Monday, May 21, 2012

Tall women: A matter of proportions

First things first
All women, irrespective of their body type and height, have trouble finding clothes that fit them. Sizing is inconsistent and maddening to say the least, and tall women (above 5ft10"), petites (below 5ft4"), and plus sizes have even more trouble.
Tall women need longer garments and longer proportions. Like petites, tall women can fit into a certain size, but invariably they will find that the waistline will fall above their own, or that a jacket is too short, or the rise of a pair of trousers is too low.
That being said, one of the things that surprises me when reading styling tips for tall women is the complete disregard stylists show in general to their body type. They prefer to concentrate in all sorts of tricks to make them look shorter instead of celebrating their height.

Let's remember first what clothes should ALWAYS achieve for ALL body types:
  • Create the right silhouette, striking up a balance between upper body and lower body. The items that will create that depend on their body type. You can read about Body types here and decide how proportionate are your shoulders in relation with your waist and hips.
  • Make their eye colour pop and their skin glow with the right colours. It's useful to know if you look your best in cool colours or warm ones (CMB's system of 4 seasons comes in handy there: winter and summer are cool seasons, autumn and spring warm). 
All these lovely ladies are tall and wearing heels, and they look splendid. If men take advantage of their height, so should tall women, dressing confidently and smartly. [Photos for the collage from oprah.com]. 

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