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We’re With The Band

We are in quite a whirlwind over here these days. Maybe it’s just Jenilee but it feels like both of us to me. As you may have seen here and here she was recently in New York City for a weekend, then she popped up to grace us with her presence for 4 days and hit the road again for a (Belated) 30th Birthday with in NOLA with our brother. I am so glad she is back today, I missed my workout partner! Stay tuned for a new travel guide on their trip soon. She has been giving me quite the travel bug. Thankfully it is my turn Easter weekend!

Meanwhile I have been in town for almost a month straight; which is phenomenal to me. I found myself deep in the throes of spring cleaning last weekend. I cleaned out the wrapping paper chest, scoured the bathrooms/kitchen, cleaned out my closet, dressers, our puzzle/candle cabinet, and even the basement. It was a lot of work over the weekend but I am feeling extremely refreshed and ready for spring. Speaking of which; the sunshine came out to play yesterday, and we were finally able to open our windows for the first time since September. It was amazing to finally get some fresh air into our house. It already looks like some of our plants are doing better as the weather warms up! Do any of y’all get crazy into Spring cleaning like me?

I have Marie Kondo in the back of my mind lately but I am honestly just not sure if her lifestyle if cut out for me (ha!). I have been very consistent about getting rid of items, but I just don’t think a minimalist life is for me. Take into consideration I haven’t watched her show or read her books. I just have a basic concept of what she coaches people to do. But if I am being honest, I like having the same Patagonia Quarter Snap in 6 colors, and I wear them! That’s just one example, but I think too many pieces of clothing bring me joy.

Anywho let’s dive into our love affair with band tees. So for me it all started while I was shopping with my mom at H&M in West Palm Beach a few years back. I saw an oversized Ramones shirt for $10 and felt extremely compelled to purchase it, and then wear it every single opportunity possible. It’s been worn to concerts, camping, lounging around, to bars etc. I got a shockingly large number of compliments (and still do) which kind of spiraled me into owning #allthebandtees. Stay tuned for an outfit featuring this Ramones shirt soon, but for today we are going to stick to the Rolling Stones.

Is it just me or do you feel like the Rolling Stones have shirts everywhere? H&M, American Eagle, Target, Amazon, etc. All of a sudden it’s like they are mass producing the iconic tongue and lip design everywhere. Do they just keep making them and think everyone out here is like “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” from the 50 shirts on the market? Sorry couldn’t help myself there.

American Eagle got me when they had a big sale. I lit up the Rolling Stone shirts and was inspired to do an entire post dedicated to them. So here we are. I took the first one and tried a new look for me and paired this rainbow one with a skirt and some booties and let me tell you I was feeling it. You can also see a another outfit combo featuring this skirt here.

Jenilee paired this yellow Rolling Stones one with some faux leather jeans, some sling backs, and her favorite Ray-Bans. This would be the perfect look for literally any concert, a night out or just a Saturday you want to feel like a bad a$$ lady! Anytime you add leather leggings I just feel like the outfit is set up for success.  You can also see how I previously styled this tee for a Florence and The Machine Concert here.

Since the first two looks are a little dressier, I went a bit more casual for my second look. I popped on both of our favorite jeans, a classic black bomber, my slip on sneakers and this subtle Rolling Stones Tee. The best part is that this one is washed out and designed to look faded. I initially thought it was red/blue online. Surprise, it is actually orange and blue which is still totally fine by me.

Lastly Jenilee paired the last one, with some distressed white denim, and Nike’s. The tshirt happens to be a mens medium TALL (AE Hack: shop the men’s graphics for tall sizes!). You’ll see a ton of our new go to hat, which you can also see styled here. We have both been loving how a simple hat can transform any outfit!

I feel like all of the outfits above would be killer street style looks that could take you from day, to night, concert, to dinner. Hopefully you dig these types of looks as much as we do. We have a lot more where that came from with band tees. Do you own any? We would love more style inspiration if you have other suggestions?  Hope you are all having an amazing week!

