Sahm Frustrated with Clothing

I recently revamped my entire wadrobe as I am a new mom and was finding it very hard to put together outfits in the morning. I gave almost my entire wadrobe to charity and started from scratch!

I now have what I call my mommy "uniform" consisting of mix and match pieces that makes getting ready soooo much easier!!

Everything is black, grey or white (with a few colorful accessories).

Pants:
black leggings
black skinny jeans
dark denim trouser jeans

Tops:
grey/white/black tanks
grey/white tees
grey/black sweater dresses (worn over leggings or skinny jeans)

White crisp blazer
Black vest (very in right now)
Black pencil skirt
Black shift dress

Some cute kitten heel booties, riding boots and ballet flats.

My colorful accessories include bags, scarves and belts.

I do also have a few pairs of yoga pants.

That's it....

I suppose I will have to add to this as summer arrives. But this wadrobe will definitely get me through till late spring.

Good luck!

You might look at the TravelSmith website -- they have great clearance prices (I'm a boring size 10, and they're always sold out -- but they tend to have less common sizes, and at deep discount). My mom and I really like their clothes and the styles are flexible.

There was a segment on Good Morning America today about consignment shopping. Lots of brand names for less than $50 a piece. They suggested going to consignment shops near colleges. Apparently, lots of trendy stuff can be found in those stores. Also, there are lots of new shoes to be found too (how many pairs do you own that you have either never worn or wore once cause they were so uncomfortable) and now sit in the back of your closet. Bags, too!

Plus, you can consign some of your own stuff and make some money to spend at the store!! Happy shopping.

I know that your size is an issue but I bet that you can stop in and mention your need and get on a call list!!

I can make two cheap clothing suggestions for you. I too am tall and thin and have found that you can buy cheap pants at New York and Co. for small tall. The shirts that fit me in length are H&M. I especially like their turtlenecks. I just bought 6 of them for the winter. The sleeves and torso are long enough and they are really cheap $12 - $14. Then I add accessories and jewelry and have nice cheap trendy clothes that I can afford. Also, check out JCrew pants and get on their email list. A couple of times a year they have insane clearance sales. You can get a pair of $80 pants for $20. I buy from this sale and get very good quality clothes that fit me great. They sale tall length clothes. Good luck and hope this helps.

try shadeclothing.com. They make longer shirts and they're very affordable.

I would say to shop end of season sales, pick separates that can be mixed and matched, so you don't need to buy 10 different outfits and spend tons of money. I think it's better to invest in a few tops and bottoms that can make a variety of outfits that make you feel like you look great is better than a closet full of clothes that make you feel "schlumpy"
Happy shopping.

I am 6'1" and have always struggled to find clothes also. It has become a lot easier now. Great sites to check out is Victorias Secret (they have 34" and 36" inseams - check out their clearence items), Gap, Old Navy and now American Eagle online you can order x-long. Alot of their items seem to have longer sleeves also. Gap has quite of bit of tops in talls. All these sites have great clearence prices. Hope this helps!

I work in the industry and have been a clorthing fiend for years. For casual stuff, JCrew makes most of their cords and jeans in tall sizes available in stores. For tee shirts, longer styles are in right now, so most dept stores will offer some selection of longer tops. But if you want simple stuff, Abercrombie and fitch has great tees that sometimes come super long. I know you are thinking "I though all their stuff was super short!!" It is the shorts and skirts that are that way. I am also long waisted and I have had very good luck with their stuff. If you want to go more expensive, Splendid makes amazing tees and they can be gotten at Bloomingdale's and a couple of independent boutiques here in NYC.
The other thing I do is the layered look. When I find a tee or tank that is long enough, I buy 4-5 and I will wear that under more normal sweaters for the layered look. It helps to make variety easier.Because there just isn't enough out there!!
Jeans should be easy for you because most brands offer longer sizes and some are just ridiculously long anyway. I am 5'7" size 4, which is not especially tall, but taller than average, and I have to have most of my seven jeans hemmed or I have to fold the bottom up.

Good luck to you!!

Hi Sahm. My daughter is also a size 2 and it was frustrading shopping for her. I buy most of her beautiful pieces size 2 from Ann Taylor when there is a good sale. They also have two tall. Also Banana Republic carries 2 tall, Gap has 2 tall and sometimes Express.

Shop only at the end of the season and you will get good quality and good prices. Most of the the time the size two are available because not that many people are looking for that size. Do not rush to shop at the beginning of the season it is way too expensive.

