Angelina Pelova (AKA Angie K)

Shopping for Tall Clothes Online: Can You Find Your Fit?

If you think it can’t be too difficult to buy clothes online, think again. Seriously! It is. My past experience with newly started tall clothing brands has been a bit of a fiasco.

Which is why during this summer’s sales I decided to be wise and stick to the ‘orthodox’ brands only: Long Tall Sally and Dorothy Perkins. I have been their customer for nearly fifteen years and can trust them to deliver in my size. But can they? We shall find out in today’s post. How easy was it to find my fit online?

If there is one brand I have always been loyal to, that must be Long Tall Sally. Until they shut down their shop in my town. This is when I got to appreciate the security of buying in-store: you can always find something to fit you (even if it is one item out of a pile of ten pieces). Is this the case when you buy online?

Here are my most recent findings from the UK tall clothing sales. Hand-picked, fresh off the world wide web.

Long Tall Sally’s Club Stripe Sweater:

At the time of publishing – available to buy here. Here it is on a model:

sweater

And how it looks on me:

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As you can tell by the look on my face, I am not really that impressed. But, on the bright side of things: look at these sleeves! Wow, aren’t they long!

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Remind you of anyone, by any chance? No? They do to me:

harlequin

Yup. Harlequin. Sorry, couldn’t help it!

On the positive side, I have managed to find a nice looking casual sweater that is big enough for me. Still something. Fine for a day out with the kids, or for those bloated days we all have now and then. Which still doesn’t explain why ‘my’ size looks a bit too huge on me…

When buying a sweater, you don’t really mind the fit – at least I don’t. When you are looking for a jacket, though, it’s another story. Fit is crucial. This time I (sort of) got lucky.

Long Tall Sally’s Collarless Denim Jacket:

jacketwpid-imag2936-1.jpg

To the more inquisitive eye, it is obvious that this jacket is not the perfect fit for me. I tend to be somewhere between two sizes, though, which is why I find this the best compromise. The dilemma is: do you want it a too tight, or a bit too generous of a fit? Personal choice. I prefer the latter. Ticks my boxes. Happy purchase. Available to buy at the moment here. And good value, too.

On the shoe front, it can be hit and miss. I got these lovely shoes a couple of months ago – perfect, and excellent value on the sale.

Long Tall Sally’s Studded Lace Up Shoe:

shoes

Be warned: they do come up too small. My normal size did not fit me. Which put me about 5 quid behind, as I obviously had to pay postage. These shoes are still available to buy here. And, if you ignore the sizing issue, are otherwise gorgeous.

So, how does my second best favourite, Dorothy Perkins, compare sizing wise?

As you can see from my older posts, my recent purchases from this brand have been a success:

My new finding has, unfortunately, sold out, but I just can’t help sharing it. Simply because I find it absolutely and utterly gorgeous.

Dorothy Perkins’ Tall Nude Lace Jersey Knit

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The knit is ultra fine, the top is slightly see-through, and the lace is not the cheap looking type, but rather luxurious looking. At the ridiculous price of just £8, this is easily the hit of my summer sales purchases.

As for the sizing problem, unfortunately, it seems to apply to any make. As DP have a free click and collect option, you can’t really go wrong by ordering more than you need (after all, delivery is free). Even buying simple black trousers can be a nightmare.

Tall Black Naples Trousers

naples

I decided to be clever and ordered two sizes. One, I thought, was guaranteed to fit me. Nope. Both pairs went back. Which comes to prove my point. Can I find my perfect fit online? Unfortunately, my answer is a big fat No.

This is where the new tall clothing brands can come to play. Here is a niche on the market for you – the greatest challenge of all.

And, last thing – a message to my tall readers. If you have other findings different to mine, I would love to hear from you!

 

 

 

 

15 comments

  2. As a 6′ tall Aussie…. I’m not too tall to shop at regular shops, depending on the brand. We generally don’t tend to have “Tall” ranges for local brands, so I have to shop online for those.
    I’ve been quite lucky with the fit of Long Tally Sally, which I only discovered about a year ago….other brands are a bit hit & miss eg. Next Direct – ‘tall’ dresses tend to only just sit with the waist in the right spot… a jumpsuit I bought I had to send back (just a little too short in the torso), and a fitted midi dress I took the hem up about 15-20cm because it was more of a fitted maxi (not a good look). But on the other hand have also had a lot of good luck with their clothing as well.
    Fortunately, both these brands have local returns, so I only need to pay for domestic postage (ditto for Asos)

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    • That’s interesting, thank you! Unfortunately, I am far too tall to shop anywhere being 193 cm (6’4″). I’ve heard good things about Asos’ tall range but haven’t been brave enough to give them a try.

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  3. For someone’s who’s 5′ not very much, this makes an interesting read. I always seem to have my cuffs turned up, and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve bought jeans and didn’t have to hack off the legs. I sometimes feel like I’m wasting half the fabric. A while ago, a friend knit me a sweater, and the arms were the right length. I was oddly uneasy about not being able to turn them back. I always thought it’d be nice to be your height.

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    • I am a bit too tall (6’4″), but can’t change that. I’ve always thought it would have been great if I could make my own clothes, but unfortunately I am no good at all at that.

      On another topic, ‘Trip Sheets’ arrived today. What made my day was that the book seems to have been signed by you!!

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    • Hey, so did I, saw the breadcrumbs somewhere and liked what I saw along the way. 🙂 I hope you liked mine enough to follow. 🙂 I love your sense of humour, I now have someone to look up to!

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  11. kate spade purses

    Hello there! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading your articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same subjects? Thanks!

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