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London Calling

If you missed it, we visited London over Memorial Day weekend! Our first post can be read here. We’re back with Day 2 of our whirlwind surprise trip, today. The jet lag caused us to be slow-moving, so we drank some french press coffee as we got ready for the day. Once we got out the door, we made our first stop at Paul’s which is a local franchised bakery/coffee shop. Definitely had to grab all varieties of croissants. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so we sat outside and sipped our Americano coffee and munched our pain au chocolat and almond croissants.

Once fortified by the baked goods, we hopped on the tube to get to Camden for the Camden Market. It is such a funky, colorful area. We spent many hours wandering through it, in and out of the little stalls eyeing the little trinkets and wares. Caitlin called me over and to my excitement found a perfectly distressed vintage Levi denim jacket. I bartered the seller down a bit, and it was mine! If you’re on the hunt for a jean jacket, head to your local thrift shop or Goodwill. Don’t think twice about hitting up the men’s section. Jean jackets are completely unisex, and all the different fits are “in” right now anyway. Suffice to say I wasn’t going to find a women’s size that fit me this well.

After I bought my dream of a jean jacket, we continued on through the market to find some sustenance. We had heard about Honest(?) burgers and there happened to be a mini restaurant/stall in the market. You know we had to grab one and check it out. As someone who loves a burger, I was duly impressed. We also split some fish and chips for the authentic London experience. There are so many little shops to wander through, you can easily take up the bulk of your day there. Before we left, we stopped in a brewery that was on the second level. Whenever traveling, Caitlin enjoys finding some local breweries and we enjoyed an IPA.

On such a lovely day, we felt compelled for a wander through one of the many beautiful parks London has. Regent Park was close enough and in the same direction as our Airbnb. We ended up strolling through and then stopping for a bit of people watching on a bench. One of my favorite things in new cities is seeing different fashion and especially how people mix fashion and functionality when they’re doing heavier walking than our driving-centric city.

We did a bit of research on dinner that night and settled on Indian Food. In Milwaukee, we don’t have a lot of options and we had heard London was renowned for their restaurants. Dishoom seemed the obvious choice via Yelp. A side note, Yelp doesn’t seem to have a huge standing in London. Might want to check different apps for food research like OpenTable or the like. But Yelp came through for us on this find. It was a moody, almost speakeasy-like vibe. Maybe it had to do with being seated in the basement. Totally a lovely intimate spot. We ordered a bunch of small plates again and tried everything to our heart’s desire. All the recommendations our waiter made were spot on, and we had a wonderful experience. We would recommend in a heartbeat.

After dinner, we were in the mood for some ice cream. Being in the theater district, we headed down the street and found a Gelato place rather quickly. As we were enjoying the flavors, we noticed there were several pubs in the immediate vicinity. What better way to round out the night than grabbing a cocktail? We walked in and immediately found a perfectly place table (or so we thought). After we settled in with our drinks, we realized we were next to a bachelor or as they say Stag party. They were having a GOOD time, aka they were feeling the booze. Before we knew it, they were basically sitting at our table with us, talking about mainly about our height and more oddly, hand size. They were equal parts enamored with it and seemingly terrified.

Encounters of that sort have a bewildering feeling. You’re never sure if you’re being celebrated for your height or insulted. At least that’s my feelings on it. You can hardly reason with someone that inebriated but we did our best to correct them at opportune moments. All in all, it was a unforgettable night of laughs out in London! Stay tuned for the rest of our trip.

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Just Touched Down in London Town

We are going to try and compose ourselves throughout this post but the excitement may just be too real. We dropped a few breadcrumbs over the past month that we were going on a surprise trip. Our aunt asked for our passports, got us to clear the time off at work and y’all – that’s ALL WE KNEW. We pestered her throughout the next few months to try and finagle any details we could but we came up short with any new info.

So let’s dive into the beginning of the trip, shall we? We all worked a half-day the Thursday we left and then rendezvoused at our Aunt Susan’s house in matching outfits and with our luggage in tow. We had a driver pick us up (how fancy!!) and drive us to Chicago O’Hare. At this point, we still had no clue where we were going so we just chatted away mindlessly until we arrived at the airport.  Once we were out of the car our mom starting recording and Aunt Susan casually asked us to hold a book that was in her bag. “Top things to do in London” was the title and we were both beside ourselves!