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New York Spring Guide Day #2

Hoping y’all appreciated Day 1 of my New York Spring Guide. If you missed it, you can click here to catch up. Otherwise I also wrote a guide when we went in the Fall if you’re interested in even more information. You can find that here. I forgot to mention, we walked off our dinner through Times Square on Friday night. It’s always fun to see the crazy crowds and all the bright lights!

After we got a great night of sleep, we were raring to get out and explore on Saturday morning. First things first, we had to grab another bagel and lox, because New York! We stopped at Bagels and Schmear, which is a small shop but dang were those sandwiches good. We took them to-go, because seating was limited. Luckily the day was beautiful and we ended up walking a block or two down to Madison Square Park and sitting on a park bench. Madison Square Park also is abutted by the Flatiron building, which is a iconic historical building. It’s named for its unique triangular shape and has been standing since 1902.

Once breakfast was consumed and all the excess cream cheese cleaned off our faces, we continued west to the Highline. We were there a little to early in the season to really catch anything in bloom, but it’s worth a stroll. You can go the full distance, which is almost 1.5 miles, or you can exit whenever you’re done. The Highline is a converted freight train line, and although we avoided it our first few visits (because we’re from Wisconsin and we figured how cool could this path be), I’ve come to appreciate it. It does get crowded with tourists like the Brooklyn Bridge, so people might stop in front of you abruptly for pictures, so stay alert.

We were trying to find the Hudson Yard new sculpture and somehow couldn’t find it or just missed it. If you’re heading there, it looks pretty incredible and you have to reserve your ticket two weeks in advance to climb up it, you can check it out here.

We kept walking down 7th street and wandered through Greenwich Village, through Soho, and Tribeca, to finally get to the World Trade Center area. We walked through and stopped at the memorials, but we didn’t feel like we had enough time to devote to going inside the Museum. I’ve heard nothing but people saying it’s worth taking the time, so another trip I will definitely prioritize it.

After all that walking we were pretty hungry. We took the subway back up to our hotel and decided we’d eat a late lunch because our show was at 8 p.m. with a dinner reservation after. Sarge’s Deli was the winner, and their prices weren’t cheap, but keep in mind you’re easily able to split a sandwich. They are HUGE. Tim and I had the Reuben (but with pastrami) and matzo ball soup. Both were delicious and filling. Plus they bring out a bowl of pickles and coleslaw for the table. That was a delightful touch.

From there we headed back to the hotel to put our feet up for a little bit. I tried wearing my Mom’s Vans that are slip-ons and did it without insole inserts the first day. That was a mistake! My feet were definitely hurting the whole trip, so I can’t stress enough – pick the right shoes to bring!

We had a little cocktail hour on the rooftop again with beers we grabbed from Duane Reade down the street. It was so lovely! Then we all changed and freshened up for our Broadway show, which was Waitress. I thought the show was entertaining, didn’t really love the whole “affair” storyline, but definitely a fun show.

Originally we had made a reservation for 10:15 or maybe 10:30, once the show started we realized we miscalculated on timing and canceled it and updated to 10:45. Luckily we ate at Trattoria Trecolori which unbeknownst to us (when we made the reservation) was next door to the theater! I was a little concerned that it was just highly rated from tourists and being in a heavily trafficked area, but everything we ate there was great and the service was nice as well!

We hoofed it back to our hotel in time to still pass out from the food coma!

Sunday we woke up and packed up our bags to checkout. Most hotels allow you to check your bags for the day, and we always like to take advantage and fly out later to make the most of the day. In our search for good brunch, we came across The Smith, which has several locations in NYC. We had made a reservation for one location and ended up realizing we were closer to the other location. Because we got there at 9:30 we had no problem walking in and getting a table. By 10 a.m. the place was full. For good reason, it was worth the hype! We shared a plate of pancakes with the table, and I got their breakfast pot pie. Everything I tasted on our groups plates was tasty as well.

