Strange to be Normal - Long Tall Sally Pop up Shops

One week ago I had the pleasure of not only having my Mom in town from Cleveland Ohio, but the Long Tall Sally Atlanta Pop Up Shop right down the street, all in the same weekend! I had read about the pop up shops by chance a few months ago, and about a week and a half before the pop up shop in Atlanta, I got a call from Long Tall Sally letting me know about the event. I made sure to post it on my blog and tell any tall ladies I came across in my day to day as to help bring in the crowd as much as I could.

My mom and I planned to be at the shop first thing Saturday morning to make sure we had the chance to get what we needed from the stock they brought with them. I highly recommend to anyone that has upcoming pop up shops to do the same, as about an hour later the shop got very busy. All though, if they do have an item you like but cannot find in your size, they will order it there and ship it to you for free. Faboo! And if you take an item you change your mind about you can come back to the pop up shop and return it, or ship it back to the store in Minnesota.

I have to say the experience was rather strange though! Walking into the room full of racks and tables of clothing everywhere I looked were women that were my height or even taller! For a brief hour or two I was average :) My Mom, who is 5' 11" joked that for once she had a hard time finding me as she couldn't just look for my head above all others. Lots of lovely ladies, all over 6' tall shopping for whatever they could get.

I was soooo excited to see so many people showing up to the shop, as the more we show the stores there is a market here, the more likely we will be in getting our own permanent store.

All of the Long Tall Sally ladies were so wonderful and helpful. From what I could tell, some, if not all of the ladies, were from the store in Minnesota (Mall of America). They had the system down pat to funnel everyone to the changing "tents", greeted everyone with smiles, and were always there to help you find an item for you or even recommend items. I heard lots of little roomers floating around as we shopped. Things like another round of pop up shops in 6 months (YAY!) and a possible store opening in New York by fall. The hopes of being able to do more in person shopping added even more excitement to the day.

I didn't find a lot of items, but I did really enjoy the experience. And my only reason for not finding many items was more about my own personal style. But perhaps if the market keeps growing so will the selections. But for now, we are just so so lucky to have what we do!

So we have the places to shop? How about some more selection?

It is amazing how many locations us tallies can shop now. Longtallsally.com, TopShop.com (Talls), NewLook.com (Talls), DorothyPerkins.com (Talls), OldNavy.com (Talls), and a ton of others. But all of those places.. always seem to have the same styles...

The lack of choices limits us tall folks from truly expressing ourselves through our clothing. Examples of current trends that are in tall clothing, are baggy, flowers, stripes, and lace.

Where can a girl find structured, solids, that are figure flattering for a girl with curves? Not just plus size, but with naturally wide shoulders and hips. And how about the punk/rock style?

Here are some examples of Spring 2011 trends that I don't see translated to Talls...

(Punk Fashion - Fashionising.com)

(Biker clothing - Fashionising.com)

So far I have seen a coat or two, but how about the pants and the tops? Click the links to see more photos on Fashionising.com of each trend.

Where can we go to ask to design us the more edgy fashions? Hot Topic has a plus size clothing store called Torrid.com that carries tall and extra tall pants and jeans online. Perhaps Hot Topic would consider a tall clothing store?? Who can we write??

Another thought I had was trying to reach out to Kimora Lee Simons Hounsou. Kimora is 6' tall, and even though she has the ability to purchase the high fashions like Puchi, in talls, perhaps with her new KLS line, she would consider a tall womens clothing line?? Again, who can we write??

Preparing for a fashionable flood!

For years in school the fear of having floods, also known as pants that were to short, was something that haunted us tallies every day. Well today, ladies, is the day it's in to have floods! Introducing, Ankle Jeans...

Which means for once we can walk into a store and buy, what average height folks call Jeans, and what we can now call Ankle Jeans. We should enjoy the trend while it lasts! Perhaps you are concerned Old Navy is not the end all be all of what's in? Well here is a collection of Ankle Jeans from Bergdorf Goodman. Extra plus about ankle jeans, they can be rocked with a pair of cute flats!

Three quarter length sleeves, ankle jeans...AND... Ultra platform shoes!

So a straight on platform is stripper, but a tapered platform is fashion. Either way, it means ladies are striving to be even taller. I guess 6" heals were just not tall enough? How amazing is it, that the look of short clothing and extreme height have all come into style. How lucky are we?

Do we get to rock those very in style shoes, us more timid tallies, perhaps not. But at least we can walk around and see more lovely ladies eye to eye. :)

I wonder what they will come up with next????

It is a blessing to be different!

Last night I had such an amazing night! Yesterday with my birthday, and to treat myself I went to see Thirty Seconds to Mars that included VIP tickets with side stage access and a post show meet and greet. I got to meet Thirty Seconds to Mars!

So what does this have to do with being tall? Well... nothing really. But while at the concert I realized, once again, it is so great to be tall!

Entering the VIP pre show waiting area, I was asked by multiple people how tall I was. Not uncommon for any of us, true. But it was when we were let into the theater before the general admissions folks and I stood in the back of the theater and watched folks pile in. If you have ever been to a general admission show, it is quite the experience. If you want to really see the band you have to get in line hours in advance and sit/stand and wait. All to get up close and more than likely get smooshed, smashed, pushed around, and for average height folks, only be able to see what you can between the heads of the people in front of you. But the taller you are, the more you can see OVER other peoples heads.

