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Animal Print Mania

We’re here today to celebrate a personal victory. It hit 60 degrees in Wisconsin. It felt good, and it felt right. Our spring wardrobes were cheering in our closets, peeking out to see if it was safe. For a moment, it was. The snow is melting, so everything is currently really grimy and salty outside. Not your typical picture of spring, but we have to go through the muck to get to the beauty!

We stuck with our respective plans for the weekend and I made some delightful Reuben’s at home. I have to confess, I used to avoid the sauerkraut like the plague whenever my mom would make them for us. It was never a problem for me chow down several Reuben’s, but never with sauerkraut. My tastes have clearly evolved, because now I don’t mind it at all. Any foods like that growing up you hated, and now you eat it?

Caitlin and I did get together this weekend and do some blog work. We’re excited to do a sunglasses guide for y’all for the spring. Now that we have regular sun, we’re reaching for ours every morning on our way to work. Are there any other guides you feel like we’re missing? We love to hear requests and try to honor them as best we can!

We are nothing if not consistent on what we like. Animal print has been in heavy rotation for us over and over basically for the third season in a row. We showed you this snakeskin turtleneck dress here last Wednesday, and today we have another mainline find back in leopard print.

The thing about most trends (which we’d love to be remedied); is that they’re so much easier and cheaper to find in regular sizing. Don’t misconstrue, we’ve never had as many tall options as we do today! But a lot of times they’ll do something funky with it or just plain different than the regular sized counterpart, and we’re left wanting. Whenever this happens, I default to the regular sized options.

Sometimes, I can come away with a win, like today’s dress. I found this at H&M browsing online. I typically don’t like to order from their site, because they don’t carry tall options. Ordering online would be a terrible temporary use of money, because it would probably all be returned. Instead, I like to stop in the store and doing a massive try-on session. I usually can come away with several winners, namely in skirts and dresses.

Money saving tip: Whenever you stop into H&M, make sure you bring a bag of clothing you’re getting rid of! They give you a 15% off coupon to use either right away or save it for another shopping trip. Every time I go there and forget to bring a bag, I’m kicking myself!

The sleeves are a elasticized cuff, which works perfectly to be a little short as a bracelet sleeve. Overall the dress is a very ladylike take on leopard print, and I’ve worn it professionally already. I love that the waist is elastic as well, because it nips it in, but is ridiculously comfortable.

I paired with an old pair of my knee high cognac boots from Nordstrom. I’m pretty sure they’re BP brand from years ago. The wedge heel is so comfortable and I love the zipper up the back. I finished it off with these fun gold flower earrings. They’re really lightweight! I also found a three pack of layered necklaces on clearance there as well. I’m hopeless with figuring out how to layer myself so I really appreciate them pairing them for me!

Tell us below, where do you like to still shop in store? Or tell us which food you’ve come around to like since childhood!

Outfit Details

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Don’t Make Mustard Hard

What an odd week it’s been. Daylight Savings happening, along with Instagram/Facebook conveniently crashing. Which hopefully isn’t code for hackers. But so far so good on our end, back to normal programming on our end. Maybe it went down so we could all catch up on our sleep to acclimate from our missed hour. Personally, I don’t have a problem with scrolling before I go to bed. I prefer to read a book and get away from the screen. However, I’m bad about clearing my notifications in the morning when my alarm goes off. That’s definitely something I need to work on! I’m not a morning person, so I’ll spend 10 minutes groggily scrolling and wasting time.

Luckily with the outage, we post almost everything here on our blog as well! The only thing that we tried to share on Facebook yesterday was a mainline bodysuit win. I tried on this bodysuit at the mall and was astounded that it fit and was true to size. So of course we had to share it with y’all. Plus the pot was sweetened with it being 40% off as well and three different colors, including this striped option and this floral option.

We got a few DM’s asking if the white was sheer, and it was a thick enough fabric that I wouldn’t worry about seeing through it. Obviously don’t wear a wild colored bra underneath though haha. (Also, if you don’t follow on Facebook,  that’s where it’s easiest to post sale links right now because we don’t have the swipe up option on Instagram. So go give us a follow if you’re interested in those!)

