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Wednesday 17 October 2012

Tall (And Short!) Girl Treat: The Perfect Day Dress

Monsoon Long-Sleeved Black Vicky Dress, £55 - bloody love this style. It's flattering on every shape and height.
TALL AND SHORT DISCLAIMER! My 5ft friend has one of the Vicky dresses, and it looks just as brilliant on her as it does on 6ft 1 me - Monsoon is a hero outlet for frockage. Enjoy!

  "I wish I had your legs," one of the women in my riding lesson said wistfully on Sunday.

"Yeah, yeah," I thought, staring down balefully at the Topshop Tall Baxter jeans which I've had for about five years, and long-since stopped being anything approaching black.

As awesome as it is being tall (shelves are not a hindrance! If I walk around with a scowl, I very rarely get harassed in the street! I am my own Mace!) it's also a bloody nightmare. Topshop Tall, my go-to for long trousers and jeans, is stuck in a phase where all its trousers are either cropped (*facepalm*), or skinny to the point of jeggings. Or actual jeggings, which are simply unacceptable. All I want is a nice pair of slim or skinny trousers in a decent fabric, or a new pair of Baxters, which  fit beautifully and never shrink. But no. There will be no new trousers or jeans for me this year.
Monsoon Kansas Allover Cable Dress, £59 - just add a nice belt to cinch in the waist
So I do what I always do in times of wardrobe trouble - I turn to my trusty collection of dresses. Now, every tall girl has a retailer that they know they can go into and find something decent. My dress shop is Monsoon, my tops and tights shop is Marks & Spencer. When the trauma of finding decent, well-fitting trousers becomes too much - don't get me started on Long Tall Sally; in 15 years I have yet to find a pair that fit properly or look like a young woman could wear them without a sense of deep shame - I find that slinging on a dress, some tights and boots to be utterly soothing.

So.Here are a few alternatives to trousers while we wait for the high street to stop pansying around and give us some decent trousers in fashionable fits with nice long inside leg measurements, and quality fabric. I have money! I will give it to you! Get a bloody move on!

Monsoon Messina GreenTeddy Dress, £59 (gorgeous teal colour, also available in charcoal)



As regards the Monsoon website,take everything it says with a pinch of salt. Their marvellous Home Delivery team has always managed to track me down dresses that have had OUT OF STOCK next to them, and, weirdly, there's always stuff in the shops that isn't listed on the website.

At the moment, there are some really beautiful knitted dresses in-store in both the main and Fusion ranges that I haven't found online, and given that there's a Monsoon store pretty much every mile in Britain, you should be able to pop in and have a look for yourself. If it's all a bit pricey, which to be fair, it is, just keep an eye on the Monsoon outlet, and the regular shop sales. Today, for example, I'm wearing a brilliant wrap jersey dress I got a couple of winters ago for £29, thank you very much.

Monsoon Purple Carla Cowl Neck Dress, £59
And there you have it. Easy wardrobe decisions that just need a bit of accessorising.

6 comments:

  1. I've just discovered M&S 'jeggings' and they're great. They're not jeggings at all - the fabric is way thicker than my old Topshop Leigh skinny jeans, and they're really comfy and flattering and they wash really well. They're skinny jeans, but not skintight like Topshop's are these days! I'm 5'8" and I wear the medium length, so I'd imagine the long ones would be perfect for taller girls.

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  2. I had no idea Monsoon had an Outlet store. I feel your pain in reverse, being a very busty, 5ft 2.5inches in height, but have recently noted that you can REALLY tailor a search on eBay far more precisely than before. I know it's not the same but you might find a niche retailer who designs trousers to flatter those pins of yours.

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  3. I'm 6 foot (35 inch leg) and I buy my jeans from the Next Tall range and they are fab, skinny and slim fit are great all rounders and cheap to boot. It's worth a look on their website.
    I totally agree about LTS (wouldn't be seen dead in their shops or clothes!) and Topshop is becoming increasingly rubbish.
    I have really struggled to buy smart work trousers for winter (rolled up chinos in the summer were great for work) and have bought some from Next but feel really 'corporate' in them. It's a huge problem, that frankly often makes me feel like a circus freak!

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  4. Amazing tips ladies, thank you.

    Anonymous, I'm with you in this one. I gave up on LTS despite their sort-of,kind-of makeover after trying their Camden jeans and skinny black cords - really baggy round the waist and no fit whatsoever. Eurgh. Wouldn't it be nice to have a smart pair of trousers? When I last looked, the tall ranges at Dorothy Perkins and Next always seem to insist on making us wear boot cut trousers in horrible fabrics which were grim.

    Topshop Tall was so good for well-designed, quality trousers back in 2005. 2005 FFS!

    @Allie Gah to the Topshop Leigh fabric; so thin! Thanks for sharing the M&S tip. Too short for my pins, but will be very useful to others, I'm sure!

    @Yasminselena Ha, right back at you! I've bought plenty of stuff off eBay, but I find that knowing my size in advance makes it much easier to sift through - not very keen on random designers I haven't already tried, the risk of losing money is too great.

    Sigh. One day...

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  5. I have curves to go with my long legs (I'm only 5'9" but have a 34" leg), so haven't been able to fit into Topshop clothes since I was a teenager. I find Gap really good for jeans - just try on all the different styles to find the cut that suits your body/leg shape. Also Next Tall, but they're sometimes a bit short.

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  6. I'm only 5'8", but I have a long body which means that most dresses don't fit - as where they think my waist should be is about 4" higher than my actual waist. Might have a look at Monsoon to see if they're put together a bit differently...

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