Style Bust
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Invading spaces: TallSWAG shares a bit of her fabulously tall life
13 years ago
I know a couple gals that are over 6 feet tall – as beautiful and tall as they are, it seems as though they are a little shy about their height. I was recently introduced to Alicia, the 6 foot plus beauty behind the blog, TallSWAG, who exudes nothing but confidence, absolutely loves life, and is hands down the tallest female I have met!
Photographer Yekaterina and I were invited into Alicia’s Oakland home to check out her closet which is full of bold accessories, colored denim (with inseams that I didn’t even know existed), maxi dresses, and heels (yes, she even rocks a 4 inch heel)!
Her apartment is cozy and comfortable. Drawings from her niece cover her refrigerator, walls are decked with family photos, and there is a rolling rack with her latest TALL t shirts. Alicia’s place is homey, girlie, and full of fashion.
StyleBust: When and how did you decide to start your blog?
Alicia Jay: I got the idea in 2007. I was searching for a pair of distressed jeans and just couldn’t find them in my length. I was so tired of being frustrated by fashion and for some reason this particular search sent me over the edge. I was sitting there fuming at the fact that it was so hard to find tall clothing and I thought we needed a place where we could go that was a one-stop-shop for tall. BAM. TallSWAG.com
At first it was just links to tall clothing sites but quickly TallSWAG became a place to not only find fashion, but talk about our fabulous tall lives. My blog is now a place where tall and really ALL people can laugh, cry, share, grow and look ridiculously fierce together.
SB: I’ve gotta ask (I’m sure you get asked this all the time), how tall are you?
AJ: I do get it all the time but I don’t mind answering it because I love my height! I’m 6’6” and super proud of it. I do mind answering it when people ask rudely. You would be surprised how many do and they get an answer like “taller than you will ever be.”
SB: When I met you I learned that being tall and finding clothes that have the right inseam can be challenging – what are some of your favorite stores to shop at?
AJ: It is very challenging. Depending on the cut and type of pant, I have a 37” to 40” inseam. It’s almost impossible to walk into a store and find an inseam like that. I do a ton of online shopping. One of my favorite places is Height Goddess. All of the pants, jeans and maxi dresses are specifically cut for a tall woman. I have never met a piece of Height Goddess clothing that I didn’t like. I also like Long Tall Sally because they have a huge selection. If you are looking for a trend, more than likely they will have it.
There is nothing more annoying than working out in clothing that doesn’t fit so if I want to work out without a wedgie I go to places like Elle Mayers (who has yoga pants up to a 38” inseam and long tanks), lululemon and Athleta.
Jeans. Oh how hard it was to find them when I was growing up. I always had to wear men’s jeans and looked a mess however now there are so many online options. Height Goddess goes up to a 40” inseam and have colored denim that is great. Alloy has a big selection of jeans and pants up to 37” at great price points. Also, for a tall women with curves PZI Jeans go up to 38” inch inseams and they have colored denim as well. Last but certainly not least is a place that gave me one of my tall fashion “aha moments” and that was Indi. You can create your very own pair of jeans at a great price and if for some reason they don’t fit exactly the way you want them, you can send them back and create another pair. Ah-ma-zing.
Another hard thing to find in stores are shoes. Most tall women have longer feet (Can you imagine if we had shorter feet? We would be falling over all over the place!). I wear a size 12. The day I found Barefoot Tess it changed my life. They have shoes up to a size 15 in pretty much any style you could imagine. BFT is truly changing the shoe game for tall women.
The Nordstrom Rack is also great because they have sizes up to 14 right in the store at amazing prices. They also have these large size shoe sales. They get pretty competitive (an old lady hit me in the shin with a cane once trying to get a pair I had my hand on. I got a bruise but I also got a fierce pair of heels so it was worth it). If you have a game plan, you will come out with some amazing footwear. The actual Nordstrom stores have shoes in larger sizes too but at the regular retail price.
Other online shoes stores that I love are; Payless, Nine West, Endless, Zappos, Exceptional Footwear, Takera Shoes, Gwyneth Shoes, Piperlime and Target and Macy’s are starting to get a better selection as well.