We’re still working on getting better at doing pictures or videos of in store try-on sessions. If anyone has a specific store that we have in our area, let us know and we’ll try to test it out! In the meantime, take my word that the bodysuit fit my 6’4 frame with ease. The other tops I ended up buying were these mock neck tanks in the plumberry and white. We’ve mentioned before, a lot of their blouses are longer in the body and work well for tall women. The caveat being, only the short sleeves or ¾ sleeve options.

But enough of mainline options for now. Today we have a perfect tall girl sweater. We are very into mustard, and it’s all due to our mom’s love of the hue. If you saw our Instagram story a month or so again about a Nordstrom Rack mainline bodysuit win, we also got that for our mom in Mustard! She always looks incredible when she wears it, and of course we want to emulate that. I last wore this incredible mustard dress of hers here, and then last summer I wore this mustard tank here. Despite the fact that she and Caitlin are more olive skin toned, I think I’m still able to pull it off.

When Caitlin ordered this sweater, she was relieved to find that the sleeves were a great length. The body of the sweater is also not overly long, which makes it great for most mid rise and all high rise jeans/work pants. Y’all know we’re always searching for those versatile pieces and this sweater definitely fits the bill. A great crew neck top, and some drama on the sleeves.

She paired it with her favorite Madewell dark wash jeans and some amazingly beautiful leopard booties from Long Tall Sally-stay tuned for a LTS shoe round up in the near future. She mentioned that next time she wears it she thinks she will add in her favorite Gap flare jeans and a head scarf for a bit of a retro look, how fun!

Here was the best surprise. We want to try to show you the difference in fit between her and I as much as possible going forward. I was happy to see the sleeves were just as awesome of a length on me as well!

Y’all if you made it to the end, we have good news. This sweater and everything else on asos is currently 20% off with code LUCKYME. I know we’ll be shopping this sale, as we’ve been impatiently waiting for a good discount to happen. We’ve added an extra widget below with our favorite finds, snag them before they sell out!

Also, when we make widgets: Would you prefer that we just list everything we like in one? Or would you like us to make one outfit per widget?

Outfit Details

ASOS Sale Finds

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Slaying in Snakeskin

Anyone feeling hit in the face with daylight savings? Can we all just agree not to participate anymore? Caitlin and I were just talking about how unfair it is to “spring forward” unless spring plans to show its face immediately. Today we’re hitting the upper 40’s! That’s a big deal for us, as we’re completely desperate at this point. Anything to melt this snow and get us in the springtime state of mind. We’re drooling over all the springtime pieces being released online already. Luckily we have a couple of upcoming trips to be able to wear them in more amenable climates.

One of the trends for springtime that is really speaking to us, is the utility aesthetic. Think of military inspired, and lots of linen. Along with this, is a lot of neutral colors. There is something so chic and effortless about an all neutral look. Plus it doesn’t hurt anything that a lot of the pieces we’re into are one piece wonders. Whether it’s a jumpsuit or a dress, they sure make getting dressed in the morning an easy task.

The other trend we can’t get enough of, (as evidenced many times this winter) is animal print. Leopard took the top prize for fall/winter, but snakeskin is totally pulling out in front as the neutral print for spring. Say no more, because I’m on board with it. There were a couple of too realistic prints that turned me off of it, like this matching set from Asos. For the most part, it’s one of the more timeless prints you can grab. I have a cowl neck tank I’ve held onto for many years from Express, and I’m already dreaming up different ways to style it.

We last showcased inexpensive Zara dresses here, and today’s snakeskin midi dress is no different. Any time we’re in the Chicago/NYC area, we make sure we hit up Zara for an intense try-on session. Due to them not carrying tall options, we don’t feel particularly confident in their items working. Plus, I’ve tried on enough items in store to realize they haven’t gotten their sizing completely consistent yet.

I ended up grabbing this on our girls trip for my birthday. We all ended up finding some great pieces this time, which usually doesn’t happen! The print was perfect, and when I threw it on, I loved the thickness of the turtleneck. It stands on its own when you fold it down, and is wider than the typical neck-hugging options. Clearly it doesn’t quite hit the midi length on me, but hitting the knee is more than reasonable to be able to wear to work. Unfortunately I didn’t find it anywhere on their site, so it’s probably long sold out. Hopefully some of y’all are lucky enough to live in a city with a local Zara you can stop in and try on!

