,

Bomb(ers) Away, it’s November

Honestly I blinked and October was gone. Something about the the seasons changing makes the time scurry past as we’re all running from one thing to the next. It feels like there’s an urgency in the air once “back to school” time hits all the way up until Christmas time. Caitlin and I were just talking about how unbelievable it is that November is upon us.

We admittedly skipped over Halloween this year, but maybe next year we’ll cook up something fun for some good costume inspiration. Caitlin did an impromptu costume for her second job and dressed up as Garth from Wayne’s World with one of her co-workers. Normally if we’re dressing up, we have our costume ideas planned months ahead of time, so it was a cool last minute choice that is easy to throw together.

Sometimes it’s great to realize your limits and slow down your life. Normally we put together a Halloween party at our house, and with other things going on in our lives it was an easy choice to not even consider it or have to feel stress over not doing it. We live in a society now where it’s harder to say no to things because it’s glorified to be able to “do it all.”

Of course this is only exacerbated by social media where on any given day, you see ten or more friends doing something fun or cool that under other circumstances you would have attended yourself. We hope to not contribute to anyone’s feelings of inadequacy, by always keeping it real with you. You won’t find filters on our pictures or blurring edges to fix imperfections. We’re all handcrafted by God and we’re all perfectly imperfect.

All of that said, just to talk about our favorite bomber jackets. Sometimes it’s not all about statement pieces and special occasions. It’s about being able to go about your life comfortably, in whatever makes you feel your best. For us, we love wearing these jackets in colder months. We found these at the beginning of the bomber jacket trend and the price range was right for us.

Unfortunately for us though, they weren’t in tall sizing, but when we tried them on they fit well enough to make them work. Caitlin, at 5’11 was able to make the sleeves work easily. For myself, I can stretch it some but a lot of the time I end up pushing the sleeves up my forearms anyway so it wasn’t a make or break for me.

I am making more and more of an effort to be firm with myself on how well something actually fits me; instead of pulling it down in the mirror and pretending it’s great and then the first time you wash it, realizing it won’t fit you correctly ever again. I actually just wore something today, and realized it shrunk in the wash and it won’t work for me any more.

It’s that mindfulness that will help you cull out the closet filling junk that you aren’t truly happy about putting on. Deep down we all know the items we truly love and not out of a sense of obligation. This will help you clean out your closet, and make smarter decisions when shopping. It could even help you save a little money so you can buy that investment piece you thought you couldn’t afford, but would really help you finish off your look.

So for these outfits, is there anything truly knockout or special to them? Nah, but they’re true to us and they’re all pieces that we wear in heavy rotation in our closets. We’ve shown you umpteen ways to wear converse, which are a tall girl must especially due to the unisex sizing. They’ve got our larger foot sizes covered.

We’ve got our denim, the ripped knee jeans for me are ones we both own from Asos and Caitlin’s are from Gap and every women needs a pair of dark jeans in their closet. Plus if you’re buying from either Asos or Gap you’re not going to have to spend a fortune on one pair of jeans. I can routinely find pairs at either spot under $50.

The easy to grab clothing paired perfectly with one of our favorite Milwaukee activities, which is visiting the Public Market. As you can tell by the pictures, it’s a great space with lots of yummy foods and interesting things to find. If you ever are visiting Milwaukee, it’s a must do. 

We’re always looking for an “excuse” to make our way down there, and there is something so wonderful about grabbing a coffee from Anodyne and a pastry from C. Adam’s Bakery and sitting above the shops enjoying life.

So tell us below, how well are you doing on building a thoughtful wardrobe that actually works on your tall frame?

Outfit Details

/0 Comments/by

Men’s Fashion Monday – Volume 1

We’re excited to introduce a new idea we’ve been planning for awhile! We finally got our schedules together enough to make it work, and so we give to you – men’s fashion Mondays! (Sometimes) We know as tall women, a lot of us have tall men in our lives in some capacity. Whether it be a brother, a father, a son, tall people tend to beget other tall people.

