What Type of "Tall" Are You? - Poll

The most ridiculous thing I ever see are signs that say "one size fits all". Are you telling me I should wear the same size as my 5'3" tall mother-in-law? I DON'T THINK SO! We learned years ago to never go clothes shopping together. 

Photo credit Taradata Magazine

And, you can't slap a tag on clothes labeled "tall" and expect it to fit all tall people. There are all kinds of different tall shapes and sizes. My biggest pet peeve is when clothing stores stick a "tall" tag on and don't include a tall size chart. Tall inseams can vary from 31" - 42" long. It can be very confusing to sort it all out.
Here we go with generalization again, but I think for the most part, all of us tall people can be sorted into one of the following categories of different tall body types.

1. All Long Legs. Yep, you have mile long legs. Your legs make up your height. You could have an average torso length or even a short torso length.  A lady at a conference started a conversation with me and told me that she had a 37" inseam length. I wouldn't even have considered her "tall" as she may have been around 5'7". I didn't believe her, so she pulled up her long tunic to her waist and sure enough she had really long legs and an almost non-existent torso.
2. All Long Torso - You may have average length legs or even short legs. Take Mike, from Twitter. He is 6'8" long with just a 32" inseam. I mentioned to him that's the longest torso length I've ever heard of. He agreed and finding long enough tops is a real challenge. You poor people have a challenge fitting in cars and seats as they just aren't made for your long backs.
3. Balanced Tall - This is the group of people that have both long legs and long torsos. I fall into this category as I am 6'1" tall and have a 35" inseam length. My torso is also long and tall shirts are needed also.

Let's see where you fall in the spectrum of tall? Please take our survey.

poll by twiigs.com

Tall Woman Survives Shopping Trip to Mall

When the phone rings at five o'clock in the morning it's usually a bad sign. I answered the phone to find out my mother was in the hospital and I needed to take an emergency trip out of state. I scrambled to make arrangements for my older children while I would be gone. Then I hurriedly packed my suitcase with a few items of clothing for my baby and myself and drove 7 hours to get to the hospital.

What I thought would only be a few days visit, ended up being much longer. Guess what? I did not bring enough clothes and the clothes I brought were pretty strange looking. As a 6'1" tall woman, I prefer to shop online as I can find exactly what I need easily and hassle-free. In my desperation I ventured into the mall to find a few shirts. Luckily I had actually brought some decent tall pants, but I needed a few tops. Here is how I survived shopping in a mall where women's tall sizes are extinct.

I ventured into a department store and immediately tried to find a tall salesperson to assist me in finding some clothing as I figured they would understand how best to help me find clothing that fits my tall stature. To my dismay I could not find anyone tall working there. I quickly scanned the area for the sharpest dressed saleswoman. I finally found one that was extremely helpful.

I explained to her that I needed some tops in longer lengths. She found some great options for me and I even ended up with a few 3/4th sleeves jackets that were really cute over my longer tunics and shirts. As this store did not have tall sizes it took quite a bit of searching to find what I was looking for. Had I not been aided by a friendly salesperson that was familiar with the store, it would have been a nightmare.

I made sure I had an open mind, as some of the items suggested did not look too great on the hanger, but I loved them once I tried them on. I was also able to educate the woman as to what looks great on tall women as she kept handing me small printed shirts and I was able to explain that tall women need to keep everything in proportion to their size- meaning bigger patterns and strips etc. I was pleasantly surprised that what could have been a shopping fiasco turned into a fun experience.

Although I still prefer to buy tall sizes and I have my favorite tall stores to shop in, thanks to the help of a great saleswoman, I was able to survive my shopping trip to the mall.
Visit Tall Clothing Mall at http://www.tallclothingmall.com - a great resource for tall men and tall women looking for tall clothing, plus size clothing, big and tall clothing, tall maternity, and large size shoes. This website was created by Krista Mayne, after she became frustrated by the amount of time she spent trying to find tall clothing.