Locally, I love the Collage Clothing Lounge. The buyer and owner of the shop, Amanda Rae, really gets that women come in all shapes and sizes. She has a little something for everyone and her accessory selection is amazing. I find that her tops are cut a little longer and she even
has pants long enough for me sometimes. I got a pair of tie-dye, super long, palazzo pants that almost made me cry when I found them. Tall women know what I am talking about. It’s the “I never find anything in the store and when I do I get emotional” moment.
Wow. That was a long answer. Can you tell how much I love tall fashion?
SB: Describe your personal style.
AJ: I don’t like to describe my style. I feel that when you put a description on something, you limit it
and I don’t like limits. For so long, I couldn’t find anything to wear and now that I can find pretty
much anything, I want to wear whatever I feel like wearing when I want to wear it.
SB: Who are some of your style icons?
AJ: My mother. She is 5’9” and grew up on a farm in Montana. No offense to Montana but fashion generally isn’t something that Montana really focuses on, let alone tall fashion. When I look through pictures of her growing up, she pulled off amazing styles that fit her with absolutely
no choices around her. She is definitely my style icon (among the other endless things she is to me).
I also love the style of Michelle Obama, Queen Latifah, NeNe Leakes, L’Wren Scott, Jordin Sparks, Tracee Ellis Ross, Gisele Bundche, Khloe Kardashian, Gabi Fresh and Ru Paul. As you can see, I don’t like to put parameters on my style crushes either.
SB: What are some of your favorite trends of the season?
AJ: I LOVE neon. I think it is the best thing since sliced bread. Personally, I don’t like to walk around looking like a neon sign, but a pop of it here and a pow of it there, is fabulous.
I also enjoy the laid back bohemian trend. Lately I have been into simple and chic and will probably run with it all summer. Being polished and beautiful with minimal effort is a winning combination for me right now.
SB: You have a line of TALL t-shirts, do you plan on expanding into a TALL clothing line in the future?
AJ: My t-shirt line is my baby! It’s an expression of confidence, beauty, and loving YOU. Yes. Eventually I want to take all of the things the t-shirt line stands for and pour that in to an amazing clothing and shoe line for tall men and women that is also affordable and IN STORES!
My dream is to have a line that enables every tall person to have the same shopping experience as someone who has a “mainstream” size.
I have the vision and the drive; I just need a partner with a like vision and deep pockets lol. If you are interested email me. I’m kidding but I’m really not kidding.
SB: When you’re not blogging, what else can we find you doing?
AJ: I work for the Golden State Warriors so for at least 8 hours a day you can find me working for them. I am the Game Operations Manager and really enjoy my job. In a nutshell, we execute everything that you see during the game besides the actual play of the players.
I also love broadcasting. When I am not working or blogging I am constantly doing things to enhance my talent in front of the camera. Mark my words. You will see me on TV one day.
I love to spend time with my family, work hard, play hard, travel, volunteer, shop for fabulous shoes and clothes, have fun, live life without apologies and above all praise God in any and every way that I can.
SB: What blogs do you check out on a regular basis?
AJ: I, like hundreds of thousands of people, check out Gabi Fresh. I love the fact that she shows the world on a daily basis that you are the only person that needs to approve of your body and your
fashion. I also frequent IFB (a must for fashion bloggers), Long Leggy Bam, Pretty Tall Style, Tall Snob, Hoops Meets Heels, The Fashion Bomb, Who What Wear, Gal Meets Glam, Motor City Moxie, Loren’s World and Baileys Blast. What can I say? I’m a blogger who likes to read blogs.
SB: What do you love about blogging/what are some challenges you face?
AJ: I pretty much love everything about blogging but the greatest love would have to be that you can bring someone a new perspective that they never realized was possible. The best blogging moments for me are when people tell me that they did something they never thought they would from reading my blog. It’s life changing for me. I really don’t know if people understand how much their comments on TallSWAG keep me going in many areas of my life. Essentially, we are doing the same thing for each other and I love that.
