evening. The trousers were another matter and I have only really worn them a handful of times. I’m not sure whether it was the cut or my shape but they  just don’t sit right around the waist. However, it was my first time.  The prices (including fabric) were around £35 for the shirts and £250 for the coat.

I went back to Raja a few more times and get even more shirts. I also used their London service which, despite costing me almost double per shirt what it had in HK, still produced great results.  I’ve also introduced several friends and housemates to the London service and they were very happy with the suits they’ve ordered.

Two years ago I decided to change tailors and went to Sam’s. This has to be the most famous tailor in HK ( it’s where all the politicans and celebrities go) although you wouldn’t know it from the shop – a tiny room in the scruffy Burlington Arcade on Nathan Road (just round the corner from Raja’s). After my first visit (more shirts and another jacket/coat!) I was absolutely converted to a Sam’s devotee. They were cheaper than Raja and I found the service better – more friendly and less pushy sales tactics. However, on subsequent visits the service wasn’t nearly so good and after I had a problem with some items, it took forever to get email or telephone responses from them (I’m still waiting from them to return a load of fabric!).  As to whether I would use them again? If my current problem is resolved shortly then I would use them again.

Last year I invested in my first piece of British bespoke couture.  Claire Mischevani is a Welsh designer working from Shropshire who my mother introduced me to. I went to Claire with some ideas but unsure of what would suit me and she was incredible. I ended up with the most phenomenal trouser suit in the style of 1950’s Grace Kelly that was the talk of the wedding I had to attend.  Financially, it really was an investment but worth every penny.

Next read Part 2 of ‘Tailors - Why Every Tall Girl needs one’ including top tips to avoid disasters like mine.

Raja Fashions - www.rajafashions.com

Sam’s Tailor - www.samstailor.biz

Claire Mischevani - www.clairemischevani.com

Eva Herzigova, Beyonce and Demi Moore have all been spotted working the Bronze trend this Winter.  If you don’t feel brave enough to make a statement in a bronze-hued dress then accessories are the way to go. Bronze is a great colour for accessories, particularly in the Christmas season where it’s far more subtle and sophisticated that gold or glitter. Bronze looks great with so many colours but we love it with ivory or creams, chocolates and sage greens best.

This retro-styled pair from Amazona Style are available in UK sizes 7-12 (£119), in bronze satin and leather look amazing with so many of this year’s party dresses. You’ll also be dancing the night away without any blisters as they feature a gel pad in the sole.

And if you need another reason to justify a pair of party shoes, they will take you through to summer too - next time you’re sporting a great tan, nothing shows  it off better than a pair of bronze sandals!

I don’t think women with legs less than 36 inches long can ever appreciate the mission that is jeans shopping for really tall girls.  It has to be one of the most taxing activities for tall girls and women all over the world.

Jeans are such an integral part of everyone’s wardrobe. They are an attitude, a way of life and for most of us, more essential to our lives than any other item of clothing. The right pair can make you look thinner, taller, curvier or whatever you choose.

As the owner of both a curious mind and 38 inch legs , I have spent that last 15 years constantly searching for the right jeans.  I have never had any success with the UK brands from Tallgirls or Long Tall Sally. The weren’t long enough and didn’t suit my particular figure (years of sport has done little for the size of my thighs and my bottom is far from small!).

In my teenage years I briefly toyed with a pair Levi’s 516’s (until they stopped making the style) and men’s jeans from High & Mighty.  Then, in my early 20’s I started travelling to the USA regularly and seeking out brands there – did you know that Levi’s mens 501’s do come in a 40 inch inseam?

Of the designer brands, J brand, Notify and Hudson all have styles available in a 37 inch inseam (all available from shopbop.com) although unfortunately, my thighs have never quite been able to squeeze into any of these apparently brilliantly cut brands.

A tip I have is to search for the cut and you can always take care of the colour later. As I never really have much choice in the wash or finish, I have become a bit handy at home dying to create my own wash effects. It’s really easy so if you find the perfect pair in a not-so-perfect colour, don’t worry! Just do it yourself!

Here is where I shop for my jeans:

GAP (USA)
Despite not shipping to the UK, you can sign up with My USA and they will order jeans from GAP for you, have them to shipped to their address (your ‘US Address’) and then forward them on to you here in Europe.  Their jeans aren’t as long as they used to be but you can still get a good 37 inch inseam (despite branding them as 36 inches) and they do cords and trousers too. I love their curvy fit myself.

Diesel
On a trip to Bloomingdales about 18 months ago I bought what is still the most flattering pair of jeans I’ve ever worn from Diesel . They are from the Men’s section, were every expensive and only had an inseam of around 35.5 inches but they had a 2.5 inch turn-up which I let down and as they were so distressed, it seemed to add to the design.

Alloy.com
Alloy sell several brands up to a 37 inch inseam and a few pairs of trousers too. My favourite from here are the Truck brand.  I love the non-stretch style but they have almost any trend covered, are really affordable at around $40 a pair AND they ship to the UK.

Buckle.com

A relatively new discovery for me but with a brilliant search facility where you can sort by length of rise, inseam, style, wash, cut, fabric and many more, this site is my new favourite.  Currently they offer five brands in a 37 inch inseam and one brand available in a 38 inch inseam and they ship to Europe.

These days I rely purely on American Brands to satisfy my denim desires but, to be honest? I’m still searching for THAT miracle pair that makes me look and feel like a supermodel….