Tall Women - What do you want when shopping??

[AllLegs95]

Hi all,
I'm a fellow tall girl/women at 5ft9, with my height coming from my legs and not my torso (short torso queen here).

I've really wanted to start my own brand for a number of years, as I'm sure you'll know the high street and even online, just doesn't cater correctly. Trousers & jeans are either way too long or are too short. Now I know that this may not be an issue for those of you with say a 34" inseam or the 36"+ inseam that is often seen catered for by the likes of ASOS (aren't some of their clothes ridiculously long!).
I've been wondering where to start with something that really services us and thinking about what I yearn for in my own wardrobe, I'm missing a really nice set of loungewear or tracksuit top and bottoms. Is this just me or do you struggle too?

Please share with me your pain points when it comes to shopping and what it is that you really wish you could buy at the click of a button, is it really good basics or is it the more fashionable items? I've worked for fast fashion retailers so I kind of know where to start with building this from the ground up, but I really want to serve US. I don't want to be fast fashion, I want to produce clothing that lasts.

Dresses with longer nape to waist measurements.

Long length pyjamas

I actually know a lady who did this and it didn't work out, sadly I think because ASOS, LTS and NEXT now have a pretty good tall range and most shops will do global postage. Their filters often suck so finding something in the sale as well as 34 leg...nightmare, but it's better than having to buy men's stuff like 10 years ago. I'm only 5ft 10 but my daughter is taller and going to struggle as she's skinny with a 34leg and growing - she finds the crotches tend to be too low and make her look like she has a penis on a lot of tall jeans, as if they've just put men's jeans into a tall section. She usually wants Urban Outfitter style stuff which is catered for though, so sorry not much help!

Just thinking a bit more but wider shoes also would be nice - decent boots with a squarer toe. Not sure if it is just us but being taller we reckon we need wider feet to balance and both recoil at Hotter granny styles.

I also want long long sleeved jumpers that are fitted rather than square and baggy at the waist like a sack. Cold wrists suck but I often wear a normal size jumper for the flattering waist and then wear wrist warmers.

I don't want anything too "fashionable" just classics - black ribbed jumper, shirt etc.

My dd who is 6ft can wear UO longer length jeans.

LTS, Next and ASOS are generally crap. Natural fibres would be nice for a start. These 3 shops are full of plastic tat.

Long line t shirts and tops

I'm similar to you with all my height coming from my legs. My absolute dream would be knee high boots that came to my knee. I have a couple of pairs from Duo tall range that are almost long enough but half an inch more would be wonderful.

I also want soft leggings and pyjamas. Day to day I get by now with online tall ranges but these are things I still struggle with. Oh and a knee length raincoat that doesn't sit at mid thigh.

Jumpers with long enough sleeves. Yes to natural fibre please. Currently learning to knit to fill this gap for myself

I don't shop in tall ranges despite being tall because I'm the other way - long torso and short legs. There are no clothes at all designed for this body shape. They simply do not exist.

In practice this means I just don't wear dresses (because on longer ones the waist is always "empire", and short dresses don't reach my bum) and rarely buy any kind of fitted top. I am a devotee of the longline Matalan vest/minidress (recommended on here biannually by other long torsoed women), as it covers the inevitable gap between my (always) high waisted trousers and my "long" top. I wear separates for swimming as there are no swimming costumes that are long enough.

But as I said I probably wouldn't buy anything from a tall range because I wouldn't believe it was really long enough. I tried loads of them over the years and it's a bust. Tall ranges really just mean long length trousers, and sometimes a slightly longer back on dresses, but it never means my body shape. I am 5'10, size 12, 32F. I conclude it must be simply too unusual to be commercially viable. So I think you're the right kind of tall to make a go of it! Good luck!

Yep

Also dresses that are long in the body
Trousers that rise above my hips
pyjamas that cover my ankles.

I’m 6ft. I manage quite easily to cover off trousers, joggers, jeans and dressing gowns with the likes of LTS/next but I struggle with finding going out tops, exercise vests/tshirts, basic T-shirts. I want these things touching my hip bones and not swamping me.

I'm the opposite to you, most of my height comes from my torso. A 32" leg trouser with high fitting are generally fine. But I struggle with tops, dresses and having a large bust doesn't help. I can't find nice fitted tops and wearing loose ones just makes me look huge.