I paired it with my brown tights, and an older pair of taupe boots I have from Nordstrom. The struggle has been on to find good updated knee high boots. Maybe when winter finally leaves, I’ll be able to find a good pair at a reasonable price. As boots are usually more of an investment piece, at most I can buy a pair a year. If you spend the money on leather boots, and you buy a protectant spray, you can expect them to last a very long time. We just bought this spray here, and it works well and is reasonable.  Plus, when I update my boots, I will definitely be holding out for ACTUAL knee high options, as these aren’t quite making it to the correct spot.

Tell us below, do you still wear knee-high boots? If so, where do you find your options? (Also – anyone trying to post a comment, the issue is fixed!)

Other Snakeskin Options

A lot are tall sizing – scroll through!

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No Luck Necessary for St. Patrick’s

Pretty sure they only have these holidays so often, is so that we’re distracted by the fact that winter is still showing it’s ugly mug around these parts. Add in some cute decorations and some themed drinks and consider us fully attentive to said holiday. Bring it on St. Patrick’s Day!

Every year Caitlin has gone to our Milwaukee area Shamrock Shuffle. I used to attend it with her, it just doesn’t hold the same appeal to me as it once did! We haven’t made it down to our sister city (Chicago) for their St. Patrick’s festivities, but we’ve heard they’re legendary. They leave no detail to chance, including dying the river green! We can’t wait to hear about our brothers weekend in Chicago after the festivities!

They always hold the Shamrock Shuffle much earlier than the real holiday (Maybe to help monetize two “holiday” weekends?) so that still leaves us both open for the holiday itself. Caitlin has mentioned that she may use her Pub Pass with some friends to hit up a few local breweries. If you haven’t heard of the Pub Pass yet and like craft beer, you should check out their website to see if they are in your city. It’s a great price and lets you try out new places, Caitlin loves it!

Even though I don’t get as excited as most for this holiday, I do love a good Reuben. Maybe Tim and I will try to find one around the city or make them ourselves. Or if we are lucky, maybe my mom will want to get together and make them together, yum!

It makes a lot of sense then, that our go-to shop for St. Patrick’s day is run out of Chicago. The Taylor Wolfe Shop isn’t new to this blog. You might remember we featured her on small business Saturday in our holiday guides. We picked up a super cute Stay Merry Sweatshirt that is perfect for the holiday season. I only wish we had discovered her sooner, because she has a great selection of married/engaged t-shirts that would have been perfect for all the festivities.

When Caitlin saw the fresh drop for St. Patrick’s Day, she was instantly inspired to buy some decorations at the dollar store and have a fun time being festive! I’ll hop on my budget soapbox for a second. Any time we create little vignettes for parties or just for some pictures etc, we always check the dollar store first. Most cities have some variation you can check out. We all know that the chance of reusing most party supplies is slim to none. Balloons because they deflate over time, streamers because they’re a pain in the butt to try to re roll without ruining. You get the picture. Don’t go to Target or wherever and get ripped off. Hopping back off now.

Every time we see an incredible set that someone designed the knee jerk reaction is usually a little of jealousy. Like, why can’t we have something incredible like that? Instead of sitting and pouting about it, we take it and fit it into our lives. That means on a budget first and foremost, and hopefully y’all are taking that into consideration when looking at pictures or scrolling through Instagram.

Suffice to say, when we put on the t-shirt and sweatshirt, we were instantly in a better mood, and ready to have some fun! We did a drop or two of green food coloring in our beers and instantly felt festive! We had been talking to Hailey of Get it Got it Go in regards doing a collaboration and we figured what better time than over all things green and fun?

Peep all the fun pics below and tell us if you make any festive plans for St. Patrick’s Day!

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The Tall Lace Top of our Dreams

It’s Friday, and it’s basically Caitlin’s birthday week! Last night we went to one of the top rated restaurants in town (per Yelp), called Odd Duck. Small plates have become a big hit in Milwaukee. You won’t catch us arguing about that progression, it’s for good reason. Who hasn’t caught themselves from reaching over and taking a bite of their neighbors plate? Why should we have to limit ourselves to one delicious item off the menu, when we can sample 3 or 4 or more? Caitlin has definitely brought me around to the beauty of even splitting your order at a regular plates restaurant, so you can still try two different entrees!

