Monday, July 16, 2012

Shopping for Giants - Where to Shop


A couple of months ago (seriously, I am so flaky sometimes), the lovely Grace, from Bonfire of My Vanity, asked me to do a post on where I shop for my giant clothes.  I did this once before in February of last year, but I've revamped it into a three part series of awesomeness (yes, I am prone to hyperbole, thanks for asking).  This is part one; and it's all about where to shop for tall and/or plus sized clothes.


Tall/Plus Brands

All of these brands carry tall lengths (at least 35”) in plus sizes, but usually only online.

Ann Taylor: 35” inseam in sizes up to 18; but no long tops only pants, some jackets and some dresses

Old Navy: 36” inseam to size 20 

        Gap: their Long & Lean, Perfect Boot, Sexy Boot and Curvy pant styles are the longest at 37” in sizes up to 16

Banana Republic: pant inseams of 36” and denim inseams of 37” in sizes up to 16

 J. Jill: 35” inseam in sizes up to 20

 Eddie Bauer: 35” inseam in sizes up to 20

 J. Crew: 36” inseam in sizes up to 16; very small selection

New York and Company: 35” inseam, up to size 18

American Eagle Outfitters: Long = 35” and XL = 36”, both up to size 18

Lucky Jeans: 36” inseam, up to size 16; they have a handy “Hard to Find Lengths” section on their site.

Lands End: up to 36” unhemmed/uncuffed, up to size 18

      eShakti: clothes up to size 26 and you can customize most items, including adding length.  I personally have a couple of their dresses and love them.


Tall/Plus Websites

All of these websites carry tall lengths in plus sizes from a variety of brands.

       Alloy: 37” inseam, up to size 25; as the juniors sizing indicates, this site carries younger, trendier clothes; my friend Jenny (also six foot) swears by their jeans.

Metrostyle: 35” inseam (varies by style though), up to size 20

Tall Couture: up to 39” inseams (varies by brand/style), up to size 18 (varies by brand)

Long Tall Sally: this British site carries inseams from 34” – 39” up to size 20

  Top Shop: 35” inseam, up to size 16; even if the pants aren’t long enough, visit for the cute tops and dresses

Simply Tall: they carry sizes up to 24 and offer inseams up to 40"

   Long Elegant Legs: 36” inseams up to at least size 18 (more sizes in some styles);  it’s fairly pedestrian but you can find good work basics

Roamans: inseams at least 35” up to size 32; again, pretty pedestrian but you can find some good basics

 Dorothy Perkins: this British site carries cute, trendy clothes up to size 22 (inseams = 36”)

The Buckle: denim with an inseam up to 37” and up to size 16

  Reitmans: inseams up to 34" and I have it on good authority that their clothes are especially flattering for pear-shaped ladies

    Sonsi.com: this site carries more than 380 brands in size 12 and up, including brands with tall sizes

     Eloquii.com: this is The Limited's plus-size site.  They carry sizes 14-24 and offer a tall option with inseams up to 35" 
      Heightgoddess.com: this site offers pants and jeans with inseams up to 40" as well as dresses and some tops


Shoes (Brands and Sites)

Nine West: up to size 12

Barefoot Tess: this site carries sizes 9 – 15

Tall Couture: sizes 10-15

 J. Crew: they offer a small selection of their shoes up to size 12

Piperlime: sizes up to 13

Nordstrom: sizes up to 14

Zappos: sizes up to 15

Payless: sizes up to 13

6pm: sizes up to 12

Endless: I was able to find shoes in sizes up to 16

Designershoes.com- this site offers shoes in up to size 16 and widths up to 16WWW

A few other sites I’d recommend for clothes are Shabby Apple (up to size 16), Modcloth again (up to size 22 or 4x), Ruche(up to size 18) and Spotted Moth (up to size 20).  None of these sites carry tall sizes, but they all carry a selection of unique plus sized clothing that you won’t find on any of these other sites.  Another good resource is Etsy – I know my friend Kendra’s shop, House of Heirlooms, carries vintage items in larger sizes and I’m sure other Etsy vendors do too.  And finally, I'd recommend Asos/Asos Curve; they don’t carry tall sizes, but they do carry up to size 26 and have a very large selection of very on-trend items

I also highly recommend thrift stores.  Much of my closet, and most of my favorite items in my closet, are from thrift stores.  Yes, you have to be patient, but there is good stuff out there.  Trust me.  I have a blog.

Happy Shopping!

Gracey