Is Tall Clothing ACTUALLY Tall or Just a Scam?? | Why 'Tall' Clothing Still Isn't Tall Enough

[00:00:00] Imagine this, you're a tall girl online shopping because you know, they don't really sell tall clothing in person, it's more so online. And you're on your favorite big brand site and see that they sell tall sizes. You're happy, you're ecstatic, you're like finally recognition for being tall. You buy a pair of pants to test it out, it comes in the mail, you try them on and they don't even reach your ankles. Not even close. You pull them down trying to make it work but no no no, it won't work.

[00:00:28] That is quite literally what happened to me when tall sizing started to become a thing with bigger brands. I tried to get the long or tall pants and they were in fact not long enough. And the thing is, I'm a short tall girl. Imagine for the girls who are taller than me, six feet and over. I would question why would you label something as tall and it doesn't even fit a short tall girl. Well that's what we're going to talk about today so let's get into it.

[00:00:56] Good morning everybody. You are currently listening to a tall girls podcast hosted by a tall girl named India. I hope everyone who's tuning in today is doing super fantastic. Before I get into this episode, I do want to say make sure you're following me on my socials at a tall girls podcast on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest so that you can stay up to date on all of the latest podcast episodes and catch a glimpse of my everyday life. Also, feel free to leave me a review and let me know how tall you are. I'm genuinely curious.

[00:01:22] I also have a monthly newsletter. Make sure you subscribe to that. Every single thing is going to be linked in the description. Y'all please wish me a happy birthday in the comments and the DMs because this week was my birthday week. By the time this episode is up, I usually post on Thursdays. Two days ago would have been my birthday. April 8th point blank period. Had a great birthday weekend. I did post a little bit about it on my socials at this point so make sure you follow me on there if you want to check it out. Let me know if you're my birthday twin.

[00:01:50] All right. Just wanted to give myself a quick plug there because, you know, we got to talk about our birthday. Anyways, back to the episode. When we talk about clothing struggles for tall women, we typically talk about how there really isn't enough or a lot of tall options out there. Many brands don't cater to us. They don't really sell long or tall sizes. And basically, we're just not catered to in the clothing fashion market, whatever. And mainstream, I should say mainstream.

[00:02:20] Fashion. Yes, I think. But something that really isn't spoken about as much is the fact that there are some brands out there, some big brands out there that do sell tall sizing. But the tall isn't tall enough. The long isn't long enough. Take a listen to this. And don't laugh at my pants because it's not funny. There's just no reason for this to be listed as long or tall. And then God forbid I put heels on.

[00:02:44] One of two things needs to happen. Either these brands need to start putting height ranges on their taller section of their websites or they need to find taller models. When I sit down, they turn into shorts. Where am I going with this? I do have sites where, you know, the tall section is valid, but sometimes that site doesn't have the pants I'm looking for. You don't have to list everything as long. If I wanted to buy capris, I would have. It's annoying. It's annoying. All that space. Y'all cannot have a model for the long pants of your website.

[00:03:11] And they're listed as 5'9". The brand in question. Clearly, y'all don't want our money. If you cannot make pants past the inseam of 34 inches, it's not by force. Baggy, boyfriend, bootcut. I need all of them to go past my ankle. Just get rid of the long section. Hollister. Hollister. Hollister. And I actually did a response video to this. So let's check that out. There's just no reason for this to be listed as long or tall. And then God forbid I put heels on.

[00:03:40] No, because brands will literally lie to your face. They will lie and say that the pants are tall when it's really made for a girl who's like 5'7". Like, you know, there are women who are taller than that, right? Did the market research not tell you that? Did you even do any market research? I think what needs to happen is we need a variety of tall. So if a big brand decides to make longer lengths, cool, awesome, amazing, great. They can keep what they consider tall, which is probably like a 32 or 33 inch inseam. But then we need extra tall and extra, extra tall.

[00:04:10] You feel me? I kind of like what American Eagle does specifically. Like they'll have long and then they'll have extra long. Like if you don't do that, can we please get on the same page of what tall is? Like if it's not at least bare minimum for the 5'9", 5'10", girlies, then just don't even try. So as I said in that video, brands will lie and say that the pants are tall or long and give you a 30 inch inseam. Like babes. I hate to break it to you, but that's not tall.

