Today’s reader mail comes from J, who is trying to keep her pants from dragging on the ground…
As a New Yorker, I walk at least a couple blocks to get to commute to work. As many women do, I usually leave my heels at my desk at work and wear more comfortable shoes to and from work. The problem is that for my pants to look good with heels, they are too long to wear with the comfy flats/cute sneakers I wear for the commute and drag on the dirty streets. How do women who have to walk for part of their commute deal with this conundrum and not ruin their pants???
This is a dilemma a lot of women face, and there are a variety of ways to deal with it. (Pictured: Pants too long, originally uploaded to Flickr by puck90.) First, we would suggest assessing what heel height, in general, you’re comfortable in for work shoes — and having your pants hemmed to that level. As a reminder: your pant should brush the top of your foot, and no more than an inch or so of heel should be showing in the back. For us, that comes to around 2″, 2.5″ — which, honestly, can usually be worn with commuting shoes that have a decent (thick) sole. (We just tend to wear our higher heels exclusively with skirts instead — it works out particularly well in the summertime if we opt to commute in flip-flops.) But let’s say your comfort level is close to 4″. In that case, you have a few options.
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Today’s question comes from, well, an Amazonian…
My question has to do with where to find professional clothing that will actually fit me. I am 6′ tall and usually need a 36″ inseam in pants and “longs” or “talls” in jackets, so the sleeves are long enough. It’s interesting that almost all women’s clothing comes in petites or plus sizes, but tall sizes are hard to find. I’ve ordered suits from J. Crew in talls, and they fit me perfectly. I also order most of my work pants from Victoria’s Secret, as their tall pants seem to fit me very well too. I was just wondering if you had any other ideas of where to find tall sizes in work clothes.
This strikes us as a question that must be a common problem for tall women. While we’re not the best suited to answer the question ourselves (barely 5’4″) we’re hoping our readers will be able to chime in. We do, however, note that UK website LongTallSally.com seems to have a lovely selection of office-appropriate wear, and that Amazon.com has a separate shop for suits and separates for “plus size & tall”
. Readers, what say you?
Pictured above: Sandy Allen, the Guinness-certified world’s tallest woman, standing just over 7’7″. Unfortunately, she recently passed away — we’re not sure who holds the title now.
Sometimes, women new to suits don’t realize that when you purchase it off the rack, there are a number of things that are sewn up for display purposes that should not be sewn up once you wear them. Namely, pockets on jackets and pants, slits in skirts, and vents on jackets.
- Slits and vents will be sewn shut with a tiny “X” marking the spot — you should cut that off gently and remove all the thread.
- Pockets are your choice* — you don’t have to rip them open, but it probably isn’t a bad idea if you have a building card pass to carry or want to take your debit card for a lunch run. Again, take some scissors and rip them open and remove all offending thread. (Although, in a pinch, just ripping it open with your bare hands will do.)
If you aren’t sure whether or not there’s actually a pocket in there, look on the inside of your jacket or pants — you’ll see the pocket pouch.
* We say pockets are your choice because no one will really know whether you’ve ripped them open or not — with the X on vents and slits you look like a novice if you’re still wearing them that way. But, even though pants pockets are your choice, we particularly recommend it if you’ve been eating too many summer lunches and your pants are a wee bit tight — ripping the pockets open gives you easier access to smooth the fabric of the pockets so they lay flat against your derriere.
