Tall Girl Treat: Body Confidence and Leggings

Emma Billingham writes on Facebook: "The article on wedges was fabulous as it's encouraging taller/bigger women to embrace their height - I would love to see more of this kind of thing, including discussions about posture, how to make the most of what we have."

  

I have never gone in for the myriad 'hilarious' t-shirts with slogans about no, I don't actually play basketball, but I saw this great shirt while having a think about Emma's question. And actually, yes! The weather IS great up here. It just might not feel that way at certain times; like when the shop's run out of size 10s, or the tall section gets moved to online-only. Or when random men call out to you in the street about your height. Then it can feel pretty bloody annoying. 

What makes people feel confident is entirely up to them, but here's what helps me.

A lot of this has been to do with standing up straight. There is absolutely no point in trying to hide how tall we are; slouching just makes women over 5'10 look like faintly embarrassed umbrellas. Whether you stand up straight in heels or trainers, or well-supported flats, just do it. (I refer you to the Domestic Sluttery 9-13 shoe guide). And wear clothes that make you feel like a genius. What is good about 2013 is that it's not 1999 and we can find exactly what we want if we look hard enough.

One of my particular bugbears is tall women constantly being pushed towards wide-legged trousers - particularly, with baggy tops. This is nothing against wide-legged trousers per se, but rather a big no to unnecessarily bagginess and bigness. Dude! We know we're tall! But you don't have to dress us like something that's going to accommodate 200 drunk people at a wedding.

It's like choosing between lips and eyes; either go baggy on top or on bottom, but not both. Billowing has its place. I own a maxi dress, but because that is well-cut and made out of jersey (best dress fabric ever), I still feel sleek even when it's flying out around my ankles.

My winter look is applicable to all occasions.

In cold weather, my default clothes setting is some kind of jumper/cardigan/top combo with a decent pair of black skinny jeans worn with my ancient DUO tall boots. This is not because I have amazing legs or the arse of a pilates teacher, but simply because being so weighed down by surplus material makes me feel like a ship struggling in a gale. No need! We are tall. Drowning in fabric is not going to disguise this fact.

The difficulty of being tall is that replacing favourite clothes is in no way a given. My jeans recently faded to a tragic shade of charcoal which was swiftly remedied by sticking them in the machine with some Dylon. This was partly because I couldn't find another pair of the same jeans, but really because if something makes you feel good - stick with it. A neat silhouette makes me feel like I can cut through things! I can get on and do stuff! And above all, it makes me feel confident.

Leggings

Katy-Jane Middleditch writes on Facebook: "I would love you to cover tall leggings! They are impossible to find for my 36 inch+ legs! That and maxi skirts,maxi dresses... just clothes in general really."

Hurray! An easy one. For clothes in general, bookmark the Tall Girl Treat posts: whether they're my favourites, or pure eye candy, I pick out items that work on longer frames, legs, arms etc so you're not just at the mercy of the specialist brands.

But back to leggings. There is one answer to this: Topshop. For all my misgivings about the Tall range, they do really reliable leggings. Never OTT in price, they come in a trillion varieties and are always nice and thick. These black ankle leggings are £12.

Long Tall Sally's catalogue landed on my mat last night, and while I wasn't exactly set on fire by most of it, two of their new legging patterns might be right up your street.

These floral print ones and smudge print leggings are both £26. The smudge print especially have ecstatic reviews - I'm really confused by the sizing though. The smudge inside leg is 32.5" (?) and the floral are 34" (hum). Seems incredibly short to me for a tall brand, but a 6'3" commenter with a 36" leg says the smudge print are plenty long enough, so either they're crazy stretchy or they've written the sizes up wrong.

PS - an offer

To celebrate their 15th birthday, Tall Girls have got 15 per cent off everything until the end of May. Happy birthday ladies!