[00:04:39] Sometimes I wonder if brands do market research when they make their tall clothing. Because why are you labeling something as tall when it's clearly not long enough? Either they didn't do the market research or the market that they did research was like the 5'7", 5'8", at least. So essentially the story that I gave earlier in this episode was based on a true story. It was based on my story.

[00:05:02] Okay, because at one point 80% of the pants that I owned was not even long enough, but they were labeled as tall or long. Should I name drop? Should I name drop some brands? I don't know. Is that illegal? Like will they sue me? I'm just giving my personal opinion. I'm not telling you what to do, whether or not you should buy, but I'm just giving my personal opinion. So I think I'll be able to. But there's two that come to mind for me. I can't necessarily remember all of them because if it's a one and done, like out of sight, out of mind.

[00:05:31] But there are some that I tried over and over again. And two in particular was collusion through ASOS. And even ASOS, maybe I'll just say ASOS overall. ASOS. ASOS and Topshop. Those two. They were just, they were not hidden. They were basically tall. And honestly, truthfully, I did not know too much about sizing when it came to tall clothing because I just wasn't familiar with it because it was just so new, I guess. So I never really measured my inseam. So I didn't know what I needed.

[00:06:01] I know I needed 36, but I was going for like 33s, 34s, 35s. But because they were labeling it as tall, I was like, oh, like it should fit me. Right? I was very much wrong. I did run a poll on Instagram asking when a brand says its pants are tall, what inseam do you expect? 13% said 32 inches. 30% said 34 inches.

[00:06:25] And 57% said at least 35 slash 36 inches. And then I had one person DM me say 37 inches plus. I'm glad we're on the same page. 30 inches is not cutting it, but 32 inches. Let me know how tall you are. Let me know how tall you are. The people who said 32 inches and even 34 inches.

[00:06:50] I need to know how tall you are so that we can determine if this is like actually for real. Because 32 inches is insane. These brands think that 32 inches is long enough insane for someone who's like 5'10", 5'11", even like 6'2", 6'3", babes. 32 inches is not cutting it. It's not cutting it, babes. Okay? It's at least 30 for me, 36. At least. I'm at 36, at least 36.

[00:07:18] But shout out to the one who said 37 inches because, I mean, I don't feel you because I'm not as tall as you, but it makes sense to me. So I used to be a jean hoarder. That's a separate issue we'll talk about another day. But all of the jeans that weren't fitting me, that weren't long enough, I still kept in my wardrobe. I don't know, I guess because I magically thought that one day they were just going to be long enough. Why I thought that, I don't know.

[00:07:46] But I just kept in case, like maybe if I find the right shoes for it and da-da-da-da. I did not. I did not find the right shoes. It just, it was never going to fit. Okay? Um, so I basically, one day I just thought maybe I should try on all of the jeans that I had, all of the pants that I have, to see what's worth keeping and what isn't worth keeping. Because, I mean, it takes up a lot of space. I wanted to do a little clean out. And I realized that I was literally having the same two, three pairs of pants on rotate.

[00:08:14] And the other several pairs I wasn't wearing. Because they weren't long enough. And they were embarrassing. So, I'm saying this to say I was basically storing a bunch of pairs of quote-unquote tall jeans. But they were really for the above average girlies than the tall girlies. I think that distinction is very important to make. And that leads me to my next point. What do you consider tall for a woman? I feel like this is a tad bit controversial because some people say it's starting at 5'7 or 5'8.

[00:08:46] Others say that it's starting at 5'9, 5'10. So, yeah. Let me know your thoughts on that. And it's funny because this was actually, like, an ongoing debate on TikTok recently. Because, I don't know, tall girls were, like, trending on TikTok. By the way, TikTok is still here. They were talking about, yeah, it's going to be banned. And, like, literally the day before, they were like, yeah, like, another, what is it, 75-day extension. Like, it's getting ridiculous. But we're not here to talk about TikTok. It was an ongoing debate on TikTok when tall girls was trending on TikTok.

