With the multitude of little black dresses (LBDs) out there, it must be easy enough to find one to fit a body 5’10″ and taller, right?
I can tell you from vast experience—both personal and with tall clients—that finding a perfect-fitting tall black dress off the rack is a stroke of brilliant—if not divine—luck. It certainly would be enough to keep me sated and flying high on happiness for the entire year.
I’ve tried Tahari, I’ve tried Theory, I’ve tried Donna Morgan and Donna Karan and Kenneth Cole. The closest I’ve personally come to a well-fitting dress is a black Tahari sheath I picked up from Bluefly, and the fit on that thing is wonky—the waist is too short, the hip room too wide, and the hem which is supposed to hit at my knee hits 3 inches northward. What are we tall ladies to do?
Amazing LBDs from Sarah Vain and Tall! (www.sarahvainandtall.com)
Sarah Vain and Tall. A play off of Patricia McLaughlin’s title “Sarah, Plain and Tall” as well as various competing stereotypes about tall women, Anne Shea, the stunning one woman wonder behind Sarah Vain and Tall, designs high-quality tall clothing that will make any vertically-blessed lass look like a million bucks. Her line currently consists of four gorgeous, classic dress shapes in figure-friendly stretch knits and cotton sateens—including a LLBD (long little black dress) and a black and white polka dot number that will satisfy even the most whimsical of tall ladies.
Consider Anne Shea’s dresses investment pieces. We all need that perfect LLBD for dressing up and dressing down and taking to work, and once you consider cost per wear and the perfectly-tailored fit of these dresses—their relative cost is downright reasonable.
Though Sarah Vain and Tall is based in Melbourne, Australia, Shea offers international shipping PLUS hassle free returns—wonderful for tall ladies worldwide!
Oh, she is awesome and I LOVE all the dresses!! Have you gotten one yet?? If so, you need to post pics asap! : )
Kimberly,
Sadly, no Sarah Vain and Tall dress yet! Just heard about Anne yesterday! Have you gotten a dress by her?
xoxo Kacy
P.S. HAVE to get back into outfit posts soon. I will, I promise!
Not yet, but I will definitely be investing in one soon. It will be hard to decide which one though…too bad I am not independently wealthy! : )
Thank you so much Kacy and Kimberly for such a lovely post and comments. I have been working on this line for such a long time and it makes me feel great to read that people love these dresses as much as I do!
My dresses aren’t as cheap as the high street clothes, it’s true. However I have had problems with tall clothing costing $$ and taking weeks to ship, then not lasting even a season (naming no names… lol) and I really didn’t want that for my line. I pay a fair wage to the amazing Melbourne ladies who sew these clothes, use quality fabrics, and design classic dresses that won’t fall off the trend bandwagon.
I also ship free so you can try on a dress to see if you like the quality, and send it right back if you want (though I’m staking my reputation that you won’t!!)
Thank you again for your kindness — if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch, anne at sarahvainandtall dot com.
Anne, the quality of your dresses unquestionably puts any high street stores to shame! I know exactly what you mean about typical tall clothing falling apart after a season or not being able to stand up to multiple wears.
I fully expect at some point I will try one of your dresses for myself! Though this year is a bit tight with many friends’ weddings to attend, I think next year I’ll have more “me” money to invest in some lovely new pieces (and I do need a PERFECT LBD like your Audrey!)
I just love your designs! Thank you so much, and I hope I can get the word out!
xoxo Kacy