When we were done with brunch we went outside and discovered the weather had changed. We stuck with our plans to head to Central Park, and got up to the Bethesda Fountain/Terrace before the rain hit. Others had the same idea of camping out under the terrace area, and finally we got sick of waiting and headed back towards 5th Avenue. Y’all knew I had to do some more shopping. We occupied the next few hours popping in and out of shops.

Hunger overtook us, so we stopped into the New York Public Library (because you know me and books), and then continued back to our hotel to grab some pizza from a place called Slice that was a block from us. We had to try some random pizza by the slice, because every other time I’ve visited, I’ve always gone to sit-down restaurants. From there we went back to the hotel and grabbed our bags and headed to the airport.

It was a whirlwind of a trip, but we covered A LOT of ground for three days time. Let me know in the comments below, if you have any questions or think I missed anything.

Saturday I ended up wearing a bodysuit I got from H&M. As soon as I saw the Queen logo on it, I had to have it. I paired it with my favorite pair of button front jeans from Gap and topped it with a mainline bomber from Asos. I was definitely warm enough for the day! Again I wore Vans on my feet and like noted above, this time with insoles in them! Saturday night I wore a dressier long sleeve bodysuit and my coated jeans I last wore here, with pointed toe flats to our show.

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New York Spring Guide Day #1

New York and I have been in a relationship now for several years. I’d say we’re past the initial awkward dates where you’re not sure if you like each other yet. We’ve definitely moved into that next phase, where you’ve become comfortable and you’d like to see each other as much as possible. As I’m on a budget, that’s typically at best once a year. It’s been enough to hold me over, but not be overkill. I know a lot of others who’ve been to New York get me completely on my feelings, and I’m happy to share the city with whoever!

It was the first time I visited in the spring, and it was also the first time I visited without my Mom. Taking Tim (my husband) for the first time was so fun. I felt like I had a good enough handle on the city to get us around for the most part, aside from walking in the wrong direction initially after surfacing from the subway. We contemplated taking the subway in when we arrived, but ultimately stuck with Uber because we didn’t want to deal with the extra time it would take. Our ride in ended up being only like 20 minutes, probably because rush hour had passed.

We stayed at the Wyndham Midtown 45, and I loved it. We had to use up points before they expired, so we ended up doing a two bedroom/two bathroom that had a kitchenette as well. It was beautiful! We loved that we had space so each couple could have their own bathroom for getting ready. It was also in a nice central spot, without being with all the other tourists in Time Square. We were able to check in right away, which was clutch. From there we set out to do the most important thing, namely grabbing a bagel and lox.

Ess-A-Bagel is right down the street from the hotel, and as we approached we realized we’d have to contend with a line. We did some checking around on Yelp and decided to stay put. We ended up having delicious everything bagel sandwiches with lox. I didn’t get their signature because I didn’t want the tomatoes, capers, and onions. My husband did and he really enjoyed it. After we ate our fill, we headed out to do some serious walking.

Whenever we’re visiting New York we know we’ll be doing a least 7+ miles a day. There is no better way (in my opinion) to enjoy the city, than strolling the streets and exploring the different Burroughs. We walked through Chinatown and Little Italy and popped in and out of shops. We made our way down to SoHo area, mainly to do some shopping. If you’re headed that way, Spring Street and Broadway is a good cross street full of stores to branch out from. Once we were done there, we stopped at Nordstrom Rack hoping to find a bigger selection than at home. I was tempted by some navy kitten-heeled slingbacks, but they could wait!

We got back to our hotel to wait for Dave, who had to fly separate because he had to work Friday. Luckily our hotel had a wine/cheese happy hour and we held off our appetites easily with a rooftop view. Once he arrived, he settled in and we set out for dinner. One thing I’ve experienced is several places are similar names right next door to each other. So we showed up to the Thai place for dinner and they didn’t have our reservation. After we had gotten seated and ordered, they realized it was for next door. It was still tasty, but odd that they are split into two spots.

We were pretty tired from an early morning flight, so we headed back to the hotel to get some rest because we knew we’d hit it hard the next day. Stay tuned for what we did Saturday, and tell me about your New York Trips in the comments below!

