I am ashamed to admit I never realized how hard you tall ladies have it.
You got harassed in the high school cafeteria? You shop in the men's section? You can't buy a floor-length dress off the rack?? I mean, it makes total sense. It just never occurred to me.
Enter Yanique, of Dream-ers (formerly Trendsetter Vintage):
So why the heck should tall girls get their own line of dresses? Well....(scratching my head).....why the hell not? Us tall girls have to raid the men’s section to find clothes that are long enough, especially in the arms and legs. But men don’t wear dresses. (Okay, men don’t usually wear dresses.) There are no dresses in the big and tall store that we sneak into while pretending to shop for our other half.
I vividly remember my early years in high school, walking my 6-foot self into the cafeteria, only to hear..... “would you please pull your shoes up....or push your pants down?” followed by a hysterical outburst. Those morons were so cruel, until I discovered that my gangly teenage legs looked fierce in a mini skirt, and that’s all I wore, rain or shine. That was my reality for too long.
OK, I say “was,” because many designers are starting to pay attention to the tall minority, but only a handful of them get it right. The majority of them make you want to run screaming back to the big and tall store, their clothes are just so ugly and so grandma. Tall girls can find hope at Zara and J.Crew for separates. But darn it, what about when you need to go to a black-tie affair, or what if you want to wear a non-conventional wedding dress, where do you go, besides to a specialty seamstress? I can’t be the only tall girl who wants to wear a floor length gown, or a dress with sleeves that are actually long enough. What about a jumpsuit that doesn’t instantly give you camel toe?
By now, you may think I am nothing more than a drama-queen, and while I’ve been labeled that many times over, I promise......no drama on this one.
I love this fashion business a bit too much, so I quit my long stint as a manager at Chanel in order to focus on designing a line that tall women can wear with pride. The DREAMERS line, as clichéd as it sounds, means tall girls no longer need to dream of dresses that fit. The core pieces in the line are my vintage-inspired lace dresses.
Many unconventional brides have already discovered these, and are ordering them for their weddings. We also make limited-edition dresses, based on fabrics we buy only in limited quantities. My intention is to keep styles exclusive (an idea gleaned from selling vintage clothing for so long).
All the Trendsetter Vintage pieces are available “off the rack,” BUT, we strongly encourage each buyer to send us her measurements. We then customize the dress using those measurements, so the dress fits perfectly when it arrives. This means (and I know I’m cheating here) even if you are not a fellow tall girl, you can still wear one of our dresses. I have some of the best seamstresses in LA working with me, and our turnaround time is exceptionally fast. They love what they do, with the only occasional complaint being, “the dresses are too long, the patterns don’t fit on my table.”
Chances are, if you are a fellow tall girl reading this, I won’t have to twist your arm. Because your reality is mine. You know why the hell we tall girls need our own line of dresses.
(All dresses pictured are from Yanique's DREAMERS line, $150-300)