I fund some ‘tall’ ranges just make the length of dresses longer, but not the torso?
LTS are best for this - but I don’t think the quality is that great - plus the dresses tend to be not particularly nice prints or look a bit cheap.
Some European brands are longer - Hennes, COS.
But if anyone knows a good tall brand for decent, quality dresses with good torso length - please let me know!!

Great idea @AllLegs95 .
I'm 5'9 with long legs. Short body.
I would like PJs that fit.
I'd like long boots with narrow calves.
31" inside leg is just about ok, but so many things shrink quickly these days

It's sleeve length that's my big issue - I am tall with broad shoulders and long arms. Women's clothing is always too short in the sleeves by about 1.5 to 2 inches. I buy men's jumpers (I used to knit a lot of my own but now I prefer lighter cashmere or woollens that are too fine to knit) but patterns and colours aren't always what I want. Buying blouses or long sleeved shirts is impossible. Also having a long torso means many women's T-shirts are just too short and again I resort to men's.

I’m 5’9” and long legged (33” inseam) but I don’t really have any issues with clothes as I have always assumed I’m around the standard template size. Being short bodied, tall ranges at places like M&S, Mint Velvet etc are absolutely fine.

I struggle more with sleeve length. And pyjamas and jogger bottoms. Next do a good long range for pyjamas but it’s sometimes a bit twee.

I’ve got a very long body so it’s tops and dresses that bug me.
I want to be able to buy a top that sits where it should without it being a big baggy t-shirt or tunic.

Are you? The average woman in U.K. is 5 foot 4!

im tall and slim and find jumper sleeves hard to get right. I also would like to wear more long sleeved tops but find my shoulders don’t fit smaller sizes.

similar for dresses . And ones that aren’t intended to be short come up shorter

I’m 5 foot 9 and find it an awkward height. I’m not really tall enough for most tall ranges but don’t always fit comfortably in the normal section!

I agree with all of the comments about the tall range being twee and poor quality. It's depressing when you look at the 14 things on offer and half of them are in a print you'd not be seen dead in and the other are flimsy nylon you can see is printed one side and white on the other.
Did LTS get taken over about 8 years ago? I used to get lovely jumpers from them but now they all look boxy and like something from an old lady catalogue.

I’m 5’ 9” and most tall ranges are fine but I like Seasalt for natural fabrics but even in the tall the waist is too high.

The main problem is Tops or T shirts for Pilates they are all too short when actually stretching or moving.

I pointed this out to an assistant in Sweaty Betty and she said most people want crop tops!

I find clothes have gotten loads longer I bought jeans at Tesco recently regular length from the sale rail, I’m 5 11 and they are long so must have a 34” inside leg.

pyjamas/ loungewear would be nice I buy blokes plain jersey cotton pj bottoms and wear with plain fitted long sleeve t’s. I do not want logos or artificial fibres.

Lower waistline, anything waisted or belted is halfway between my waist and boobs!
Getting long trousers is OK now but long enough dresses and skirts not so much, knee length is mini and maxi is midi

I’m also 5’9. Regular clothes are slightly too short, usually by an inch, and shops like Long Tall Sally drown me. It would help to have a range which has ‘tall’ to mean 5’8-5’10 and ‘extra tall’.

Lots of tall ladies are slim but the clothing industry assumes they must be proportionately bigger the taller they are which is rarely the case, so again, the clothes drown me. I have slim arms and a narrow back and still like things to be fitted.

I'm not sure if you'll all see this, but hopefully you do. Firstly, thank you all of you for your comments.

If you're comfortable sharing your measurements that'd be great data for me to work off, especially those of you that mentioned issues with fit on your shoulders and waist/torso length, I struggle with the short torso and anything belted being right across my stomach which is very uncomfortable. But those of you with the opposite - longer torso's, it'd be great to know what length you're working with there.

Interesting to know I'm not the only one that struggles with the boot situation, I've got skinny calves and everything even non-wide fit, seems to be geared towards a larger calf straight off the bat as standard. And of course the knee high situation has been a huge struggle that I've given up and accepted the gap between boot and my knee. If I get this off the ground, footwear will definitely be something I'd endeavour to address.

I'm only 5'8" and a size 10.

Dresses which have the waist on my waist, rather than up on my third rib.

Trousers that have a 32" inside leg.

A decent range of size 8 shoes

Always be nice to have jeans long enough, but things like jumpers and tops I have to go up a couple of sizes in order for them to be long enough or to look anything like it does online.