I have found sweaters to be the most challenging to find in tall sizing. Even brands that have liberally offered tall sizing in the past (looking at you J.Crew), I have found to never consider tall sizing when it comes to sweaters. Earlier this week, I bitched about not being able to find tall cashmere. Lo and behold, I found tall cashmere crewnecks, turtlenecks, and cardigans and each style in a ton of colors. You are welcome.
Additionally I found a few sweaters available in tall, though not in one hundred percent cashmere, each with fabric content did not make me immediately want to hurl.
Argyle is an underrated pattern but especially in comparison to its cousins, gingham in the summer and black watch and Stewart tartans in the winter. Ironically, argyle is actually the official tartan of the Campbell clan of Argyllshire. It was imported to the states from Great Britain in the early twentieth century and it picked up popularity with the country club set, specifically golfers. I can get on board with that approach to athleisure!
I stand by argyle being versatile in terms of seasonality, given appropriate colors and fibers; however as it is commonly reserved for the opposite of the seasonal cycle, argyle is not particularly available for the shopping right now. The bright side to the argyle famine? The majority of the pieces still available from last autumn and winter are marked down. Prime time for stocking up on argyle pieces.
Fun and little-known fact: cable sweaters are actually a type of Aran sweater. Aran sweaters are named for a set of islands on the coast of Ireland and as such originated as a popular Irish fisherman staple in the 19th century. In addition to the Cable stitch, there are several other stitches that fall into the family: Diamonds, Honeycomb, Irish Moss, Ladder of Life, Tree of Life, Trellis, Trinity, and Zigzag. Each of the stitches are symbolic; Cable stitch represents Luck.
The cable knit sweater transitioned from a blue collar staple to that of the would-be white collar collegiate aesthetic in the middle of the 20th century. It was this time that cable sweaters began to be worn during athletic pursuits, like tennis. The original athleisure, if you will; cable sweaters of the 1950s are to black leggings in the 2010s.
I scoured the internet for every cable knit sweater I could find. The price points range from 38 dollars to over ten times as much for the super premium cashmere version. The sweaters from the below roundup range from petite to tall to plus to plus petite, with monogram options and in every color of the rainbow. My advice is to invest in the best of quality, fanciest effing one that fits you. You will wear it forever and eventually the price per wear will diminish to mere pennies.
Color me jazzed when I found that this certain American brand carried not only tall pants and dresses and sweaters, but also tall torso swim and button down shirts. I initially found a fantastic color block cocktail shirt last month but upon finding out that there was a collaboration with Sophie Allport, I turned my attention to this bee-utiful printed button down care of the brand.
For those who do not know, Sophie Allport is a Great Britain-based homeware designer. Per the Sophie Allport website…
Based in rural Lincolnshire, country inspired homewares brand Sophie Allport, was founded in 2007 by designer Sophie and her brother Jem. The quintessentially British brand is famous for its fine bone china and kitchen fabrics, but you will also find a wide range of products for pets and children and a lovely collection of home fragrance, bags, accessories and picnicware. There are now over forty different designs to choose from in the Sophie Allport, range. The charming and unique designs are all inspired by Sophie’s love of nature and the countryside. Plenty of gifts for country loving friends and family that offer a quirky twist on classic country design.
I tend to think that along with tall sweaters, tall button downs are the holy grail of the tall wardrobe. (Longer hemlines are easy to find among classic brands. God bless you, Brooks Brothers.) Extra long sleeves are a nonnegotiable; along with the Sophie Allport print (check out the mug) and color block shirt, striped, embroidered, and solid options are also available in tall.
Let us discuss the fit; it is a boyfriend fit. This may be one of the only shirts I own that end up in the dryer. I was gifted a medium and could have gone down to a small. Real talk: if (realistically, when) I procure the color block version, I will be going down to a size small.
Within the last two weeks, retailers have released seersucker styles. I do not know about you, but this is the only evidence I need that spring is about to turn and after a long winter spent wearing black opaque tights, we can sport the seasonal summer fabric.
I wrote about Capitol Hill’s seersucker Thursdays last year on the blog. It was brought back by Mississippi politician Trent Lott, but make no mistake, a penchant for the lightweight breathable fabric and an adolescence growing up in Mississippi is where my similarities end with the former senator.
I digress.
Seersucker is coming in hot this year. (See what I did there?) There are so many options in terms of styles and price points. I even included some marked down styles that are in stock from last summer, which is part of the reason that I am such a fan of seersucker. Since it is such a classic fabric, it never goes out of style.
I love myself a cocktail shirt. Named for mixed shirting fabric, (like a mixed drink, get it?), a cocktail shirt has mixed colors and striped shirting fabrics. Depending on the company, I have heard of this style branded as a party shirt or fun shirt.
I never met a cocktail shirt that I did not love. Case in point: the above photos which were both on the blog respectively at the beginning and middle of 2017. Both of the shirts (likely sold out, but I included the link in the case of a freak return) were available in tall via J.Crew. I love that the style is a button up but the mixed patterns and / or colors just gives the shirt a less stuffy vibe. The cocktail shirt is as good as bought if the style is produced in tall sizing. I restrain myself otherwise, as appropriate fitting sleeves are a nonnegotiable for me. both shirts still live in my closet as I think we will be lifers.
As a design, cocktail shirts are more frequently found in the men’s section, but there are currently a few female options available in the market.
This shirt is similar to the one that I wore on the blog circa February 2017. Unfortunately, it is only available in standard sizes, so if you are tall like me, you should sit this one out.
You might think that this shirt is…less than festive as cocktail shirts go, but that would be because this shirt is open to be customized. That is right ladies (gentlemen and boys too), you have a choice of fifteen fabrics for each section of this shirt: right front, left front, back , right sleeve, right cuff, left sleeve, left cuff, placket, and collar. You want to add a pocket? Pick your fabric. How about a monogram? There are two styles available. And if you want to add the retailer logo, that is up to you.
This cocktail shirt is available in standard, tall, petite and extended sizing. Talk about a shirt that we can all get behind! I have big plans for adding this to my collection of cocktail shirts.
I went the entire last summer without wearing a two piece swimsuit. Not only am I no longer a spring chicken and feel as though I have aged out of the bikini market, but I do not feel so confident in my body now that I have gained my married weight.
One piece swimsuits used to be particularly tricky if you have a tall frame, specifically a long torso. I see a huge difference in the standard length one piece suit and the long length one piece suit that I alternated between last year. For example, I would never dared to wear the former without the detachable halter strap.
Once tall torso one piece styles were on my radar as a size option that retailers were actually offering, I started noticing them everywhere. It was merely a matter of me moving on from the two piece territory to gaining awareness of what was actually available in the swimsuit market.
All of the swimsuits in this post are available in long torso and for my shorter (or relatively average friends), some are even available in standard sizing.