With not much time to celebrate the knowledge, we headed inside to check in and make our way through security.  While we waited we perused the book so we could start deciding on top attractions. As we were boarding we learned that we would be flying on the largest commercial flight, the aptly named Airbus. It was so big it had two floors. Half of us went down one tunnel to the upstairs and the other half through a different to head below. We flew British Airways and it was phenomenal. We got front row seats on the entire flight there, hello leg room! The flight attendants were darling and we cannot stress that enough, it was a pleasure chatting with them.

We all “got ready for bed”, took some Tylenol PM, and Dramamine for some of us and settled into sleep overnight. We arrived around 10:45 London time and took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station so we could hop on a tube to our Airbnb. It’s always fun for us learning to navigate through other cities transit systems since in comparison Milwaukee is so much smaller. We checked in and they told us we had somewhere to be at 3 and that we needed to look nice.

Our makeup was being frantically applied, lots of chugging water, and fixing our hair. Coincidentally (or not), we both found ourselves in Asos jumpsuits. We made our way back to the tube (briskly) in an unknown direction. We started walking the wrong way due to a new navigation app. It caused a bit of a loop around before we found ourselves in front of the Greater London House. It was a big bustling building with huge dog statues out front. They kept asking if we knew where we were. We had no idea!

Once we got inside we both immediately noticed “ASOS” printed all over the place. Shock and confusion set in quickly. Why are we here? HOW are we here? What is going on???????? They still wouldn’t tell us anything except to sit and wait for Olivia. Olivia promptly greeted us and took us back to their showroom. We walked through racks of clothing until we arrived at two racks they had pulled for us to try on. Our Aunt and Mom had arranged all of this and they looked at our blog to pull some bits they thought we would like. At this point, we needed to be pinched because this was such an unreal experience.

We quickly started throwing hangers over our arms and trying on anything and everything, it. Was. the. Best. We can’t compare this type of excitement to anything! We are flabbergasted and feel so spoiled after experiencing this. There is no way we will ever forget our time at ASOS.  

Once we left we could slow our roll a bit for the rest of the night to catch all of our breath. After finding our subway stop, we stopped by the grocery store and grabbed some essentials for our place: beer, wine, cheese, coffee, and fruit. Is our Wisconsin showing? We quickly made our way to the patio and enjoyed many glasses of wine and some snacks.

Once we relaxed enough, we changed our clothing and headed to dinner. It was a small plates restaurant that Olivia had recommended. We all chose a few plates and enjoyed the food, drinks, and company. It was a full first day, so we were all pretty exhausted. We headed back to our Airbnb and got some rest. Stay tuned for the next few days in our next blog post!

Have you ever been to London? We want to know what you thought of it if you have been! You can check the first few days outfit details below!

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A Bodysuit to Make You Want to Rock

It’s a bit ironic that we shot this look over lunch in March, and we’re still enjoying the same type of weather a month later. Pretty light on the sunshine in these parts. We’re staying optimistic though, that we’ll enjoy a great weekend of weather. We’re celebrating our Dad’s 60th birthday this weekend with a family dinner tonight, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD (not that he’ll read this haha.) Then I’m hopeful that I can plant my vegetable garden this weekend. Better late than never! Does anyone plant a garden? If so, we’d love to know what you like to plant, let us know in the comments!

The same time I bought my beloved Queen bodysuit, I also found this graphic gem of a bodysuit. It should come as no surprise to you I love bodysuits. We are constantly on the lookout for bodysuits, both tall and mainline sizing. Because I had been stalking the queen bodysuit and knew that it would be a toss up on sizing, I snagged another option to get free shipping. Caitlin just ordered a mainline bodysuit from Express-stay tuned to find out if it’s a win!

This will probably be the extent of me hopping on the neon trend bandwagon. I love seeing it on others, but I know that it is pretty pointless in my own closet. Plus, those bright hues can be suspect on some people’s skin tones. But if you’re feeling it, grab all the neon your heart desires! It’s funny how being an adult and having to work in a semi-professional setting effects fashion choices. If I can’t get multiple uses out of something, it’s probably a bad buy.

We have casual Fridays at work, which means I can wear jeans. I actually wore this exact look minus the leather jacket and with the flannel buttoned up. Talk about a look that can take you from your desk to drinks to a concert. It’s funny because just wearing the flannel buttoned up is a totally different vibe and very demure. Once you unbutton with the bodysuit, it takes on that rocker chic look, or even tie it around your waist once you get warm (if attending said imagined concert).

I paired it with an old pair of Express denim. They do have tall sizing. I’d say it’s really on the cusp of working perfectly for me. The length leaves a little to be desired but they are very comfortable. If you’re considering a pair, they have the newer perfect curves and I’ve consistently worn a size 10 with ease. You can definitely tell the difference of the cut, having more space in the hip/butt area without an outrageous waist gap.