With that being said, we knew when we started The Real Tall, that we’d be remiss if we didn’t include men in some capacity! Some men are interested in shopping for themselves, but a lot of men have had historically hard times finding themselves clothing that fits them well if they aren’t big AND tall, the same as we’ve experienced as above average females.

To start this series off, we cajoled our brother into some pictures of items he’s recently purchased and appreciated. His experiences with fashion have been pretty limited. Growing up, our Mom pretty much bought him clothing and within reason he wore it.

Once he was out of the nest he started finding a few things here and there on his own. The first time we’ve seen him excited about shopping, is when he started perusing Asos and finding tall men’s items that were actually on trend.

Caitlin and I have had some fun browsing for him and adding things to his saved items, and then him picking his favorites from there. It’s been a lot of fun seeing him hone his own style and figure out what kinds of things work best on him and make him feel his best.

His life is a little different than ours, because he lives in Chicago. He uses his car minimally so he ends up walking more than typical and/or using public transportation. He keeps that in mind, as that tends to make your body temperature rise and fall a bit more than normal especially being a fast walker.

Asos has a bunch of great multipack shirt options, and they aren’t all boring neutral colors. Nick has been snatching up many different colors now that he realized how well their long sleeves fit him. They’re super easy to grab and they look great on.

He paired it with his recently bought jeans that he found at Old Navy. He’d been wanting to try a black pair and these fit the bill. At 6’8 he’s always a bit wary of the length, but Old Navy has come through again and again for him and the stretch in the jeans are always a good thing.

He is a sneakerhead, so he’s always on the lookout for a great new pair of shoes. He’s especially partial to Nikes, and they go up to 15 in some pairs and 14’s in others. They’re always the finishing touch on his look.

Tell us below, where do you shop for the men in your life?

/0 Comments/by
,

There is no Camouflage for Tall

You know we like a good play on words but the title above is so serious too. You’ve got your height and no amount of slouching will ever make you shorter, it will just leave you with bad posture. A big reason we were able to bring this blog to fruition is how we were raised. We are forever grateful to have two tall parents who stressed the importance of standing up straight.

At the risk of sounding like a parent (which I don’t mind) throw your shoulders back and stand up straight no matter how tall you are. It is so disappointing to see people slouching around trying to hide. It makes you feel and look more confident to people and that will only attract more positive confident people back to you.

Even if people are automatically intimidated by you, remember that it’s their personal issue and you shouldn’t have to make yourself smaller to fit them. Obviously you don’t need to walk around trying to intimidate people and get in their faces but being you is nothing to apologize for. I used to take it personally when people would say things like that to me, until I realized it wasn’t my problem. Knowing yourself and your intentions – you should be able to ask yourself, did I act in a intimidating way? If the answer is no, let it go.

Some people might only be making inconsiderate comments to get your attention. In my personal experiences, I will probably not end up friends with you if that was the attempt at a  relationship starter. One of Caitlin’s favorite reminders is that if someone can’t change it within fifteen seconds, don’t mention it.

What we can control on our end is how we act towards others. For Caitlin and I, we’re kind to others until they are rude to us. A lot of people are sorting through personal issues and sometimes they end up projected on tall people because we’re an easy target.

All of that just to talk about wearing camouflage! Apparently that’s a trigger word now haha so beware. We both have loved camo for a long time, probably because of our dad and his love for camo, one of my favorite mini skirts in high school was a camo print one from American Eagle. Flash forward to today and we both finally found camo jackets we love to wear all the time.

I found my version in New York when Caitlin’s friend Kelsey took us to a thrift store and it was super inexpensive and plenty of versions available. I paired it with an easy to wear jersey dress I have from asos mainline. Don’t sleep on their mainline dresses, especially if they’re jersey. Be a little more careful if they’re structured, as the darts etc might not fall correctly on your bust or hips. I also got these gorgeous booties, which have the perfect slight Western vibe that’s in right now from Nordstrom. They have the perfect block heel to comfortably walk in.