The outfit I wore is a great travel uniform. Whenever I travel I make sure I have layers on. I had a white tank from Walmart (super long and cheap!), with a tall chambray button up shirt, and my Gap black jeans that I recently found. Paired it with my Mom’s Vans slip-on shoes and I was super comfortable on the plane and walking around all day. I topped it with my leather jacket from Long Tall Sally that I’ve had for many years. It’s totally worth the investment because it never goes out of style!

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Overall, We are Loving This Whole Blogging Thing

Y’all thought I could post about overalls/bibs and not include an overall pun. C’mon, you should know better by now. I can never pass up the opportunity to exercise my pun game. But in all honesty, I want to take a few minutes to speak for both of us on how much we have enjoyed this crazy ride that blogging can be.

For those of you who are new around here, our story goes a few years back at this point; to Jenilee having the idea to start a tall fashion blog. She came up with the name pretty easily and obviously knew the premise was tall Fashion. I vividly remember the countless hours during car rides up north talking about what she could post, brand lists that support tall clothing, and so many fun ideas. We went back and forth a lot with these types of conversations but due to the pace of life it just kept taking the back seat.

By now she had purchased the domain and yes was paying for it for a year. Undeveloped, untouched, but it was hers. She locked in the instagram handle and had some posts but they weren’t quite blog related. She was however able to connect with some other tall bloggers just based on her Instagram handle (Hi Lucinda) alone. After all of the conversations, I knew I had a part in this blog. It was just unclear to both of us what the roles were, and what was actually going on.

Finally for whatever reason she felt compelled to lay it out clearly. She said, “I want you to do this with me.” In true Caitlin form, I went pedal to the metal and we things got started. We had Jenilee’s husband take some pictures in tall matching swimsuits on a trip to start. My roommate took many pictures for us, and we started moving along with the website. By moving along, I mean we (slowly!) made our way down that road with excessive speed bumps. Thankfully for our genius coding friend Emily, and my friend Ryan, and (some) of the two of us: WE GOT LAUNCHED!

This was a huge accomplishment for us. By nature we aren’t savvy in coding and it was hard. Really really hard. And there were many times we questioned what we were doing. I very clearly remember the frustration we experienced JUST trying to get our logo centered on the top of the website. How could it be that hard? We clearly have made it through all of the obstacles to be here today. It’s such a great feeling of accomplishment with something we built together from the ground up.

We made a shared calendar, started a few Google Docs to share, planned out some content, and we kind of naturally fell into roles. And to be honest not much has changed to this point. We are a well oiled machine. There have obviously been some disagreements, both of us showing up late at different times, re-shooting pictures we did a bad job with, and so much more. We have learned so many things in just over the year we have been blogging.

Not sure if our story will interest any of you. For some reason I felt compelled to share it from my perspective. I am so incredibly thankful my sister invited me on this journey with her. I love how many new friends we have made locally and virtually, near and far. We have been inspired by other bloggers and hope that in return we are inspiring a few people as well. We have gotten to work with some pretty amazing brands already. Overall we have really pushed ourselves outside of our comfort zone with new brands, new styles, new poses and in general just putting ourselves out there. Dang it, I am just so proud of the two of us! With that I must also include how thankful I am for family, friends, and anyone else we have connected with along the way. The support is unreal.

Well anyways lets digress and get into this outfit. I promise I will keep it short and sweet due to everything else I had to say today! These overalls are a mainline win, which shocked me. I sized up one due to it being mainline. Glad I did, because they have a bit more of a girlfriend fit. They are extremely accommodating (even for a curvy gal booty and thighs). If you have been looking for some bibs for yourself, look no further. It’s worth mentioning, I have tried another pair from Asos in the past and I don’t think overalls should be skinny (totally my opinion and could just be my body type) fit. I loved these ones immediately, and felt very comfortable in them. I added in one of my go to tall long sleeves, chucks and my aviators and really just felt like my best self.