If we’re continuing on the vein of the concert, I like my odds finishing off the look with sneakers. Tall tip, which most of you probably know: take a look in the men’s sneaker section. More and more sneakers are unisex, including our beloved Converse. I found these at Nike in the men’s section as well. Just note that the standard sizing is 1.5 sizes smaller than women’s. So I normally wear a women’s size 13, but I would buy a men’s 11.5. But nothing worse than wearing a pair of really cute uncomfortable shoes and be in agony by the end of the concert from standing for 3+ hours. This tip also works extremely well with Vans slips ons.

Lastly I want I talk about my leather jacket. You’ve definitely seen it on the blog before, and you’ll see it many, many more times in the future. It’s an investment piece, and it’s not going anywhere. It has the classic timeless cut, and I’ve gotten so much wear out of it. I’m so thankful my husband (but boyfriend at the time) got it for me for my birthday. As you can tell, it fits this tall girl like a dream. The shoulders have long been a trouble spot for fit, and I never have to worry about it pulling when I reach for anything. Long Tall Sally is the place to find a timeless leather jacket. Click here for one great leather jacket, or click here for similar to mine.

All in all, this outfit can take you far beyond a concert. It’s a season crossing outfit because of the layers. The flannel is older from Old Navy. I will note that the sleeves don’t quite do it for me and I won’t endorse their flannels as the ideal fit. As mentioned above, the shoulders still don’t quite work either without sizing up. Maybe if your shoulders are smaller or arms shorter than mine, the fit will be ideal!

Anyway, have a fabulous first weekend of Summer! Sound off below about what you’re planting in your garden, or what your go-to concert outfit is.

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Our Love For Gingham is Endless

Just yesterday was Memorial Day. We moved the post to today, as most people are off of work and probably getting in some friend or family time. Maybe you took advantage and took some alone time to recharge your batteries. Whatever the case may be, hopefully it was a good day for you. A lot of people think of it as a kick off to summer or a three day weekend. Our weekend isn’t technically over yet, because we get back in town tonight from our mystery trip. If you follow along on Instagram, you probably already know where we are!

Although we’re all guilty of getting caught up in making special plans, because we have a full extra day off work (typically); we’re working harder this year and every year to honor the reason behind the holiday. Memorial Day is set aside to honor those who have died in service to their country. It is no small feat to have enlisted in any of our armed forces, and we are forever grateful to live in a country that people lay down their lives to keep our freedoms. If any of our fellow readers are active or retired from service, we want to send you a huge thank you! We’re honored by your sacrifice. Thank you for your service to our country.

Memorial Day being the unofficial kick-off to summer means summer fashion is out in full force. The Midwest is forever playing catch up to the South as far as being able to wear our warmer weather clothing. We’re totally guilty of forcing clothing that the weather won’t cooperate with. But no regrets here! There’s only 4 months at most where we’ll be able to enjoy bare legs and tank tops. We’re taking full advantage.

What better way to embrace summer than bring out the gingham? Caitlin kicked it off last week with the cutest blue gingham top from Madewell. Check it out here if you missed it! Today we’re back trying to practice what we preach. Number 1, that we do love us some gingham as much as we indicated last year. Number 2, that we will always be outfit repeaters. There will always be some items that you can’t repeat as often – IE wedding guest dresses. But as for the rest, it’s got to do some work in your closet to earn it’s cost.

I always worry about buying patterned anything, because I wonder if I’ll be able to come up with enough to remix it. But black and white is totally effortless, and I’ve learned that these shorts will be worn again and again. They’re 4 inch inseam, plus high waisted. The high waist is so flattering, plus the zip up the size keeps it looking streamlined. Plus there has got to be some sorcery in the stretchy material, I could wear these to sleep in. Our go-to for Summer dressing has to be a bodysuit. The tucked in look with no weird bagginess or hems popping out always wins out.

Caitlin had the inspiration behind these looks, due to browsing Pinterest. We really enjoy fashion, but we’re not always the most creative on our own. So cue heading to Pinterest for some ideas. Some looks just show up on your feed and you realize you have all the pieces to effectively recreate. This is exactly what happened, and it came together perfectly. This gingham skirt is also from last year, and the perfect length for tall women. The one shoulder bodysuit is tall and works on both of us. I wore it last here. You have seen the bodysuit I am wearing in black on Caitlin and we can guarantee you will keep seeing it. If you’re in the market for a solid tank bodysuit this one comes in black, white, and our beloved olive green for under $20!