A challenge is time. There are SO MANY things that I want to do on my blog but I also have to eat and pay bills, so right now, a full time job is necessary. I also have my t-shirt line, T SWAG, which I run on my own so time is a little scarce.
TallSWAG is my passion so eventually it will be the center of everything that I do. It’s getting there day by day thanks to prayer, Team TallSWAG and a little elbow grease.
Tall is Beautiful – a motto that TallSWAG and Alicia truly embrace. A special thanks to Alicia for letting StyleBust check out her home. And also to our lovely photographer, Yekaterina Bowyer of YBowyer Photography (we couldn’t have done it without you)!
*All photos take by Yekaterina Bowyer
Chronicle Books Warehouse Sale – Up To 65% Off!
13 years ago
Cuddle up with a book from Chronicle Books Warehouse Sale. It might be Summer in other parts of the country, but in San Francisco this week it’d going to feel a lot more like cold and foggy Fall weather. The Chronicle Sale will have to essentials to get you past the gloom. Stock up on gifts for yourself and friends with 65% off hundreds of selected titles. Choose from cookbooks, children’s books, lifestyle + home, arts + crafts, art + design, photography, travel, pop culture, and music titles. Plus, journals, stationery, and much more!
When:
Wednesday, 6/20 from 9am-7pm
Thursday, 6/21 from 9am-7pm
Friday, 6/22 from 9am-7pm
Where:
Chronicle Books Corporate Headquarters
680 2nd St., b/t Brannan Street & Townsend Street
Inspirare Fashion Design Contest Winner & Judge Favs!
13 years ago
Social networking site, Inspirare.com, launched in April with the goal to help emerging designers get exposure and launch their design careers.
How it works: Fashion designers create an online portfolio on Inspirare.com where they upload fashion sketches and images of the finished designs. Inspirare users browse through portfolios and vote on their favorite designs. The most popular designs that are approved by the Inspirare team will be produced and sold exclusively on Inspirare.com. Inspirare provides 100% funding and share generous royalty with designers.
Fashion designers are encouraged to continuously add new designs to their portfolios as Inspirare will produce the best items from portfolios regularly and sell them at the Inspirare Shop (scheduled to launch in September).
The site launched with a fashion design competition, which closed in May. There were over 150 submissions from 23 countries for the competition.
After intense deliberation, the Inspirare team and their judging panel (which I was part of!!) agreed on the winning design. Fashion designer Alejandra de Coss of Puebla, Mexico won the competition for her design, Miss Marble. Inspirare.com will produce the dress and sell it exclusively on their eCommerce store. Designer Alejandra de Coss will receive 20% royalty on the sales.
Inspirare’s fashion director, Kate Blank, has this to say about the Miss Marble dress,
You can see this dress is a nod to several trends such as peplums, cutouts and sheer paneling; but it’s exploring them in a unique way. The dress offers both an interesting print and a two tone colorway allowing us to see it’s versatility and well placed design lines. I also really love the presentation of her fashion illustration. All the images in this design submission are visually interesting and serve a purpose. I think the Miss Marble dress will be a piece that many different women will lust after as it’s a perfect party or event dress.
I fell in love with Texas based Crowned Bird’s Pipit Pencil Shirt. I think the Pipit Pencil Skirt print is so original, yet so commercial. The cut will be flattering for many body types and the length is just right. As soon as this skirt is worn on the streets it’s going to be a quick hit!
Pipit Pencil Skirt by Crowned Bird scored high enough by the judges that it may be considered for production by Inspirare.com. I really hope it gets produced because I’m totally going to buy it!
Inspirare Judge, Lorraine Sander’s, of SF Indie Fashion, Digital Style Digest, and San Francisco Chronicle column Style Btyes favored Anca Miron’s design RDVB. Lorraine says,
The multi-wear possibilities of this design immediately got my attention. While it’s an urbane look that would most likely appeal to a customer who already loves to take risks with fashion, there’s a great deal of versatility in the cut and shape of the garments. They could fit in as easily on the streets of Stockholm as they could in New York or Tokyo. The creativity in the construction, versatility and global appeal made this look stand out.