Caitlin got her authentic version from our Uncle who actually served in the military. When our Aunt and Uncle were cleaning out their garage and they asked her if she wanted to try them on she couldn’t have said yes quicker! We love coming into items like that because it’s such a fun unique story.  She kept it simple with a black tank worn underneath, as well as some distressed denim. Paired with her go-to converse, you’ve got an easy outfit combo you can reach for over and over again.

We both keep our Mei Li purses in heavy rotation and as I use it daily, I notice and appreciate the great quality more and more. The structured bag is so chic and amazing for not losing items inside a bigger bag like I normally do!

What about y’all, would you rock a thrift store camo jacket? What are your thoughts on trying to camouflage your height? Are there any other items you’ve thrifted and loved?

Jenilees Outfit Details

Caitlin’s Outfit Details

That Real Reel

Sometimes Bae has to step in and help out
And then we just aren’t entirely sure here
/0 Comments/by
,

A Florence Family Experience

Another incredible weekend in the books, and one we’ve been looking forward to for a lonnggg time. Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a devout Florence and the Machine fan and have been since her first album. She used to make the trek to Milwaukee to perform and even started by performing in the humble Rave/Eagles Ballroom, but these days she’s far too popular for any of that. I truly hope her Milwaukee days aren’t behind her, and every year I hold out hope that she’ll be announced as a Summerfest headliner.

Once she announced her US tour dates, it was just a matter of which show we’d end up going to and buying the tickets. My best friend Katie and I have now seen four shows together and I’ve seen five total. The fifth was a crazy trip down to Bonnaroo with Tim, Caitlin, and Sarah (who’s made an appearance or two on the blog). That was their first time seeing her perform and they’ve been hooked. We added a few other first timers to our group for round, including our brother Nick, Katie’s younger sister Sam and Caitlin’s friend Drew.

Here’s where I’ll stop and interject that our average group height was probably around 6’4. Let that sink in for a moment. We had nine of us total and Sarah was the only one under 5’11. I’ll also mention that we had standing floor section “seats.” Guess who weren’t the most popular people attending.

This might be an unpopular post/opinion but I think some people get a little confused on how concerts work, especially the standing section. Everyone logs in and pays the exact same price on Ticketmaster – or if they paid more because they got screwed by a resale price, you get the gist. Then you read the information on the site about pertinent information regarding the concert including what time it starts and what time the doors open, etc.

From there, you can make a series of choices about how your concert experience will go. The first of those being, what time you’ll arrive at said concert. You might factor in who the opening act is, and that’s a fair decision especially if you checked their music out and it didn’t appeal to you.

So let me rewind for a moment and tell you how our experience played out. Being that we all have an immense love for Florence and the Machine, we knew that we had to arrive there before the “show” began, even knowing full well we didn’t want to see the opener. We walked into the floor section and joined the back of the crowd to settle in.

As we waited patiently for her through the opener, other people continue to arrive and obviously it began to fill up. Most people had the appropriate response when arriving and filled in behind others who had arrived there first, while others took the more aggressive approach of trying to fight their way closer. Several people even went so far as to tap our group on the shoulder and ask if they could stand in front of us because their 5’2 girlfriend couldn’t see.

After several times of this happening it became clear that people feel that tall people should stand in the back of the concert. To this I reply: we paid the same amount for the ticket, and in our capitalistic society we controlled what we could control. Do not expect to have a great view of a concert when other people devoted more time to ensuring their view was better. It’s entitled thinking that you should get to walk in and move everyone else out of the way. When you woke up this morning you were aware you were 5’2 and probably at a disadvantage dealing with floor seats regardless.

