Tangling with Tops in Womens Tall Clothing
While shopping online at womens tall clothing shops and elsewhere and ANYWHERE -- for tops—be they blouses, shirts, sweaters, tees or tank tops—I became aware of something I’d never been aware of while shopping for any other article of clothing: Women’s tall clothing and women’s plus size clothing tend to be two different things. Just like “big and tall” essentially mean the same, but when it comes to big and tall clothing stores, or catalogs that specialize in big and tall women’s clothing, big and tall split into two different things—big meaning “plus size” and “tall” meaning—tall. The difference is most obvious in the tops. I was looking at sites that cater to plus size women, (not specifically womens tall clothing), and in studying their wide variety of tops, it dawns on me that a great many of them—in fact, just about all of them—are very flowing and loose fitting. Not that I want to wear a top that looks as if it was spray-painted on me, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a few samples of something more form-fitting than the loose and flowing designed to disguise rather than accentuate. For that, I have to forget about any stores that cater to “women’s plus size clothing” and zero in on those that concentrate on “womens tall clothing.” Sometimes, we tall women find ourselves having to settle for the plus size tops, just to get the extra fabric necessary to hide our bare midriffs and cover our broad shoulders without any seams ripping. I like baggy oversized sweaters for casual wear in cold weather. But sometimes I’d like to wear a non-baggy perfectly sized sweater—and I do own a lot of non-baggy—all right, FORM-FITTING sweaters that make certain parts of me stand out. But because of my height, they’re not perfectly sized, meaning they make certain other parts of me stand out, and those parts just don’t look good sticking out from a tight article of supposed womens tall clothing. For example, all my tops are crops: Anytime I put on one of my old form-fitting sweaters or knit tops, I am constantly having to pull it down over my waistband, because it likes to ride up and show the world my belly button. For you younger gals, that may not be a big deal, but once you reach a certain age and you’ve had a baby or two or more, it just isn’t cute anymore. /-: If the sweater or blouse is long-sleeved, then sleeves are never long enough to reach my wrists (on the bright side, I don’t have to worry about the fabric getting snagged by my wristwatch, charm bracelet, bangles, and all the other ornaments I have extra room for). Worse, the shoulder seams split open. Every one of my form-fitting sweaters has air-conditioning where the sleeve meets the body of the garment. You think that’s annoying? Take shirts and blouses that button down the front. Unless you’re wearing one of those baggy plus-size shirts, how many of you are always popping buttons because of the strain—and you’re not even busty? What’s out there for tall women who aren’t big? A site called Long Elegant Legs.com has a great selection of tops for our long elegant arms. Different prints, colors, styles, both form-fitting and loose-fitting, in sweaters, blouses, or just something light to pull over your head, varied enough to offer something for just about everyone. The prices range from approximately $30-70.00. Design Elevations.com, which tags itself as Designer Fashions for Tall Women, also has a good but pricier ($50-90.00) line of tops ranging from casual to dressy, and in a wide variety of colors and styles. Long Tall Sally has a huge selection of tops—a little over 150 blouses, tunics, sweaters, pullovers, vests, in a staggering array of styles and colors for every occasion, and a big price range to match—from as low as $15.00 up to $80.00. Column Clothing.com is very affordable, even the items that aren’t on sale. Some of their tops are under $30.00, and they have a special selection of novelty tees best described as “pro-tall woman”, extolling the positives of being a tall woman in a humorous fashion. And we can never have enough of that! Do you have any funny stories about ill-fitting tops? Popped buttons, ripped seams, too much wrist or midriff? This is the place to share them!
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