My first attempt at online shopping was from my trusty tall apparel store. It resulted in this adorable blouse, this tank, and this dress which upon arrival was clearly made for someone larger chested than I, but two out of three's not bad. If I could, I would probably buy all my clothes from Long Tall Sally because they usually fit me well and their customer service is fabulous. But, they have a rather limited selection.
After a trip to the mall that left me mostly empty-handed and missing my mom & sister as shopping companions, I decided to turn back to the internet. Summer is coming, and last year I wished I'd had more summer dresses. I got an email from Ruche (lovely stuff there) saying that they added a section of longer length items. Score!
I ended up purchase this dress, which is actually by Downeast Basics. A cute, neutral dress for summer with 43 fabulous inches from shoulder to hem, which is exactly my dress length limit.
It came in the mail today!!! I love getting things in the mail, don't you? I raced upstairs and put it on. Then I stood in front of the mirror and thought, "Hmm. . . something just doesn't look right about this." I wanted to love it. The color was good, the detailed top was very cute, the length was okay, but it just seemed weird. Like I was wearing a little girl's dress.After a little tugging and tucking I figured out the problem. You see how the line where the top and bottom come together lands at the waist? It was not doing that on me. It was hitting at least 2 inches above the waist. If I tugged it down to my waist, the dress looked fine. If I tucked it up so it was just under the bust, it looked fine. I tried adding a thick belt, which helped, but I did not want to always have to wear a belt with it. I had discovered the culprit: the torso.
You might automatically think that my height comes from my legs. Actually a good deal of it comes from my torso. I learned that from swimsuit shopping. I love Lands End swimwear because they offer long torso options. This online purchase revealed that the same problem is always going to limit my dress options - a sad realization. Maybe this will motivate me to try my hand at sewing my own summer dresses. We'll see.
Now I have to trapes back to the post office and pay to return the dress I have been so excited about. This is my big woe of online shopping. It just hurts to pay to return things that didn't work out.
6 comments:
Swimsuit shopping revealed that I have a long torso as well (though not even Land's End makes them quite comfy enough for me). Dresses are tough for long torsos...I've got a dress that has a similar issue at the waist, but I bought it on clearance so there was no returning it. Usually my issue is that the long torso makes an otherwise fine-fitting dress too short.
And the bust issue....yeah, nothing is make for small-busted girls either. We get no respect.
Ugh! I'm sorry! How frustrating! I have the opposite problem. Oh the joys of shipping. Ha
Let's share some of our length---or lack thereof, shall we? I always have to have dresses taken in at the waist because they're at least six inches too long and the bottom can't be changed. Dresses always look too big on my cuz my torso is too short. Can I have two of your torso inches? And maybe two of your legs?
Have u tried gap or banana republic? They have a tall section. Gap has good sales every now and again - just Google gap coupon code. They have a cute wrap dress on their site right now.
Yeah, Gap and B.R. are still in the 40 inch or less length. Close, but with knee-length dresses every inch counts :(
I have always been a little jealous of the 5'5 girls. Everything is made for them. Although I have it much better than my 6' sisters
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