RDVB by Anca Miron scored high enough by the judges that it may be considered for production by Inspirare.com.
Academy of Art University Style Coordinator and Inspirare Judge, Flore Morton, is a fan of Denis Predescu’s Pink Architecture dress. Flore says,
The dress is urban but sophisticated. The construction is very architectural, and is perfectly executed. The choice of fabrics and colors is modern, and gives a new spin on color blocking. The garment proposes a true personal vision from the designer. The photo shoot communicates a good taste level and a simplicity that balances well the dressy garment. I regret that the 2D drawing is not as strong as the dress itself.
Pink Architecture by Denis Predescu scored high enough by the judges that it may be considered for production by Inspirare.com.
All designs submitted to Inspirare.com can be viewed within the Discover section of the site.
Origins Age-Erasing Skin Care
13 years ago
My skin is going through a transition, slowly going from combination to dry with fine lines, but it’s not quite there yet so it’s been hard to find a skin care regimen that suits me. Not long ago I tried The Three Little Wonders by Ole Henriksen and was very impressed, but before I commited to that brand I wanted to give Origins a try. I bought Origins Age Erasing Kit.
I’ve been using it for the last two weeks and so far I have mixed feelings about it, so let me go through each one of the products in the kit.
Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash
The face wash is awesome, feels very rich and lathery, smells wonderful and doesn’t dry my face. I don’t use it as much as I should since I prefer towelettes to take off my make-up, but this product is great!
Plantscription Anti-Aging Serum
Although it’s not a prescription, in just four weeks the natural plant ingredients in this serum noticeably reduce wrinkle length and depth without the irritation. It visibly helps repair the vertical fret lines between your eyes, the stubborn furrows across your forehead, and the deepening frownies that frame your mouth. Youthful bounce is revived. Skin is firmer, smoother, more lifted-looking. And with continued use, results improve.
I’ve been using it for two weeks and I can say it’s all true! My frown lines are slowly disapearing, it’s great! I couldn’t be happier with this serum, this will help keep Botox away from my face for a few more years.
Starting Over Age-Erasing Moisturizer with Mimosa
A moisturizer that helps to rebuild collagen, repair visible lines, and improve skin texture and tone.
This is where the mixed reviews begin, while the cream is very light-weight, smells nice and absorbs very quickly, I haven’t noticed a difference on my skin yet. While it doesn’t feel dry it’s not soft either. Then again, if it’s rebuilding my collagen it might take a little bit of time before I feel a difference.
Starting Over Age-Erasing Eye Cream with Mimosa
While this product was not on the starter kit, I used 100 of my Sephora points to get the sample and be able to use all of them at the same time. This is an anti-aging eye cream that helps reduce the appearance of eye area wrinkles. So far I haven’t seen any improvements, then again my eye area problems have to do more with puffiness than with wrinkles, so I might try No Puffery Cooling Mask For Puffy Eyes, an eye mask that de-puffs eye bags as it brightens and lightens dark circles.
Resort Wear 2013 for the masses
13 years ago
I have to admit, I had never really paid much attention to Resort Wear collections in the past. I guess I didn’t see the point – I just thought of Resort Wear as a fantasy collection or kaftans and bathing suits – not something that people actually wear on a daily basis.
But for the past couple of weeks, I have been really excited to open my inbox to see all sorts of great fashion coming from the 2013 Resort Wear collections. Maybe it’s the plethora of designers that have jumped on the Resort Wear bandwagon or maybe it’s because I’m realizing that this so-called in-between season, is the perfect amount of fashion (nothing too over the top and for the most part, quite wearable). But whatever it is, I am now a fan of Resort Wear fashion and can see myself incorporating some of these trends into my wardrobe.
10 Crosby by Derek Lam, Suno, Honor, Jason Wu, Michael Kors, The Row
I love the versatility of this seasons Resort Wear collections – lots of stripes, plaids, and tailored pieces – all which can translate to either a Spring or Fall wardrobe.
