As a gal on the tallish side of 5’10”, I’ve always struggled with finding clothes that fit me properly. Didn’t matter if I was in shape or a bit pudgy, being tall makes clothes shopping challenging. Although some brands allow for longer inseam lengths, the length of their pants is just one problem tall women find in their wardrobes.
6 Fashion Troubles All Tall Women Understand
Read on to learn what solutions tall women have when it comes to rocking every look and embracing their height.
Tall Women Problem #1: Sleeves are too short
Considering how much our hands are used in everything we do, long sleeves that fall short are far too common for tall women. And quite annoying. Petite women can at least temporarily fold their sleeves for a short-term fix. Women with longer arms don’t have this luxury.
The cuff rubs in an annoying spot somewhere between the wrist and forearm. Any buttons on the cuffs add to the discomfort. And oftentimes, the cuff is too tight around the forearm because it wasn’t meant to sit there. Almost no clothing brands offer longer sleeves as an option, so we’ve learned to push our sleeves up to the elbow for an adjusted look.
Tall Women Problem #2: Shirts turn into crop tops
Because tall women typically have longer torsos, most tops and blouses sit too short for us. Younger girls may be okay with this, but as we head into our middle and golden years, crop tops aren’t cool. We don’t want that junk hanging out, and you don’t want to see it.
As with sleeves being too short, clothing brands don’t offer a tall option in length of top. Sweaters are too short. Form fitting blazers don’t hug the right part of our hips or lower waist. And button ups look puckered up in the front after they’ve been washed.
Tall Women Problem #3: Dresses look more like long tops
So that button up denim dress looked super cute on the rack. And you were so excited to wear it out tonight with some cowboy boots. You put the dress on when you got home. Did a look-back at your backside to see how cute it was in the mirror...and paused with a frown. It clearly shrank on the ride home because your butt cheeks are almost peaking out. Did I accidentally grab the wrong size? Nope. The fashion industry tends to use an average height of 5’7” for sizing. Clothing brands don’t offer tall women the option to buy a dress or skirt in “tall”.
Tall Women Problem #4: Maxi dresses are just dresses
There’s no maxi in dresses for those of us who are tall. Instead, this dress sits somewhere in that awkward space above our ankle and below the knee. Sandra Bullock rocked that look with her iconic black pencil skirt. But that’s not what we’re doing with our maxi dresses, unfortunately. I think you could put a belted burlap bag on her and she’d look amazing. But for the rest of us, not so much. Even though there are tall inseam length options for pants, no such thing exists for women when buying off the rack dresses.
Tall Women Problem #5: Rompers and jumpsuits are a no go
Because the fashion industry shoots for an average height of 5’8”, the torso in rompers and jumpsuits are simply too short for tall women. Add high-waist anything to this grouping because they all give us continual wedgies. Whatever you call it, it’s downright uncomfortable and unflattering.
Tall Women Problem #6: All pants are flooders
Now this is one area where women’s fashion does offer tall women a longer inseam length. And that is GOOD! Wearing pants that are too short is something we’ve become accustomed to, but it sucks. Some, not a lot, of clothing brands offer longer inseams for taller women.
But inseams can get tricky. Different inseam offerings for jeans, which tend to fit tighter, is great. But when the pant style is meant to be baggy, your inseam go-to can make your pants too long. Why is this? Well, your inseam is measured from your crotch to the ankle. If the pants are baggy, then your traditional inseam length may very well be too long.
What Options Do You Have?
Unfortunately, tall women don’t have a lot of options outside of finding clothing brands that offer longer inseam lengths for pants. Tailoring clothes isn’t really an option because you can’t add fabric that isn’t there. So sleeve lengthening, for example, isn’t possible. Made-to-order clothing is an option, but it's typically very pricey. Think tailored suits. This option is usually too costly for most of our pocket books. For you young-ins, that's a wallet.
Because I have lived with these issues since I hit my growth spurt in 7th grade, I think it’s safe to say most tall women have learned to just live with clothes fitting weird at times. But I don’t believe it should be this way. Which is why I took these problems to heart with Mallory Bloom.
I offer made to measure options for you at no extra cost.
Designing, cutting, and sewing all Mallory Bloom garments in-house allows me to make size adjustments specifically for you. That includes inseam lengths, sleeve lengthening, torso lengthening, adjustments for skirts and dresses, and the length of the tops and blouses.
And yes, at NO EXTRA Cost!
Come check out how Mallory Bloom can be your wardrobe solution for a whole lot less than you think.
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