A day in the life of a designer..

My Cultural Weekend

Well it’s been a busy week at work- Carly (the other designer at LTS) and I have been trying to put summer 2009 to bed – so it’s all hands on deck. We’ve been fitting all the first samples on our model. Trying to get them to fit just right is a long process especially with some of the newer styles but we are slowly getting there.

Everyone in the office is pretty upbeat at the moment thanks to all of you out there. The reason being, we have received such positive feedback regarding our new look and catalogue. Here at LTS HQ we are completely overwhelmed and I just wanted to say thanks.

At the moment I’m itching to get started on designing Autumn Winter 2009 which hopefully we will start in about 2 weeks. I will keep you posted and let you know when it’s all underway.

Anyway all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy or Sally a dull girl. So as it was a bank holiday weekend I jumped in the trusty Golf and headed for the Cotswolds for a bit of R&R.
On route to a church cream tea I called in at the Alain Rouveure gallery. They sell fantastic Nepalese and Tibetan rugs in really beautiful colours and textures. All very inspiring for next year’s colour palette. I got home just in time to watch “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” with Clint Eastwood (Well, I wasn’t actually watching it with Clint, which was a good job too as I fell asleep half way through!) None the less I have to say I am now definitely feeling a huge Poncho revival.

On Bank Holiday Monday I continued the culture gig and went to the Tate Britain to the “Lure of the East” exhibition, mainly because I wanted to see the painting of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. She was one of the first women to travel in the orient and write about her experiences. Her observations about costume and dress are exquisite.

Of course such culture was rewarded by cake… I needed the sugar rush to keep me going….

To round the weekend off I went to see The Dark Knight- The critics got it right, Heath Ledger is brilliant as the Joker. I particularly like him in the red wig and the nurse’s uniform! Maggie Gyllenhaal was great too and of course had some fantastic outfits. I think I too will be going for the pencil skirt, white blouse and waistcoat option this autumn; this was power dressing at its best. I’m just not sure that LTS will let me set up my own interrogation room in the office to complete the scenario…..

Diary of a tall girl

Meet the parents
I made a special visit to see my parents this bank holiday weekend – I don’t get to see them much these days. They’re a good two and a half hour drive from me, which would be fine, except since moving to London, I sold my car in place of an Oyster card.

I caught the train out of London; it was actually quite a nice experience - leaving all those high rises behind.

My mother is not known for her tact and I’m sure as she’s got older it’s got worse, especially when it comes to clothing. Obviously I’m interested in fashion, I work in retail after all but I’m not a trendsetter more of a fashion follower, I’m nearly thirty five but I know what I like-Great basics and key pieces for the season.

What I am getting at is she’s rather old fashioned when it comes to looking stylish. When I knocked on the door in my new LTS high waisted jeans, she remarked “Samantha, you can’t still be growing at 33 – your leg’s have got remarkably longer, I think your trousers are too small!” I was quite taken aback, although, I should learn by now, as my mother does say this to me in some variation every time I see her.

I think she is secretly jealous of my height at only 5’3, I get my “tallness” from my Dad’s side of the family you see- he’s 6’3.

My dad was his usual self and was quite happy pottering around the garden. I kept myself amused by sunbathing in the garden and walks along the coast. Although by Sunday night I was itching to come back to the big city, I’m a city girl after all.

A day in the life of a designer..

Carol is an experienced designer and has been working at Long Tall Sally for over two years. Although Carol secretly dreamt of joining MI5 before she was hit by the fashion bug. Her passion for fashion started early on when she made her first skirt at just five years old.

Growing up she was influenced by Biba, Chanel, Norma Kamali and Perry Ellis. She is particularly interested in the fabric and cutting side of design. A tall woman herself at 5’10, Carol enjoys designing for taller women as she believes that height is an advantage and even admits she would like to be a few inches taller...

Carol's Blog

Not being a natural writer, I was a bit sceptical, at first, about doing this blog. I mean, why on earth would anyone be interested in what I have to say? Well, after a bit of careful research I found that reading about other people’s lives can be pretty interesting. And, I figured if Lily Allen can do it, so can I!

I’m a mere 5ft 10 and a half, which doesn’t make me huge but I do have an inside leg which swings between 34” at a squeeze and 36” in high heels (Although I do walk like Dick Emery in heels so I don’t tend to wear them that often!)

A lot of my friends are 6 foot and over and several around 5ft. Despite the obvious height differences we would spend hours talking about the difficulties of buying clothes. Personally, I think the five footers have it slightly easier, I mean taking things up isn’t a problem but if you are tall you can’t make clothing longer! I used to buy from LTS years ago, myself and several of my friends who were hard core label queens when it came to jeans have now been converted to Long Tall Sally for all our denims.

I’ve been designing at LTS for a couple of years, I haven’t always wanted to be a designer I wanted to be a spy really but I thought I might be handicapped by my tendency to gossip!

MI5 aside I love fashion, at the moment I am busy working on high summer 2009. The first thing we do each season is look at all the prediction and trend information, then we work on a colour palette and buy in print designs. The next stage is designing shapes and working alongside the factories to get samples based on our designs. It’s quite a long process but rewarding when you see your designs come to life.