Here are a few looks that I created using Polyvore – they are perfect for Summer 2012, yet have a Resort Wear twist.
Timeless Men’s Fashion – A Short Guide
13 years ago
It’s often underestimated how difficult it can be to get men’s fashion right. Fewer men than women go out on a limb when selecting their outfits and there tends to be a far smaller selection on offer to men in high-street stores. While it might be harder for men to clad themselves with fashionable trends, this doesn’t mean that they need to resign themselves to dressing without style.
Many of the best-dressed men seen in the media get their trendy reputation not for going out on a limb, but for their tasteful selection of subtle outfits and their ability to match colors and accessories expertly. Here, we explore a number of timeless classics which allow men to stand out from the crowd without taking too many risks.
Footwear:
As a result of the simplistic nature of menswear, well-dressed males tend to rely quite heavily on shoes. A great pair of shoes can top off an otherwise nondescript outfit. Finding the right footwear is all about measuring the cut, material and color of an outfit and filling in the gaps with precision.
Timeless shoes for men are formal looking and, again, subtle. Think high quality. Shoes (especially dress shoes) that are too cheap are easily spotted and can take the ‘class’ out of an otherwise ‘classy’. A little heel is often a nice touch of timelessness but should never be overdone – more than two inches is, well, girly!
Jeans:
Any list of timeless men’s clothing would be incomplete without mentioning denim jeans. Simple though it might seem – and common, too – denim has become a fundamental part of men’s fashion. Needless to say, jeans can be worn well and they can be worn badly.
Generally speaking, unusual cuts of jeans are not timeless. Flares, for example, are most certainly not timeless. However boot and straight-leg cuts are. A well-fitting pair of mens jeans can complement any outfit.
Tuxedos:
It may not be every day that men get the chance to don a tux…but that doesn’t stop it from being a timeless addition to fashion. Men have been wearing tuxedos for more than 100 years, and they have stuck around for good reason.
Few men are unfortunate enough not to look good in a tux. As with most things, the fit is the key to a good tuxedo. Cuts will vary with taste, and are largely irrelevant to the world of fashion. A well-fitted suit is perhaps the most stylish option out there for men.
I Spy…Window Displays
13 years ago
Department store windows get the most attention during the holidays, but we see some wonderful window art pop up at other times of the year. For people who shop at brick and mortars, visual displays is the best way to advertise new products. Here are some of the best recent store window visuals.
Anthropolgie
Club Monoco
Harrod’s
Henri Bendel’s
Hugo Boss
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton
Macy’s
Pull and Bear
Selfridges
Tangerine Tango – a state of mind
13 years ago
It’s June (halfway done with 2012 – gasp!) but as summer approaches Pantone’s color of the year Tangerine Tango continues to inspire.
Maybe it’s my wanderlust and affinity for mid century modern style, or simply that market researchers have successfully affected my consumer behavior. Regardless, I am starting to believe Tangerine Tango is not just a color of the moment but also a way to be.
Check out these examples from fashion to beauty to interiors for a year-round energy boost.
I love this ladylike cardigan in a tangerine hue, which punches up the whole look, and the pairing with a sporty watch and sartorial shades.
I am perpetually on the hunt for a beautiful black pleated lady-like skirt, but now I’m totally rethinking my approach. Tangerine raises the flirty factor of this classic A-line pleated skirt. Paired with a lacy creamy motorcycle jacket and tee – the colors, textures, and pattern are balanced and bold.
Try this shade and take your nails from spring to carefree summer. I love this color on toes, too!
Any one of these tangerine pieces can perk up your daily routine. Organize documents with a fun and cheeky attitude to boot.
Energize your home with touches of tangerine. This deeply saturated hue pairs nicely with neutrals like gray, white, or gold. It also complements other strong hues like turquoise or plays up soft shades of lavender.
This sunny reddish orange color with yellow undertones encourages optimism and courage. And there’s no time like the present for this fun energetic state of mind.