I. Love. Denim.  I can't emphasize that enough.  Pictured here are my favorite 6 styles, which take me from the weekend to happy hour to the theater (I'm a Seattleite - we wear jeans everywhere!).  All of these brands offer tall sizes with at least a 36" inseam, and are designed for women like me who have ***ahem*** junk in the trunk.

I know that these options are pricey, so I listed less expensive, similar options in each style.  Every tall woman deserves a pair of jeans that make her feel completely fantastic!

My trick:  I very rarely pay full price for jeans.  A great resource for finding these styles at swallowable prices is eBay.  I've also purchased a few pairs from Tall Couture, but always on their 20-30% off sale weekends.  I guess it's a matter of persistence and patience (I'm good at the persistence part...patience is still a work in progress).

1. Fidelity Denim's Belladonna.  Fidelity is without-a-doubt, 100% my favorite brand.  As a tall woman who has made it her unofficial life’s mission to find the  perfect pair of jeans let me tell you they’re worth the money.    The Fidelity tall size mid-rise is perfect, the denim has just the right amount of stretch, and the best part…they look really, really good.  These are my go-to happy hour jeans.  Similar Style from American Eagle.

 2. Citizens of Humanity Kelly. These are my go-to weekend jeans.  The inseam is actually 35” which works well for me in flats.  I know that’s not long enough for all of us, so it’s a good thing my second option has a 37” inseam! dELiA*s Bailey jeans.

3. Hudson Lisa.  The back pockets are super flattering on all figures.  Similar from Loft. 

4. 7 for all mankind Ginger flare jeans.  Polished enough for work (and date night, of course!).  Similar from Alloy. 

5. 7 for all mankind A pocket jeans.  These are casual enough to wear to Sounders games and our neighborhood pub to watch Liverpool (have I mentioned how much I love soccer?).  Similar from Dorothy Perkins.

6. Sadly, I can no longer find my favorite True Religion skinnies in a tall size, but this similar style from Gap looks promising. 

And…what’s next on my denim wish list?  My first pair of Tall Water Jeans in the Kat Flare style is scheduled to arrive on Friday!  Then it’s on to Height Goddess, because I must must try their Heather Skinny Jeans!

It’s confession time.

I was a fashion disaster. In early grade school my stirrup pants weren’t long enough to reach my feet, so the stirrups hung around my calves. In 6th grade my mom decided to stop cutting my hair herself. She took me to the JCPenney hair salon (fancy, I know) where they cut my ringlets super short. Very curly hair, no gel. Picture a 5’11” girl with a faux-fro…what do you see? An oversized Little Orphan Annie (or Allie, in this case)?

I’ve had big bangs, leg warmers, and brown corduroy shoes. I’ve worn acid wash high-waters and pants with elastic waists. See, a disaster! :)

Then…I discovered the JCrew catalog. Not to make this too dramatic, but I really love JCrew. My first major purchase (beside my Reebok Pumps, of course) was a JCrew fisherman sweater. When I was in high school I found out that JCrew planned on opening a store in our outlet mall, so I called headquarters in Virginia to find out about the interviews. It wasn’t my answer to their “if you could be one thing in a grocery store, what would you be?” question (answer: “Ice cream, because I’m sweet and everyone likes me.” **choke** **cough**), it was that I knew that from which catalog the interviewer’s sweater came. They saw that I loved the product enough to be able to sell it.

From then on, fashion has been my passion (rhyming too, apparently). It can be a way for us to express ourselves. Fashion is an art form that feels accessible to me.

Full disclosure: just because I’ve loved fashion, doesn’t mean I’ve always been fashionable. I used to seriously struggle with body image. There were periods when I just didn’t like myself enough to try very hard. I didn’t put effort into dressing because the result was always the same…me telling myself I looked chubby. Worst feeling ever, especially since I was talking that way to myself.

I’m completely relieved and maybe a little proud to say that I’ve gotten through all that. I feel healthy, happy, and (mostly) confident. Time, persistence, and support from family and friends have made all the difference. I’m in such a good place. I don’t want to diminish how difficult it was to shut off the negative, defeating voice in my head; it was intense, long work. But I got through it – I’m on the other side. It makes me want to cry just writing that. Self-respect and confidence are better than I ever could have imagined.

So…now I try. I love myself enough to take the time to look put together and to find tall clothes that flatter my frame. I don’t always look fantastic, but some days I’m happy with the outfits I create. Those are what I’d like to share with you, and I’d love for you to share your outfit shots with me.

Outfit of the Day photos to come…

P.S. If you made it this far through the post I’m thankful (and impressed). I tried to edit extensively because there was a really long list of grade school fashion catastrophes. It still turned out long. So, thank you so much for reading!