Needless to say, gingham is a versatile and timeless print that won’t be making an exit anytime soon. We’re on board with that, and will continue to add pieces to our summer wardrobes. Maybe we’ve inspired you to do the same! But if nothing else, hopefully you’re purchasing pieces that will be worn and re-worn again and again. It doesn’t make you cool to wear a piece once and trash it. If that’s ideal to you, try renting a wardrobe! Share your thoughts with us below!

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Work Pants That Work

One question we get asked frequently is for help with work pants. Combined we have been working in business casual, business professional and casual settings for over 10 years so we have had plenty of experience shopping around. However, at this point I think I am ready to fully endorse Express as my go to work pant. I have tried  Old Navy, Asos, Gap, Banana Republic, etc. I don’t want you to misconstrue this as me saying I dislike these ones, they just aren’t my favorite. Let me dive into this a little more to hopefully eliminate confusion.

Old Navy was the first place I went when I got my “Big Girl Job” and I was smitten with their pixie pants. I loved that they were more modern and let’s say young. As a 22 year old entering the workforce I wasn’t wild about wearing slacks every day. These were great for a while until they quickly become misshapen, stretched out and very worn looking. At this point I decided I was done purchasing pixies from them. I do have some traditional slacks from them that have held up much better. At 5’11 I will say they are even a little bit long on me with flats.

I have numerous pairs of culottes from Asos but to be honest that is all I have tried from them. I love them all and can’t stop buying them in multiple colors! I did size up with the first pair I ever ordered thinking “Those won’t fit how they are supposed to on my athletic legs.” Then I had to have them taken in. Stay true to size with Asos and they should fit like a dream. I will also mention that the quality here has been top notch to me. There is no pilling, no wear, no stretching. I have to add in how much we both love our Asos skirts, I can’t get enough of the midi styles they offer!

I tried a few pairs of pixie pants from Gap as well (they are a sister company to Old Navy for those that don’t know). And they appear to hold up much better. My gingham pants from this post are Gap and show little to no signs of wear.  I also have a pair of leopard ones which only show a little bit of color fading on the seam. Overall they are better than Old Navy and I would still consider pixies from Gap.

Now when it comes to Banana Republic i’m going to be in honest in saying that I have only accepted work pants from here in the form of hand-me-downs. I never have issues doing this to be clear, it’s just how I ended up with them. I have some khakis as well as some skinny cords and love them both! They have been great for me even after my mom wore them for years!

Now onto the main event, Express. I have always had a few pairs of Express slacks on rotation. I just love the fit and most of the time, the quality as well. I started with just typical black flare slacks. One pair I have had and worn regularly on rotation for 6 years and it the quality hasn’t lessened. The other the hems have both come out multiple times which is slightly frustrating.

Jenilee ordered some columnist pants in Marigold and Olive last year and unfortunately they both ended up being awkwardly short on her so I did what we do best. I immediately bought them from her. Her sad loss was my huge win. These became my new favorite pants. If only it were more acceptable to wear marigold every single week. I ended up adding a pair of black columnists to the collection soon after.

For each pair of them I own I will say I sized up 1, because I pretty much had to! I also have these two pairs of paper bag work pants that I wear as often as possible as well. Again-I sized up one. My roommate who is in the regular length has also had issues with workwear sizing at Express ranging between three sizes. So maybe it’s just who they are? So all in all I would say if you’re 5’10-6’1 you’re probably going to have great success with the pants from Express. If you are 6’2 and above maybe try the full length as ankle pants!

We have had some messages asking if we disclose our sizes. The answer is always yes. We may not write it outright in a post; however, if you are wondering we are also more than happy to disclose what size we got (compared to our typical sizes). We’ll also include recommendations from other retailers. Please never be afraid to ask for help with anything we love hearing from you and trying to help!

I really hope this helped some of y’all with navigating through the work pant problems we have all faced. I want to point out that since I am only 5’11 I understand that this may not help all of you who are truly what we would consider “tall.” We refer to me as being a small tall for a reason, which is that I don’t always struggle as much as others. For example, I myself, would never claim to be a true tall blogger if I wasn’t part of a duo with Jenilee. She brings so much value to this blog as well as all of you! I know I play my part and have taken such joy in hearing from some followers who say they are my exact build but we urge you to take into consideration whose advice you are taking as “tall bloggers.” We both feel blessed to be able to work as a team to double our knowledge, advice, and outlooks! With that being said, if you want to essentially see this exact type of post written by Jenilee – drop a line below! And then enjoy the heck out of your weekends!

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