Style Files: Tall Girl Problems

Hey guys! I'm here today to address a super serious issue: tall girl problems.

(I'm actually 281m tall. It's hard being a giant. Just kidding, guys. But you should consider yourself lucky that my commitment to this joke extends to me including this really unflattering photo of myself.)

I'm 5'8 and mostly legs. Short girls think they have the monopoly on height-related problems, but I beg to differ. I'm the girl who has to crunch down in group photos, the one who has to be super conscious of how short dresses are, and the one who is always "expecting a flood" because my jeans are not long enough. Why don't they make all jeans for women include an inseam? Men get all the luck.

I'm here because I know that some of my friends out there in the blogosphere have the same problems with finding good clothes as I do. Whenever I meet a fellow tall girl, we always ask each other: "where do you get your _____?" Let's face it, the women's fashion industry doesn't make it easy for girls of any size, so sometimes word of mouth is all we've got. I'm throwing out my fave brands for a few of the trickiest clothes to find in long-leg-friendly sizes: jeans, tights, and dresses.

Jeans

Everyone knows that Levi's makes good jeans, but when you buy them online (and sometimes at JC Penney), they have different-sized inseams! Awww-right. I like the Demi Curve Skinny Jean the best, but the style is up to you: just know if you get the long inseam, people won't be seeing your socks.

And somewhat counter-intuitively, teen girls' clothing brand Delia*s makes super awesome skinny jeans. You'll probably have to size up, and you might want to order online to avoid being blinded by the bright colors and twee-ness of the store, but with some well-timed coupons and a BOGO deal, you can get 2 pairs of high-waisted skinny jeans for $45! Sweet. I wear these embarrassingly often. You can get longer inseams online, but strangely enough, I find that the plain old Skylar High-Waisted jeans work just fine for me.

Tights

I'm all department stores for my tights. Tall girls know the struggle of tights falling down all day because they're about an inch too short for your legs. Simply Vera Wang tights last a long time for me, and they're pretty inexpensive at Kohl's. Most importantly, the legs stretch out to be pretty long! Wahoo. Target's Merona brand comes in size medium/tall, which is a fantastic tight-related innovation. I like Vera Wang for patterned or lace tights, and Merona for brightly colored tights.

Dresses

I'll preface this by telling you that my favorite dress length is an inch or two above the knee. I have no problem finding super long dresses, nor do I have a problem finding super short dresses, but finding my ideal length with the length of my legs is always dodgy. I have had great luck on asos.com (with the ASOS brand specifically) - and if the dress doesn't fit, you can send it back for free. Just make sure you check the size conversion chart - go by your waist size in inches, because their conversions can be a little wonky! As for Francesca's, I find that their lengths tend to be appropriate 75% of the time, which is more than I can say for a lot of companies, and they have a great constantly-rotating selection. I would advise going into the store and trying it on, though - you just never know!

Now, fellow giants, let me know where you get your favorite threads! Swapping tips is the best way to put an end to tall people problems :).