We had an awesome time with incredible food, and we ended it with our favorite dessert drink – the Grasshopper, at At Random. They are known for being a quirky menu cocktail bar, and they just underwent some renovations. They’re better than ever! Have we convinced you that Milwaukee should be on your list of places to visit in the US yet? We’ll probably never stop sharing our love of our lesser known city. In the meantime, let us direct your attention back to Height of Fashion.

We’re back today to round out your wardrobe with an incredible lace blouse. On Wednesday Caitlin shared her new favorite boyfriend blazer. She wore it again this week to work, and I told her we need to do another post showcasing the versatility of it. The next time being worn professionally instead of casually. She got so many compliments on it! It’s the best feeling when you feel cool, but you’re also ridiculously comfortable in what you’re wearing.

Height of Fashion was founded by the gorgeous Natalie Matthews. As with a lot of our tall retailers, she stands tall herself at 6’3. We wouldn’t want our garments made by anyone else, than someone who has dealt with ill-fitting clothing herself. We can tell by the pieces we ordered, that Matthews truly put the time and energy in making sure the clothing would be well-fitting to our tall bodies.

She strove to design clothing that would make us feel confident and sophisticated. I must say, job well done. Long had I had been stalking her items, before I first purchased. I think a lot of the hesitancy came from it being an Australian company. By that, I mean different country, different sizing. Rest assured, they have a size guide and for us it was pretty true to size. I’d say when in doubt, you can size down. You don’t even have to consider sizing up for worrying about length. WE LOVE THAT. (However, Caitlin did end up sizing up for the blazer since she wanted a true oversize fit and our shoulders are larger than most)

The best way to encapsulate Height of Fashion is that they provide amazing on trend pieces for tall women, but will stand the test of time. Whether it’s a an updated print in a timeless silhouette, or just providing the basic options we’re all yearning for – they go the distance for us!

Back to this blouse. The price was ridiculously good, and the sleeve length looked legit. One thing I will have unfailing appreciation for as well, is the use of actual tall models. Matthews’ keeps good company with some pro Australian basketball players, and they model the designs on the site. We received it, and I couldn’t believe how lightweight it was, but still an amazing sturdy lace design. The sleeves really didn’t disappoint! Plus it’s a ridiculously good price right now, under $25!!

Caitlin at 5’11, had so much extra sleeve that the blouse looked completely different, as a bubble sleeve. She loved the look! We both also like the button details on the sleeve and neck. She paired hers with a some of her newer Gap jeans which you can also see styled in one of our Amalli Talli Posts here. And to complete her look she added some black booties that she snagged from The Nordstrom Rack. These were a HUGE win for her with having a heel yet still being so comfortable. We both also popped on an Express cami underneath. We have both had excellent luck with their cami’s in length, and quality.

I finally had picked up a new pair of black jeans from Gap. They had been on my list to replace, since the pair from Asos weren’t the most comfortable. I bought these for our mom for her birthday, and she has gotten good use out of them. I waited for them to go on sale, and then I snatched them up. They have a good amount of stretch, the only downside is them picking up a good amount of lint. I wore them with my easy black booties which are Circus by Sam Edelman. Speaking of, Clear the Rack at Nordstrom Rack is on now. I saw a couple of cute options for larger shoe sizes!

We took advantage of this Groupon for Drybar (for any of our Milwaukee area ladies) for this shoot. We last told you about our wonderful experiences with them here. If only the weather/wind would have been kind to us as well, but Spring, we are coming for you!

If you’re interested in checking out Height of Fashion for yourself, we have a code for 10% off full priced items use REALTALLBABES in all caps. They have an amazing selection right now. Just be aware when you check out, it switches the  US dollar to Australian dollar, but the cost is still the converted US dollar.

Tell us below, have you purchased from any companies from different countries? If not, what is stopping you from doing it?

Outfit Details

Blouses are linked above in text!

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