Monday, July 27, 2015

Too Short, Too Tall

Being an altitudinally-challenged person has always made clothes shopping difficult.  Rare is the time when I can actually try on a pair of pants and have them fit, length-wise.  I've gotten used to having to pay for alterations, but it's more than just hemming that makes buying pants challenging; sometimes, by the time I get the pair of perfect-in-every-other-way jeans shortened, I've lost the style (especially if it was a pair of bootcut jeans - they can get really funky looking once you lose 5 inches from the bottom of the leg).  And having spent a lot of time over the years shopping with a similarly-challenged mother, as well as my best friend, we've all lamented our frustrations over not being able to easily buy clothes that fit our short legs.

"Tall people have it so easy!"  we'd grumble.
"They can buy off the rack and not have to pay for hemming!"  we'd complain.
"Everything they try on looks good!"  we'd whine.

Well, as I discovered on Saturday, even tall people have it rough when it comes to shopping for clothes.  My friend Andi and I made the trek to Nordstrom in Houston to check out their anniversary sale.  Andi needed clothes and I was all too happy to come along for the ride.  We had a wonderful salesperson who made some great suggestions and brought in lots of items, but it was funny - while Andi would try on pants and I'd see how good she looked in them, she'd see that they were a bit too short.  And that happened a lot.  It was a weird concept for me to wrap my brain around, because in my world, that just doesn't happen!  After a while, I decided to try on some jeans and I have to say, it was pretty funny when I came out of the dressing room to show Andi what I deal with, in the form of them being way too long.  We decided that somewhere between the two of us, there was a person who could buy a pair of pants without our difficulties.

Still, I will say that Andi looked amazing in most of the clothes she tried on.  Would you believe she hardly bought anything, though?  I kept saying "if I looked like you in that top/jeans/skirt, I'd buy it" - but she was choosier than me.  I mean, look at what she turned down:
I loved this top on Andi.  But the hemline was asymmetrical, and that felt weird to her. 

It was interesting to shop with someone different.  As much as I pushed her to try on different things, she did the same to me when it came to shoes.  You see, for my volunteer job I have to wear closed-toed shoes, and I don't have any summery shoes that aren't sandals.  So I've been wearing my heavy, wintery pair of clogs, and boy have they gotten hot now that our weather is consistently in the high 90s.  Andi kept telling me to get a pair of flats, but how many short people do you know who own flats?  Plus, I was sure they had no arch support and were not going to work for me.  Well, I was wrong, and I came home with these:
Gotta love Paco, always ready to get in on the photo shoot. 

I also bought a pair of very nice jeans, which, while expensive, were at least on sale.  And I have to give props to Nordstrom, because I was able to get them hemmed FOR FREE.  And they're shipping them to me, once the hemming is done, for free.  I'll have to remember this next time I need a pair of pants...Nordstrom likes short people!

So after we spent all day shopping, we stopped at a Marshalls/Home Goods before we left the big city.  While I tried on lots of tops at Nordstrom, I didn't love any enough to buy them...but at Marshalls?  I found two that worked great!
Funny, it doesn't look like she's that much taller than me...oh wait, I was standing on a curb for this picture!
Too tall, too short...but just right when it comes to our friendship.

21 comments:

  1. Every body has something they like to complain about
    when it comes to buying clothes. I can relate about the
    buying pants and jeans though. I grew up with a tall mom
    and I was only 5"6 and she was 6 feet tall. I always wanted to
    be tall like mom even though she had to buy tall girl clothes in order to find
    things long enough for her.
    I like your flat shoes and how funny that Paco was photo bombing
    your pic with his paw.

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    1. Yeah, when I looked down and saw Paco's paw in the shot I knew that picture was going to make the blog. :)

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  2. Aww you two are cute. I often have trouble finding stuff too so I mostly stick to dresses!

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  3. Pants are the bane of my existence with a big booty and small waist on top of being short. Ugh. I have to shop the petites where I can at least get a better length and then try and worry about the waist gap.

    I wear flats all the time. Not much of a heel person, even though I am short. One thing I love about flats is that the toe box is almost always wider then shoes with heels, which are more comfie on my wide feet.

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    1. I liked that top on Andi a lot though, asymetrical and all!

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    2. I know, the top worked really well for her!

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  4. It's so hard to find clothing whatever size or shape you are. No one is every happy with what they try on....sadly. I love the flats you bought! I always go with shoes! They usually are a perfect fit any time :)

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  5. Glad to know that I'm not the only one who is altitude challenged. I would really like to meet these tall people who are MY size. I mean...they must exist because they make all the pants long enough for someone to wear....right?

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    1. You have a point - those pants MUST fit someone, somewhere!

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  6. I HATE hemming pants! Luckily, in recent years, in my shop of choice (thrift stores) I've been able to find jeans and pants that were "just right." Very short length without looking weird.

    Fun to see you and Andi together. One of my good friends is the same shape and height as Andi--I have similar pictures!

    I LOVE those flats on you. Just right for summer! Sometimes I try on flats, but I don't like the way they look. I am going to do a little more concentrated shopping for some pretty flats.

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    1. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of how flats look on my feet, and I was wearing capris and felt like they accentuated my beefy calves, but I'll be wearing them with regular pants, so it shouldn't be an issue. Plus Andi told me I was seeing things...

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  7. My best friend and I are the same way--she's short, and I'm tall. Clothes shopping has always been an interesting experience when we go together. Cute shoes!

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  8. I love the term "altitudinally-challenged". How tall are you Shelley? I have NO idea why, but I pictured you and I being about the same height, and I'm 5'6". LOVE the shoes, and love Paco's photobomb!!! Have a great day!!!!

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    1. Oh man, I would love to be your height, Roz! I'm 5'1.5" - and yes, that extra half inch is important, LOL! :)

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    2. That half inch IS important Shelley!!! LOL! <3!

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  9. What a great service and I love the shoes, would totally buy them myself.

    I am lucky, I have an average height and although a bit overweight a pretty normal body so shopping for clothes isn't a problem for me. But I can understand that it's difficult if you're short or tall.

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  10. There's a third category of "impossible-to-find-pants-that-fit," and that's in-between! I'm 5'9, which means I'm a bit too tall for most regular inseams, but most tall inseams start at 5'10, so I'm a little too short for that. In short (or tall, ha ha), this is why I often opt for skirts :)

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  11. I am with you Shelley - I used to be 5.3, but now I am lucky if I am 5.2 - J.Jill is about the only store that I have the best success at getting Petite clothes that fit in the size pants I am :D

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  12. A good reminder that the grass is not always greener on the other side!!!!

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  13. How wonderful to have a lovely friend to spend the weekend with. You both are so cute! When it comes to clothes shopping, I am quite critical of what I am trying on. But anytime my sister tries on anything, I think it looks great on her.

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  14. Very cute shoes! I'm short and only wear flats, by the way. Heels and I do NOT get along. I am 5'3 and my oldest sister if 5'10 - we wear about the same size right now, but her height is all leg. Pants are too short for her and too long for me.

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