[00:09:15] So, I'm going to play a clip really quickly regarding this debate. Quick question. What is considered tall? I don't really care what's considered tall for men. I'm 5'11, so anything above, anything taller than my brothers, which is, like, 6'1, 6'2, I'll consider that tall. But for women, some say 5'6, 5'7, 5'8 is tall. I'm 5'11. That's tall.

[00:09:44] And listen, I did Google it. Is above average the same as tall? Google said yes, but I feel like semantics. You know what I'm saying? Socially, there's deeper meanings and different layers to that. Above average just means above average. Tall means taller than above average. So, if you are 5'6 to 5'8, you're above average height. If you are 5'9 and up, baby, you're tall. Am I?

[00:10:10] Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but don't, don't show me up. 5'8 can be considered tall. I'll give it that. But in my personal opinion, I think that tall for a woman starts around 5'9, 5'10. But it's interesting to hear that some people think that it's, like, starting at 5'6. And I'm like, 5'6? Like, what? That makes, I don't know. That makes no sense to me. And then it's, like, those same 5'6, 5'7 girlies are going on social media and saying,

[00:10:38] yeah, like, this shirt is tall girl friendly. This dress is tall girl friendly. This, this pant, these pants, oh my gosh. These pants are tall girl friendly. And I'm like, once you, and once they say their height, they're like, yeah, I'm 5'6. Yeah, I'm 5'7. Like, once you say your height, you've lost all credibility at that point. Tall girl friendly for someone who's 5'6. I mean, think about it. 5'6 versus a woman who's 6'3. That's a big difference.

[00:11:05] And, you know, I spoke about this term tall girl friendly in my episode on how tall fast fashion is a scam, especially with TikTok shop and how they, some of these women are promoting, yeah, like tall girl friendly pieces on TikTok shop. But like, they're saying they're 5'6 or 5'7. And the term tall girl friendly honestly has lost all of its meaning at this point, in my personal opinion. And it low-key can be a bit of a triggering word.

[00:11:32] Let's listen to a tall creator talk about this a little bit. Don't even get me started on how stores that sell tall is never long enough. Like, and when people suggest that to me, it's so frustrating because I'm like, you don't think that I've tried that. You don't think that I've bought talls from stores and I'm telling you, it's not long enough. And this one time I had an interview and they called me like on a Monday and like I had to interview like a Wednesday.

[00:12:01] So I ran and got some longs out of New York and company. And those were still way too short. Yes, it's longer than a regular, but it's still not long enough. And I was still skating and it still didn't look good. So in-store shopping is just not it. And I don't care if they say tall. But there is a connection between the tall girl friendly term, that controversial term,

[00:12:30] in my opinion, at this point. And quote unquote, tall clothing that isn't really long enough or isn't actually for real, for real tall. And so the reason why some tall clothing is not actually long enough for the for real, for real tall girls is because it's catering to the 5'6", 5'7", 5'8 girlies. Because the average height of a woman, I think in the world, maybe in the US, whatever, but the average height of a woman is 5'4", right?

[00:12:57] So anything above 5'4 is basically considered above average. But to some, I guess it's considered tall. Whereas to the actual tall girl community, those who are 5'6", 5'7", 5'8", maybe even 5'8", is kind of like a, oh, like you're just above average. Like you're not necessarily tall. You know what I mean? It's like on the brink of tall, but you're not quite there yet.

[00:13:23] So just like how these brands like to cater to the masses, meaning the women who are on the shorter side or around average height, when they think about tall clothing, they want to cater to the masses in the tall realm. So it's more likely for a woman to be for a quote unquote to them tall women or above average woman. It's more likely for an above average woman to them to be around the 5'6", 5'7". Maybe 5'8".

[00:13:49] Whereas they're not necessarily considering the women who are 6'2", 6'3", because that is more of an outlier in a way. So there's less above average women that are going to be 6' and over. Whereas there's more above average women who are going to be 5'7", 5'8". So it's interesting to see how like, yes, they cater to the masses. Masses like in general, like the average height girlies and so forth. But when looking in the above average spectrum, they still try to cater to those masses.

