Tall Style Guides.

It’s been a while since I posted. I have been busy-as we all are, so I know that’s no excuse. Actually, busy is an understatement! How time flies, is something I will never understand. Maybe it’s not for us to understand.

So, what are tall style guides? Why are they important for a tall girl or lady?

I wanted to post about something that I had to experience and figure out for myself along this style journey. Getting clothes that fit me, and fit me right. Back then, I wasn’t aware there were guides that could be used to narrow down my choices-which were not many. Something that would help me know what clothes to choose…for me. When I finally came across this information, I was blown away because here was info that I could use to better understand my shape and it allowed me to make conscious choices about what to wear. These were the guides and size charts. More importantly tall style guides. They gave me direction, ideas, understanding. It’s like a light bulb went off! So glad it did!

When shopping or looking for clothes that fit a beautiful tall frame, the right sizing is very important. This is of course the same case as with regular sizes, but for the tall individual, I feel this is a necessity.It is imperative that you get this right, because I feel every thing is magnified when you are taller.

For example, a regular height or short person can get away with wearing short pants. But for a tall person, the ‘short pants’ have to hit the right spot, failing which, the person just looks like they could not get right/properly fitting/long enough pants. Not a nice sight.

For tall people, it’s not just about adding inches or opening hems, the clothes need to fit right. Then you behold the beauty of height. Today’s post is about Tall guides or sizing charts for tall ladies that are available for us to refer to when in a bind or we don’t know how to measure ourselves to make buying decisions. Like a ‘True North’- of sorts, in the styling stakes.

There are several good resources out there that one can use to compare notes. I will share information from 3 sites that cater to tall ladies-Long Tall Sally, J Crew and Gap.

Examples of Tall Style Guides

Long Tall Sally (LTS)

Taking your measurements

The diagram below shows the points where one can expect to have measurements taken and use this to compare on the size charts.

When taking bust and waist measurements:

 

Hips — Your hip position will be about 20cm down from your waist. Measure around the fullest part of your hips.

Dress Length — Measure from the base of the neck downwards to sheck if the product length will suit.

Top Length — Our top lengths are measured from the base of the neck down to the hem.

Inside Leg Length — Our trousers and jeans are available in a variety of inside leg lengths appropriate to the style of the product. To get an accurate measurement of your inside leg measure from the top of your inside leg to just below the ankle.

Body Length — Measure from your side neck to inside leg to check your body length and the correct size.

 

Finding your size:

LTS offers the following guide to clothing sizes

CLOTHING SIZES

UK & Australia Size	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24
USA & Canada Size	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20
European Size	36	38	40	42	44	46	48	50	52
Relative Sizes	XS		S	M		L		XL
	S			M			L
TTYA	S		M		L		XL
Bust	81cm 32″	86cm 34″	91cm 35¾”	96cm 37¾”	101cm 39¾”	106cm 41¾”	112cm 44″	118cm 46¼”	124cm 48¾”
Waist	64cm 25¼”	69cm 27¼”	74cm 29″	79cm 31″	84cm 33″	89cm 35″	95cm 37″	101cm 39¾”	107cm 42½”
Hip	90cm 35½”	95cm 37½”	100cm 39½”	105cm 41½”	110cm 43½”	115cm 45½”	120cm 47″	127cm 50″	133cm 52¼”

Source: Long Tall Sally.

Shoe sizes-The site also has great information on shoe sizes pointing out the special aspects they have taken in designing shoes that cater to the needs of the tall lady. Some of these include for example increasing the length of long leg boots so that they fit better amongst other adjustments.

For more information visit the site on http://www.longtallsally.com/size-guide.

 

2. J CREW

J Crew have a comprehensive guide that covers all sizes for Tops, Bottoms, Dresses, Swimwear, outerwear, shoes and accessories. Tall size guide for tops is shared below:

TALL SIZES
SIZE (US)	NUMERIC SIZE (US)	BUST	NATURAL WAIST
XXS	00	31.5	24
XS	0	32.5	25
XS	2	33.5	26
S	4	34.5	27
S	6	35.5	28
M	8	36.5	29
M	10	37.5	30
L	12	39	31.5
L	14	40.5	33
XL	16	42	34.5
XXL	18	43.5	36

Tall sizes recommended for women 5’9″-6’0″.Source J Crew

 

Size guide for dresses:

TALL SIZES
SIZE (US)	NUMERIC SIZE (US)	BUST	NATURAL WAIST	HIP
XXS	00	31.5	24	34
XS	0	32.5	25	35
XS	2	33.5	26	36
S	4	34.5	27	37
S	6	35.5	28	38
M	8	36.5	29	39
M	10	37.5	30	40
L	12	39	31.5	41.5
L	14	40.5	33	43
XL	16	42	34.5	44.5
XL	18	44	36	46.5
XXL	20	46	37.5	48.5

Tall sizes recommended for women 5’9″-6’0″.Source J Crew

 

Size guide for Bottoms:

The following diagram gives a good indication of what one should look for when checking for fit.

 

 

For more information visit the site at https://www.jcrew.com/sizecharts/main.jsp?sizeChart=1,1

 

3. GAP

GAP also have tall styles and their style chart is seen below:

Determine your waist, hip, and thigh measurements with the help of our measuring tips. Then find your jean sizes in the charts below.

Long & Lean and Curvy Jean Sizes		Regular			Petite			Tall
				Waist	Hip	Thigh	Waist	Hip	Thigh	Waist	Hip	Thigh
00	24			23″	35¼”	20¾”	22½”	34¾”	20½”	23″	35¼”	20¾”
0	25	24″	36¼”	21¼”	23½”	35¾”	21″	24″	36¼”	21¼”
2	26	25″	37¼”	22″	24½”	36¾”	21¾”	25″	37¼”	22″
4	27	26″	38¼”	22½”	25½”	37¾”	22¼”	26″	38¼”	22½”
6	28	27″	39¼”	23″	26½”	38¾”	22¾”	27″	39¼”	23″
8	29	28″	40¼”	23¾”	27½”	39¾”	23½”	28″	40¼”	23¾”
10	30	29″	41¼”	24½”	28½”	40¾”	24¼”	29″	41¼”	24½”
12	31	30¼”	42½”	25¾”	29¾”	42″	25½”	30¼”	42½”	25¾”
14	32	31½”	43¾”	26¾”	31″	43¼”	26½”	31½”	43¾”	26¾”
16	33	33¼”	45½”	28″	32¾”	45″	27¾”	33¼”	45½”	28″
18	34	35¼”	47½”	29¼”	34¾”	47″	29″	35¼”	47½”	29¼”
20	35	37¼”	49½”	30½”	36¾”	49″	30¼”	37¼”	49½”	30½”

Source: Gap.com

For more information visit the site at http://www.gap.com/products/size-chart.jsp

 

So there you have it!

A brief round up of sizing charts and tall guides for the tall lady to refer to and some great websites for more information and resources.

I hope this will be information that you can use when you are hunting for the clothes to fit your beautiful self.

 

NB: Whilst these stores do not have physical presence in these parts(*sigh*), they provide much needed information and guidance when figuring how sizes match up.

 

Happy shopping!

 

Mercy