Now for my favourite part, choosing what I want to wear this season- the Oxford shift dress, Rebecca jumper, Kingston skinny jeans, Audrey beret- I want them all!

This could take hours..

Bye for now

Carol

Lisa's Style Diary

Catching up with Lisa at the moment is quite a task as she is busy putting together ideas for exciting new ventures including starting her own production company and preparing for a well deserved family holiday.

Luckily for us we managed to get a few words in between styling the nation and pitching ideas to the BBC!

Winter Wardrobe Essentials

If I’m honest, I haven’t always had a passion for fashion; horses were in fact my first love. I didn’t have boyfriends I had horses. They were much easier to control!

When I was younger I didn’t really know anything about fashion and I wasn’t really interested.
My modelling career started at a very young age when I won Elle’s face of “87 competition. This provoked a lot of press attention as I was only 15 at the time, but I guess that helped launch my career in quite a big way.

From that moment on I developed a love for fashion, before then I didn’t know who Ralph Lauren was and that was my first shoot! I had to learn quickly, but the whole point of me modelling in the first place was to earn enough money to buy a horse!

I’ve really struggled to find clothes that fit properly since I was a teenager. Yes, not because of my height, (I’m 6 foot) but my shape. Jackets and shirts in particular are always a problem as are trousers. Sleeve lengths are always too short; ridiculously I have to roll up the sleeves on a white shirt so you can’t tell it’s too short!

I’m a big fan of Religion and Hardy Amies- beautiful clothes. I don’t really go to any other high street shops other than Long Tall Sally because they just don’t make clothes well enough for taller women. I must admit I live in jeans, a great fitting pair work wonders! I’m what you would call a lazy dresser so jeans are perfect as I can dress them up or down for most occasions.

Designer labels don’t generally fit unless I have clothes specifically made for me. Ian Garlant from Hardy Amies designed a phenomenal chocolate, velvet ball gown for me. It’s absolutely beautiful; it’s rarely been worn but definitely my favourite item in my wardrobe along with my jeans.

This season sees a variety of trends to keep even the highly fashion conscious happy, including; Gothic chic, fitted tailoring, lace, flat shoes, and tartan will be making a big comeback.

I’m looking forward to wrapping up in fitted jackets with big belts and wearing big statement jewellery. I adore the LTS faux fur reversible gilet from the Autumn/Winter collection, definitely a wardrobe essential. Big jewellery can finish an outfit of nicely and when you are tall you can carry it off. I also love Long Tall Sally’s Audrey scarf its extra long, so guaranteed to keep you winter warm.

Happy Shopping!


Lisa

Ask Lisa

Hello Lisa

My sister is having an evening wedding reception & I don’t know what to wear!! I am only a size 10 but 5″11 & don’t feel comfortable in high heels. I hate towering above everyone but feel flats are too casual for such a special occasion?
Please help!!!

Marie


Hi Marie

Flat shoes are so on trend and the perfect option if you are standing up all day. There are so many styles in the shops this season you are sure to find the perfect pair.

Long Tall Sally have a great range of pretty pumps including the belle pump which have cute rouch detail and would look fabulous with any outfit.

If you choose to wear heels, you can always pick up a pair of fold up pumps for the evening. These shoes are so versatile and fit neatly in your handbag.

One thing I would recommend is that you don’t wear brand new shoes on the actual day as your poor feet will be agony!

Lisa

Diary of a tall girl

I wonder what it would be like to be an average height? How would people describe me? “Sam is the brunette”” instead of “Sam is the tall girl”.

Let me introduce myself. I’m Sam, I’m 33, I love watching old movies, long soaks in the bath and treating myself to a Caramel Frappacino every Sunday afternoon with my best friend Suze.

I work at Long Tall Sally, I’ve been working at LTS for almost two years, everyone’s great not to mention the discounts! It’s like a little community- a safe haven for other tall women. In fact I quite often find myself feeling a tad bit jealous if a customer comes into the store and is slightly taller than me. I feel as I am being outdone because I’m no longer the tallest in the room- Stupid I know but I’ve learn't to love the advantages of my extra inches.

I’m not overly tall at 5”10 but it’s still enough to draw the irritating gasps of “What’s the weather like up there” and “I bet she plays basketball”. I don’t ask short people if they play miniature golf!

But now as I’ve grown in years as well as height I have discovered there are many advantages of being tall. For instance; you cover distances faster when walking, You’re height can give you better views at the theatre and when standing in a crowded train as the tall one you get to breathe fresh air rather than inhaling someone’s hair!

What I am getting at is that there are hundreds even thousands of tall women out there who face the same dilemma’s, so let this be a place you can come and share your thoughts. Not all women have the gift of being tall. Many people would love to be taller. Surely it’s better to be looked over than overlooked?

Hello!

Hello, and welcome to the Long Tall Sally blog. Here starts our journey, with you, to create the best online community for tall women, where we can swap stories, advice and discuss everything tall. You’ll find everything from the diary of a tall girl from our very own Sam, to style advice from Lisa Butcher and design tips from Carol our resident LTS designer. We want you to be as much a part of our blog as us, so please do post comments and let us know what you’d like to see here.