We love you short and average height people – but get to the concert sooner, or at least don’t take it out on us! We got to the concert and stood in what was the current back of the crowd, and stood three people deep, we didn’t make a wide wall. This is your gentle or probably not so gentle PSA, that there will probably be at least one tall person at the concert you’re attending, and they can’t do anything about their height. They are also there to enjoy the concert.

So, onto the good stuff, the concert attire. There’s always several factors involved with dressing for a concert especially in the Midwest’s with season changes. Knowing the night would be chilly, we knew we had to grab for our leather jackets. Caitlin snagged her Y.A.S. tall leather jacket and layered it over a Rolling Stone’s t-shirt she actually found at American Eagle. She paired it with her distressed denim from Gap and some Converse to keep it comfortable as we knew we’d be standing for hours.

As you can see we pretty much stick to a “concert uniform” especially in colder weather. My version was my Long Tall Sally leather jacket I’ve referenced before, which is cut slightly different than the moto jacket versions we also have, and completely classic. I wore my highwaisted Asos ripped black denim with a leopard print crop top I found from Zara while in New York. I also stuck to the Converse because we’re all for comfort.

That’s all for story time today, let’s hear it in the comments section!

Outfit Details

/0 Comments/by
,

360 Ways to Enjoy Fall

Y’all the fall fun keeps rolling and we’re just along for the ride! As we mentioned in this post, we had a chance to try out some new to us brands in this last post and ended up making some really fun, yummy drinks. We wanted to share with you how we put together a fun little Moscow mule with 360 Vodka.

Our family has loved Moscow mules in different variations for many years now. They’re always such a refreshing drink and the super cute copper mugs are always a plus to drink out of. We mixed these as the original to really get the feel of the 360 Vodka, as we’d never tried it before. What we were most excited about was the cap of the bottle, because they have a program where you can request a prepaid envelope and return the cap of the bottle to be reused. They’re attempting to reduce waste and conserve energy and we love companies that are creative in ways to improve their footprint!

The vodka itself made a smooth addition to the mule, which is unsurprising considering it’s distilled six times and filtered six as well. We actually hadn’t heard of 360 Vodka before this, so we were happy to discover a great new brand to look for on the shelves. We had a beautiful day to sit out in the backyard and enjoy the fall weather before it turns nasty, so we took complete advantage. Our Aunt was sweet enough to help us set up a cute little tablescape to enjoy our drinks (Hi Aunt Susan and thank you).

As for the outfits, I was excited to read that burnt orange is one of the new “in colors” – mainly because I bought this shirt earlier in the summer on clearance and was going to wear it anyway. I was browsing Nordstrom Rack and it seemed like the sleeves were plenty long, so I tried it on and was gratified to find out that was not an illusion. I love me a good lace top and this Free People find fit the bill. Obviously Free People doesn’t make tall clothing but they definitely have been a tall friendly retailer. Their clothing is notorious for being oversized and that includes length, for our benefit.

I threw on some mid-rise distressed Express denim with it and my favorite beige booties. Both of these pieces have been big players in my closet that I can count on. Also, the Free People long sleeve is layered over a nude cami, which is definitely an unspoken hero in my closet. Does anyone else still wear camis? I’m all about having them tucked in, to never worry about my buttcrack showing when I sit down.

Caitlin last styled this black bodysuit here, in one of our very first posts! It is a tall girls dream, with the plenty long sleeves and long enough body length. I don’t think either of us believe in too many bodysuits, especially when the price is good too. They are just so sleek and make you look put together, with minimal effort.

She paired it with her highest waist jeans because the cut of the bodysuit is pretty high up. I know some people are rocking that look with your hips peeking out in between your bodysuit and pant line, but it sure ain’t for us. That’s an area we’d like to keep covered thankyouverymuch. She threw on these loafers because obviously we don’t need to go all out when we’re having a drink at home and voila a super cute look.

Tell us, are you interested in bodysuits at all?

Outfit Details

/0 Comments/by