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 :).

Off-Campus Style: Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

So I realized "Boston Campus Style" doesn't make much sense when I don't live on campus, eh?

I don't know if it's just this time of year, but I've felt crazy busy the last couple of weeks! I didn't think midterms were going to be a big deal this year, but I've been buried in work and school obligations for days. Every night I just hit the pillow and fall right asleep! So in a way, I guess it's good?

It was a beautiful fall day last week - not too warm, not too cold. The nice thing about this new 'hood is that there are plenty of big, green outdoor spaces to hang out in! It's the perfect stress reliever. So Craig and I went and had a picnic in the park. He's getting good at these outfit photos, don't you think? :)

Dress: Primark

Cardigan: Target

Tights: Alloy

Belt: Forever 21

Shoes: Minnetonka

Earrings: Flea market

Guest appearance by Craig's shadow.

An aside about this dress: a few weeks after I got it, I saw Aidy Bryant wearing it on SNL! I died. She has the cutest style.

ETA: I just realized this is my 50th post! Wow! It feels like a lot more than that, but maybe because I'm so bad at consistently updating :). Thanks for coming on this ride with me - here's to 50 more!

Boston Campus Style: Hot Spiced Apple Cider

I have been craving a hot apple cider for about 3 days, I'm not even going to lie to you guys. This outfit seemed like the physical manifestation of that drink. Fall camouflage, if you will. The leaves are changing, temperatures are dropping, and it's time for tights, riding boots, and cozy sweaters! And also peacoats, apparently, because I was pretty chilly in this outfit. Is it very cold where you live? I just wasn't prepared for this!

I'm a Looney Toon.

Dress: Forever 21

Tights and Cardigan: Target

Boots: Kohl's

Earrings: Betsey Johnson

Necklace: ? (super old)

Tote: Shakespeare & Company

I was reunited with my beautiful blogger buddy, Z! I missed her photographic assistance/frolicking around the Common with her. I love my new neighborhood, but I do miss having this beautiful space as my backyard!

Did you notice the big change on my head (other than my ridiculous roots)? You may remember I was thinking about getting a pixie cut - and about a month ago, I took the plunge! It takes me much less time to get ready in the morning, it looks less less silly when I wear statement necklaces and big earrings, and I feel a lot more "me" this way. I'm very glad I did it!

How is your fall going? Have you picked out your Halloween costume yet? As a Halloween pop-up shop worker, I like to know these things :).

Summer Checklist: Maudslay Stylin'

This weekend, I ticked another goal off my Summer Checklist! Craig and I visited a new state park, Maudslay, in Newburyport.

I know I said my goal was to visit 1 new state park, but we decided to pick up a parking pass that covers the fees for every state park in MA to encourage us to get out and bond with nature a bit more. Maudslay is an old estate that spawns a ridiculous amount of acres and includes beautiful forest paths, big open fields, gardens (some are even still tended to!) and old buildings that belonged to former groundskeepers and boatkeepers. It was so ripe for adventuring, we were checking it out for hours! If you live anywhere nearby, the parking fee is only $2 and it is so beyond that in adventuring value.

(I scratched this into a well because we are nauseating. To be fair, it looks way better than the vaguely satanic-looking initials above it.)

While we were there, I decided to give Craig his first test as fashion photographer. He was acting like he had never held a camera before, and then BAM, all of his photos came out totally professional looking. If I hadn't known him for 6 years, I'd say he was faking me out, guys. He's a natural.

Top: Kohl's
Shorts: Jessica Simpson
Sunnies: Vera Wang
Shoes: Minnetonka
Bag: Feed for Target
Necklace: Asos

We grabbed lunch in Newburyport center afterwards, and I scored this adorable bracelet in a vintage shop. I'm kind of in love with the entire town.

Did you do any exploring this weekend?

Summer Checklist: A Really Fun Weekend

Don't you love when things just come together in such a perfect way to make a really great weekend? I feel like I bottled summer. I just started back up at my old summer job, and while I'm so happy to be back, I was a little stressed out! And the forecast said doom and gloom all weekend. Serious bummer. Craig & I decided to schedule an indoor glow in the dark mini golf date to combat the rain:

But it turned out to be a beautiful day! So after the game was over (I won by 1 point, but the scores were totally embarrassing overall) we went to new-to-us ice cream stand 2/5, Richardson's, where I got some incredible Green Tea Ice Cream:

Saturday arrived with a ton of sunshine, too! We packed up and headed to Walden Pond for the afternoon,

Got some much-needed sushi,

And got some surprise Lowell Spinners tickets from my parents!

