Spring is finally here (or at least it’d better be. That’s right, I’m looking at you, mountain weather), which means a good five months of, “Behold, world, the pale, practically translucent legs o’ Katie!”
I love spring and summer (and fall – I’ll push this thing as far as I can) because I don’t have to wear pants. And I love not wearing pants because it’s a challenge of Sisyphean proportions to find pants that are long enough for me (I’m rather like a Daddy Longlegs – long legs, short body. And I like to hide in shower drains). But eventually I will have to wear pants again, so I’m always on the lookout for stores that carry quality pants for long legged gals.
After years of trial and error, here are the stores* that get the Katie stamp of approval (well, it’s more of a glitter tattoo, but you get the picture):
I cannot sing the praises of this brand enough. Their jeans come so long that I have to hem them, and the cut always makes me look long and lean. I own 3 pairs of jeans right now, and they’re all Dish.
I often have a problem finding jeans in my size (14-16, or 34) that are wide enough in the hip but not huge in the butt or thigh. Dish jeans are always perfect. The only problem is that the brand is Canadian, and you can’t order directly from them for shipping outside Canada. But that’s where Long Legs comes in.
Long Legs is another Canadian store, and they carry the whole Dish line along with other great long-leg brands like Mavi, Silver, and Parasucco and they ship internationally! Also, they carry a full line of clothing: pants, blazers, dresses, coats, etc.
I had a great experience with Long Legs the first time I ordered from them. I purchased two pairs of jeans, and one pair wouldn’t stop dye transfering. I did everything I could to fix the dye, but the jeans were unwearable. I emailed the company and was promptly told to return the jeans for a refund, an exchange of the same pair, or a completely new style. I opted to try another style (more expensive than the first pair), and Long Legs gave me a discount so I didn’t have to pay any additional money for the new pair. To me, that’s above and beyond the call of customer service, and they definitely have a repeat customer with me!
I haven’t ordered from Long Tall Sally yet, but each time I get their catalogue their clothes are getting cuter and cuter. I’m not familiar with all of the brands since it’s a UK store, but they carry a nice range of clothing, from very affordable all the way up to Citizens of Humanity and Hudson jeans.
Tall Girl used to be their own store, but they seem to have merged with Long Tall Sally. Almost everything you can get at Tall Girl you can get someplace else, so they’re not my first stop when shopping for pants, but they’re still worth a look.
The fabulous girl at my optometrist’s told me about Alloy. I haven’t ordered anything from them yet, but I love that they organize their jeans by inseam length – up to 37! The prices are incredibly reasonable, but I wonder about the quality of the denim. Also, the styles are a bit on the twee side, but for an inexpensive pair of jeans, they might do the trick.
When I was younger, Long Elegant Legs was one of the only catalogues carrying tall sizes. And we didn’t have internet at home, so I had to use my dad’s at work to order pants. Apparently that led to some interesting discussions about why the search term “long elegant legs” was coming up on a military computer. Sorry, dad.
I haven’t ordered from this store in ten years or so, largely because I found other brands that were a little more “youthful.” However, I remember the clothing being good quality and looking through the catalogue I’m seeing a lot of things I’d happily wear (essential knit blazer in Navy, please!).
Old Navy/Gap/Banana Republic Online
I’ve never had much luck with the longs lengths from the Old Navy/Gap/Banana Republic trifecta because the cut of the pants is never right. The stores seem to think that as soon as you’re tall and above a size 10, you have, to quote Bridget Jones, “a bottom the size of Brazil.” Also, several styles of long pants don’t come above a certain size (Gap, I’m looking at you with your Long & Lean line) which is just rude. However, if you try on a pair of pants in one of the stores and they fit perfectly aside from being too short, go for it.
I also once found the most fabulous pair of jeans by a brand called “Naked Blue.” I’ve never been able to find them since, and Google searches have produced highly uncomfortable results…
*I say stores, but they’re almost all catalogues or online. Luckily, they all have great return policies.
Pingback: Long Tall Sally Pop-Up Stores | Interrobangs Anonymous