As I'm going through this phase of rebranding, I want to center my brand more so around who exactly I am trying to target in an audience. I wanted to target women who are more like me or can relate to people like me.
For those who don't know, I am six foot four and can wear sizes 12-18. Yes you read those sizes right. Another way to break those sizes down is, I can wear a size large, extra large, a 1X and 2X. Depending on the material and who made it, I can wear a 3X. How in the world can that be? Again, I am six foot four. I am tall. And guessing by all the sizes I through out, Im a curvy girl.
No my photos are not photo shopped because when you see me on my website I look like an average height woman who looks to wear a medium or maybe large. My comfortable size fit is 2X (16-18).
I wanted to know if I was the only person to experience this problem of being tall and curvy and from my Google experience, no I am not! I Googled the phrase "tall and curvy women" and stumbled across this blog post on womenofstyleandsubstance.com. In the blog I stumbled upon a word called "inbetweenie". What's that? An inbetweenie is someone who can shop the best of both worlds. They can shop at a regular store with sizes small to large and maybe and extra large and they can also shop at the plussize stores. This blew my mind! Instantly, I felt connect. What was once the feeling of being alone changed to there are more out there like me!
So I googled photos of inbetweenie, and of course I don't look like the women in the photo. If I would have never read the captions on the photo, I would assume these women are plus size or these women are not big which brings me back to my point when I said when people look at me in photos and I say I'm plussize, It's not believable.
This definition also explains why I get the stares or the immediate may I help you when I enter a plussize store or section to shop for clothes.
I remember the first time I walked into an Ashley Stewart and the lady behind the counter kept staring at me throughout the store and asking me do I need help. She made me feel awkward. I told her no and kept browsing. When I found a dress I was interested in and wanted to try on, I asked her could I try it on and she told me that it wasn't going to fit me. I insist on trying it on and it fitted. It was perfect. I walked out the dressing room and she was shocked. The first thing out of her mouth was, "It's because your tall". The lady behind the counter was so shocked she insisted I try on other things. And of course I did. That's when I realized I could wear plussize clothes while being tall. That's when I also realized that not all plussize clothing I can wear because I don't need the extra fabric in the chest or in the stomach area of my pants. Later on as time went on, I became a regular in the store, and the workers knew me by name. Eventually Ashley Stewart started carrying Tall. I was so excited.
If your an Ashley Stewart customer, you know they will always have a contest where you send a photo of you wearing their clothes and they will post you or put you in a contest. The ladies in the store would try to get me to model their clothes in the store and send the photos off. I would always say, although I can fit this brand, I am not the look they are trying to put in the forefront. I maybe tall and curvy, but my curves are not substance and bold. And that's ok. My main goal is to just find clothes to fit me as a tall woman with curves.
I can still shop women's department if I want a cute top, some skirts or dresses that are loose or have stretch. But my comfort level because of the extra fabric is with plus size.
Some other stores you may want to try that are not online but maybe local to you for tall women is of course;
Target, New York and Co, Gap, Old Navy, JC Penney, Lane Bryant, and maybe Burlington. That's where I shop when I'm at my local malls. You can find length in pants from 34 to maybe 36 and possibly some stretch that help with your curves.
While your here you can also shop Telah's Boutique. As I say to any tall woman, "Anything you see me in, you can possibly wear because I'm 6'4.
Teena
Leave a comment