And Sunday, we picked some strawberries!

(Forever 21 shirt and sunnies, Jessica Simpson shorts, Target purse, if you were curious!)

mmm, strawberry donuts. Craig styled this picture all by himself! What a professional assistant ;).

Anddd this came out sounding like a big brag. But sometimes we have to share a really awesome weekend, and I did check off a few of my checklist goals! Did you have a fun weekend? :)

The Evolution of My Style: a Hilarious Retrospective

Everyone's style changes over time - it's part of growing up. That doesn't make looking back any less funny, though! Any of my family members could tell you that as a child, "dress" was not in my vocabulary. I was all basketball shorts and Life is Good t-shirts, and almost everything I owned had puppies or neon peace signs on it. And as I got older, it didn't get much better - like many of you, I went through the standard "emo" phase and straight into "scenester" territory. All of this is terribly embarrassing, but entirely hilarious. I decided to surf through my old photos and give you guys all a good laugh as I examined how my style evolved into what it is today.

Too Cool for Elementary School

(Super flattering pictures courtesy of my dad's Facebook. Unsuspecting family members have been cropped out to spare dignity)

Hobbies: Pretending to be Harry Potter characters, reading Meg Cabot, obsessively playing Neopets
My style: "Literally just rolled out of bed" chic
Signature pieces: Tye-dye Hawaiian Spongebob shirt, flare jeans from Limited Too with the American flag screenprinted on them
Favorite accessories: Animal jewelry (not much changes in a decade, apparently), jelly bracelets, scrunchies with peace signs on them
Preferred hairstyle: Ridiculously severe ponytail

Preteen Angst

(This one picture kind of says it all)

Hobbies: Going to concerts, scrolling through the Fall Out Boy message boards, dramatically Livejournal-ing about my feelings
My style: Some combination of "lazy suburbanite" meets "misunderstood emo"
Signature pieces: Hot Topic Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends hoodie, 50 shades of black men's band t-shirts, beat-up Converse with the toes signed by a now-irrelevant metal band
Favorite accessories: The paper bracelets they give you at concerts (see above), skull necklaces
Preferred hairstyle: The classic "brush-and-go"

Aspiring Scene Queen

Hobbies: Pretending to know more about bands than you, taking Myspace selfies, not going outside, denying the fact I needed glasses
My style: "Human Highlighter"
Signature pieces: White bandana, Vans slip-ons in a rainbow of colors and patterns, ill-fitting skinny jeans
Favorite accessories: Plastic necklaces with diamonds on them, black eyeliner expertly matched with dark brown eyeshadow
Preferred hairstyle: Stubby pigtails and greasy bangs

The In-Betweener

Hobbies: "Photography," complaining about my minimum wage job, stressing about college from freshman year of high school onward
My style: "Half-Hearted Preppy" meets "Leftover Relics From the Scene Era"
Signature pieces: Like, 3 whole shirts from Urban Outfitters, assorted Hollister sweatshirts, Nike Dunks, skinny jeans
Favorite accessories: Weird half-smile half-scowl (pictured), ridiculously oversized purses
Preferred hairstyle: Straightened in the front, couldn't be bothered to fix the back, paired with super trendy overgrown bangs

50's American Girl Doll

I think my style evolved into something resembling what it is today right around the summer after high school, when I dyed my hair red. My mother likes to call it "I Love Lucy," but I once described it to a friend as "50's American Girl Doll" with touches of "Librarian Chic"   and I'm sticking to it. It's a little bit girly, a little bit loud, and a little bit classic. There are a lot of polka dots, gauzy tops, and floral prints to be found in my wardrobe. I have a whole drawer full of tights and my dorm closet is actually overflowing with fit-and-flare dresses. 10 year old me might be a bit horrified, but I think it suits me just fine.

I hope you enjoyed this incredibly embarrassing portal to the past - it was a lot of fun for me to put together. I'd love to see some of your style relics!