[00:14:19] So when the girlies who are 6' and above are trying to get like the quote unquote tall clothing and it's just, it looks horrendous. They have to keep pulling it down and so forth because it's not long enough. Like it just, it's just like, wow, like it's labeled as tall. Why is it not long enough? Because they're trying to cater to the masses in the above average realm. 5'7", 5'8". Girlies. Honestly. And another thing that I would like to talk about that we should not gatekeep is measurements. Okay.

[00:14:48] Something that I think brands also need to take into consideration besides length is proportions. Prime example. One tall girl shared with me that she got ripped jeans and the rips were supposed to be at her knees. But when she got the jeans, the rips were at her thighs. Yeah. But listen, if you're struggling with this, if this is you, if you can relate, I have a whole entire playlist on YouTube. I'm going to try to link that somewhere in the ether, maybe in the description, maybe

[00:15:14] in the video card or whatever for the YouTube video when I post this on YouTube. I'm going to link that somewhere so that you guys could check that out. It has all of the tall brands that I've interviewed on this podcast and all of the product reviews that I've had for these tall brands as well, for some of these tall brands as well. So I definitely recommend checking that out because there are tall brands out there that actually cater to For Real For Real Tall Women. They actually sell For Real For Real Tall Clothing.

[00:15:41] I did run a poll over on my Instagram and I'm just going to do a quick plug here. Make sure you follow me on my socials, especially on Instagram, so you can participate on these polls and have your opinions heard on these episodes. But I did run a poll asking, do you trust when brands say their clothes are tall girl friendly? 2% said yes, they usually get it right. 34% said absolutely not. These brands stay lying. And 64% said low key depends on the brand. Okay.

[00:16:09] For the 2% who said yes, they usually get it right. I want you to let me know how tall you are. Tell me how tall you are. I need to know. Okay. And then once we determine how tall you are, I'll know if this is like for real, for real the truth. Okay. Let me know how tall you are. And for the 34% that said these brands stay lying, I get it 115% because why are you labeling something as tall?

[00:16:38] And it's like, it's a slightly longer version of Capri's like what the heck. But I do agree. It does depend on the brand because if it's like a big brand or like, you know, like a Princess Polly or something like one of those brands and they say it's tall girl friendly, I don't think I'm a trusted not one bit, but let's say it's gap or if it's like a small tall brand. Well, for small tall brands, yes. Like I trusted 110%. But if it's like a gap or like an old Navy where I know that, you know, for the most

[00:17:07] part it works, then I will believe them. So it does depend on the brand period. And I do want to ask where are the tall girlies getting their tall clothing? And no, not the fake tall girl friendly clothing. I mean the for real, for real tall girl friendly clothing because a 32 inch inseam, it's not cutting it. Never was and never will. But yeah, there are a couple mainstream brands that also do offer for real, for real tall girl friendly clothing. I can attest to it.

[00:17:35] I've gotten some stuff from Zara. Zara can be a hit or miss, but if you find the correct full, because they're titled full length, if you find the correct full length pair of jeans or whatever, or pair of pants, like they, they will do, especially for the short tall girlies. I also like what American Eagle does. They have like different layers of long. So they have long and then they have extra long. So I think that's what we need. We need, I think I said that in one of the videos that I played earlier in this episode,

[00:18:05] we need long and then we need extra long. Like we need a variety of long. We need a variety of tall. Um, but those are two mainstream places that are pretty good and gap and old Navy also for the short tall girlies. If you want for real, for real, tall, tall girlies, check out my playlist. Okay. Because you know, you are not going crazy if the clothing is labeled as tall and it's not long enough for you where we all experienced that. But yeah, make sure you hit me up on my socials and let me know what you thought about this episode.

[00:18:34] And we can talk about the struggles we've had trying to find tall clothing and seeing things that are labeled as tall clothing and they just don't fit us. They're just not long enough. We can talk about that. And we can also like, you know, talk about the brands that do work and the brands that don't work. I love talking to you guys. So make sure you hit me up and thank you for all the birthday wishes in advance period. And, and until then I will catch you guys in the next one. Good night and goodbye.

[00:19:04] Good night.