Jenilee also ended up in a favorite of hers this day. These ultra distressed black jeans have really passed the test of time. They have shown up in outfits over and over again. She added in a new mock neck tank, an oversized denim jacket, one of her go to necklaces and a pair of Nikes. Another perfect outfit for a day out and about running errands. We are both all about layering up in the weird Wisconsin Spring weather.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed getting a bit of the how and why on our story. We hope you have enjoyed what we are doing, and found it useful or inspiring in some way. As always we want to hear from you whenever you have requests. Whether it be new brands, styles, fits, or anything else – please ask!

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Spring; Stop Camouflaging Yourself

Back from New York and I immediately got sick with a stomach bug. It was probably my body rejecting my return to Wisconsin and to work. I swear, the time goes so quick in New York. The only time it didn’t go quick were the moments when my feet were swearing at me for so much more use than normal. We ended up between 7-10 miles a day walking around, which is pretty standard for us. Stay tuned, I will have a post put together on a weekend in New York and packing list for next week!

It’s probably for the best that I got sick because we ate really well while we were there. All I’m saying is a natural detox never hurt anybody. I’ll be sure to include the places we ate as well, I know I’m always looking for food recommendations when I’m traveling. Speaking of, last chance to share yours before I’m down in New Orleans this coming weekend. It’s going to be a quick week at home in between, but I’m really looking forward to traveling with my brother! He’s been on the blog before, here. Also sound off below if you’re interested in us sharing more men’s tall fashion again!

We’re in that pseudo Spring season, where it’s honestly still too cold to dress like all the new arrivals in stores want us to. I’m compromising and trying to incorporate Spring-like touches to my outfits, which basically means I’m adding some fun jewelry or headbands. At H&M in New York, I found two cute headbands that have the wire inside them. I find that those work much better for me than the structured headbands that dig into your head right behind your ears. I’m not sure if that’s just another unspoken problem of being tall as well, or maybe it’s just a differently shaped head as well! There is ALWAYS a gap where the band doesn’t lay on my head on both sides.

Luckily, we’ve got plenty of options because headbands are everywhere right now. I basically had to hold myself back (or Tim helped hold me back – whatever) from scooping them up in every store. H&M has some great two-packs, or some great thicker patterned headbands. If a headband is too much for you, they also have some great scrunchies or ribbons you can use with a ponytail. The two headbands I grabbed are the first two in the widget below, pink floral and black polka dot!

Back to talking faux-Spring dressing. I was pretty pumped about neutrals being a big option for the season. The tonal dressing completely speaks to me. Add in the utility vibe with neutrals and we have a winner. We’ve said it before, but camo print is a neutral in our closets. It is just an easy grab to give your look visual interest.

I’ll be wearing these camo pants all year long. They are from American Eagle, and I know we haven’t really touched on their pants before, but we’ve been longtime fans. They not only have long options, but they have extra long options, which is what this pair are. I got these as a present from Caitlin for my birthday, and I have been wearing them since! Stay tuned for some upcoming posts featuring more of American Eagle that Caitlin has been working on (aka she has been trying to figure out her size). Thankfully, because of all of you the amount of exchanging and sampling we do is worth it! The sweater is an old mainline find from Old Navy. As you can tell, the sleeves aren’t quite long enough.

Pairing these are super easy once you think of them as a neutral. I knew I wanted to warm up the look with these gorgeous booties from Long Tall Sally. If you’ve been searching for great larger sized boots, the time to buy is very soon! You can typically find them for the best price as retailers are trying to clear out their stock for Spring. It’s like Caitlin was talking about on Monday’s post here, which items you like you save or splurge on. Boots are definitely one of them for us. If you pay for leather quality options, they should last you a very long time! It’s always worth considering the cost per wear of an item.

Do you like to consider the cost per wear you’ll get out of an item? Or do you find yourself making more impulse purchases? We definitely find ourselves doing some of both!

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Camo Pants are long sold out, linked similar and added headbands as well!

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