Tall Girl Treat: Non-Awful Maxi Dresses

I always swore (blue) that I would never wear a maxi dress. One of the minefields of shopping when you're a tall girl is that shops want to steer you away from knee-length and into gynaecologically short (*cough* Topshop Tall) or turn you into a Greek pillar (everyone else).

So I blame my friend Elizabeth, who took me along to the Tall Girls pop-up shop in Regents Park last week. Elizabeth wears a size 10 shoe and was looking for some kick-ass bridesmaid pumps - brilliantly, she bought these pointy green patent courts instead - so I just tried stuff on. To keep her company, obviously. (I used to shop at Tall Girls' Hampshire store when I was a teenager. It was all a bit awful back then. WHOAH has that changed.)

So pretty! I promise, I didn't look like a vase.

Anywho, I fell in love with this stunning green maxi dress. It's jersey! The best fabric in the world EVER! And the green made my red hair, pale skin and blue eyes pop like I was Tyra Banks: the Gaelic version. Here's a model wearing it. I am not convinced by the cardigan.

Cropped cardigan? Really? No.

It's also available in pink with pretty butterflies, and a really lovely dark blue featherprint. It costs £69 and I swear to God, my mum had to take 10cm off the bottom. Woo hoo! (I realise this is less of a woo hoo to short girls who face this annoying problem on a fairly permanent basis.)

 

We tried on quite a few others, and Elizabeth fell head over heels in love with this gorgeous floral cross-over maxi dress, also £69, which she assures me will be worn to work, every day, until the winter comes (my exaggeration, her dress love). It's available in the same floral decoration but in different colourways, in black and violet (both stunning).

Here's Elizabeth and I wearing our maxi dresses in the changing room being watched over by the Queen - yes, we were actually that excited by our frocks. I am very sorry about my hair, it's gone a bit upset in the new season. Also, need a tan.

Right, now I own one maxi dress which I love. But rather, I own a dress which I love. If only it wasn't so bloody difficult - Dorothy Perkins and Next have both removed their tall sections from stores. What is this, 1999? Tall women aren't going away.

Dream Dress: ASOS Mexican Print

Recently I was thinking about Mexican colours and prints, wondering to myself when such things might be fashionable. Lo and behold the fashion industry read my mind and the high street is currently awash with bright clashing colours and jaunty prints. Excellent news.

I found this gorgeous Mexican print skater dress from ASOS. It ticks all the right boxes for my dress requirements - cinched waist, A-line skirt and bright bold colours. It is slightly pricier than my average dress buy at £75, but I imagine I would get plenty of wear out of it this year.