So sitting in the back of the theater I watched all these people pile in. And as the crowd got closer and closer to the back, I felt worse and worse for people that were not only average height, but shorter. Unless they were there with someone that would put them on their shoulders, the best they get is the vibe/energy of the crowd, the music, and the knowledge that they are, in fact, in the presence of a band they love.

But for the tallies? We get to see over the crowd and experience an extra level of the concert!

I know I have mentioned this before in another blog about a 30STM concert that I went to in Nashville. But I begin to express how much I have really finally learned to love my height.

When it was time for the band to go on stage, I utilized the perks of my VIP (Golden Ticket) pass and watched from the side of the stage. Which in this case, was a taped off portion of the stage. In front of a crowd of 2600 people! Before going on stage the tall folks were asked to go to the back of the group, so everyone had a view. And me, I was in the back, and had a view! Some photos..

Twenty-Six THOUSAND People :)

Mr. Jared Leto

Tomo rockin' out

And Jared again

After the show we had our meet and greet with the band. Everyone in VIP stood around in a great big circle. The guys - Jared, Shannon, and Tomo - Walked around and said hello to each person and stopped to sign an item for everyone. My item? My pants!...

So here is another tall plus... LONG LEGS! lol Had I not had my long legs, Shannon (Entire left leg) would have run out of room for his "Happy Birthday" for me. So my plus thought, is that my height made me stand out to these really awesome guys, that make music that I adore.

As I get older, 1 year left to 30, I get more and more comfortable with my height. And the more I notice my reaction to "I wish I had your height" turns more away from "No you don't" to "Why thank you! I love being my height!". I wouldn't give up a single inch. I love myself, my body. Ever scar, every red spot, every inch. Perfection IS IMPerfection!

I wish I had this confidence when I was younger. No matter how many times people told me when I was growing up that I should love being my height, I never got it. Until know. The plus of getting older!

And now to wrap up this blog, my... un-retouched, post ROCK show... photo with the guys ;)

In case you are wondering, Jared's documented height is 5'10". Oh, it was also a medical themed night. Hence the scrubs.

A note for any person! If you ever have the opportunity to see your favorite band with the VIP experience on your birthday. DO IT! Yes I know it cost a lot, yes, you may need to travel, but this is what life is about! ;)

Long Tall Sally may be near you! FOR A LIMITED TIME

My mom called me the second she heard a LTS store popped up in Utica Michigan. It turns out to be a clearance store open for a limited time. So I did some searching on the LTS web site and discovered the list of "Pop up shops". Long Tall Sally shops that open only for a limited time. My guess is to test the market. So we HAVE to make sure to get the word out so they make their store PERMANENT! Here is the list of pop up shops...

Pop Up Shops 2011


Seattle, WA - February 2011

Denver, CO- February 2011

St Louis, MO- February 2011

Chicago, IL- February 2011

Montreal, QC- February 2011

Indianapolis - Mar 5-6,Conrad Indianapolis,50 West Washington St. Indianapolis, IN 46204

New York City-Mar 19-20,13-15 West 28th Street, 10th floor. New York City, NY 10001

Boston - Mar 26-27,The Omni Parker House,60 School St. Boston, MA 02108

Philadelphia - March 2011

DC - April 2011

Atlanta - April 2011

Chicago - May 2011

Dallas - May 2011

Phoenix - May 2011

LA - May 2011

Cleveland - June 2011

Michigan - June 2011

I know I will be hounding the site in April to see the exact location of the Atlanta store! Exciting! I hope one of these stores pops up near you!

For the latest list check out the Long Tall Sally site - http://us.longtallsally.com/stores

What is up with that?? (Warning: Images may not be suitable for under 18))

Searching on the web yet again for new places to shop for clothing and I ran across this site with tall womens clothing for adult and teen women. Scanning through the tops I caught this....

Not only is the girl obviously NOT wearing a bra... but the shirt is advertised as SEE THROUGH. Note the matching tank top with the same issues in the lower right.

I left out the name of the site to not be overly vindictive. But come on... if you were some high end designer selling oober couture fashions maybe you could pull that off on a runway. But its a basic cotton tee you are selling to the average adult and TEEN. The top would look just as good, perhaps better, with a bra under it!

Please do not promote teen girls in going bra-less in a see through top. The world doesn't need the perma' wet t shirt look, especially on teen girls.

Say it ain't so! Or send me an explanation at least!

I couldn't even tell you how I got to the point of doing this. Probably because I love the shoes but couldn't get past the price tag on LTS. Take a look at this....

LongTallSally.com - Pierce by Sam Edelman - $375

Nordstrom - Pierce by Sam Edelman - $299.95 (note they come in size 12)

::: sigh ::::

Long tall Sally - Future Cat by Puma - $125

Shoebuy.com - Future Cat by Puma - $79.95 (Note they are actually men's shoes)

::::: SIGH :::::

Longtallsally.com - Poison by Ros Hommerson - $145

Zappos.com - Poison by Ros Hommerson - $91.20 (Regular - $114) Again note they are size 12

Okay so.... seriously bummed out. I have to say I did check a couple other pairs and they were either close in price, or even though they were a GREAT deal higher on LTS, I couldn't find the shoes anywhere else (ONLINE in 10 minutes) in size 12. But still...

What up with that? Is it shipping them from Manufacturer to LTS in Europe then back to the US? Perhaps its the size 13 shoes that the manufacturer is marking up? Benefit of the doubt?!

Moral of the story... even if its on a specialty site... PRICE HUNT! Google it! You may save yourself a buck... or 75....

I don't even want to know what the mark up is on the clothing... because they know we can't find it anywhere else! Blah...