Good luck

You lucky thing. Since you basically have a model bod-- you should be scoring amazing clothes at designer sample sales. If you are in NYC, sign up at http://clothingline.com/ to get emails about their upcoming sales (I actually went to one today to snap up some great baby clothes from Jacadi and Marie Chantal)
If you're not in New York and decide you want a few *less* casual items, gilt.com is a great online sample sale (invite only- so holler if you're interested) that has clothes in a wide size array from Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Jill Stuart, Cacharel, and loads of others )

J.Crew has TONS of tall sizes and there clothes are totally drool-worthy. Plus, as others have mentioned- their sales are great.

Check out the Boden catalog as well! bodenusa.com

Good luck and happy shopping!

I love Ann Taylor's LOFT...they have different names for their clothes so you know what'll fit you....I'm a Julie (smaller waist than hips) you sound like an "Ann". They have great clothes, stylish yet classic and they last!

Have you heard of Cabi? Search Cabi online and if you like the clothes (they are better in person than online IMO), find a rep in your area and hold a party... you get half off the clothes and they make clothes long. When I had my party, my tall friends were very happy! They are also great for mix and match and they are well made.

Wow! There's another woman just my size. I am also a size 2, 5' 9" and 125 lbs. I have always been able to scout out some great clothes at great bargain-basement prices that are timeless. Some of my outfits are 25 to 30 years old and still look great and then some are very contemporary (like all those low-rise pants----watch out when you squat down to pick something up!). I would be happy to discuss it all with you. Call me at ###-###-#### - my name is I..

No one mentioned Eddie Bauer but my tall, thin girlfriend gets a perfect fit there

It's a great time to get end of season bargains just now. I just bought a fabulous brand name trench coat which will do for all weathers except freezing cold for over 75% off!
One benefit of the otherwise very worrying economic situation is that there is a lot of great stock around at huge reductions.
One way to ring the changes without spending a lot of money is to buy simple separates eg a pair of jeans that fits well (and buy more than one pair if you can, when you find the perfect fit), then use accessories to make it more interesting - you can get great scarves and costume jewellery (or whatever you like) for very little money which would make a simple jeans and shirt outfit much more individual.
Also, I like to have a jacket or coat in a brighter color which I then wear with fairly neutral clothes. So much more fun than just always getting black or brown for outer wear.
Personally I am a fan of dresses (although I am at home most of the time with small kids) which sounds very "formal" but you can get really comfortable jersey or wrap styles which I think are easier to wear than tops and pants and wash easily. You might find this an idea if you find it hard to get shirts long enough.
Have fun!

What I do is go to the best stores and look at the best clothes. I have settled on St. John Kinits, which look best on me, but cost as much as $1,200.00 per jacket. Then I go on e-bay, type in St. John Jackets and my size and get offered over a hundred. I pay between 50.00 and $150.00 for each item I buy. I have gotten mostly clothes that look new that I love. I also returned 2 items, and got stung for $85.00 once, when the money was sent but I never received the item. It was well worth it. I have a designer wardrobe for affordable prices. (P.S. St John sleeves are VERY long)

Hi,
I work at JC Penney at the Bay shore mall and right now they have amazing sales. If you can get there right away they have clearance racks with the clothes and some are even Liz Claiborne. Her stuff is made well. Also look for great markdowns on their brand American Living which is not very widely known that it is made by Ralph Lauren. Both are sure to hold up. Try to go shopping right in the middle of the season, like right now the winter stuff is on sale. Hope this helps. V.

I'm a huge fan of consignment shopping not only for my clothes but for my kids and my grandkids too (long before it was cool). Pick a couple you like and go every week or so because they get new stuff all the time. End of the season in department stores is a great time to pick up bargins too. A lot of them have 75% off their stock right now to make room for the next season.

TJ Maxx, Marshall's,Daffy's or similalr type stores have affordable clothes that are good quality and stylish. It depends on what your fashion taste is but you can also search online for clothes you like. Since the economy is in the crapper you can find great deals just about anywhere.

Have fun shopping.

I am 5'11" (far from a 2 though...) and a big fan of Tall Girl and Long Elegant Legs. I hate to buy from catalogs when pants are $60 apiece, but the fit is great. So I search for these brands on eBay and usually find that people have purchased these items at full cost, worn them twince and decided they don't like the color or fit. For $5 you can't go wrong (and if you do it's just not a great loss). I have a quite a large collection of these brands now and I'm very happy with them. Recently I have found that size 0 and 2 are pretty prevalent and won't fit around this body - good for you, sad for me. :) If you get a chance to get to Tall Girl downstate or in Boston you can find great sales - and it's worth the trip, but in the meantime checkout what other people are decluttering from their closets. Have fun - tall clothes are worth the investment - too-short sleeves and just-barely-there cuffs are so frustrating!

I can completely sympathize with you on shirts being too short. I just discovered that Old Navy, Gap, and Banana Republic sell Tall sizes online (not in stores unfortunately). You can check for sales in Tall clothing online, although I noticed that there are plenty of times when the regular shirts are made extra long and fit me just fine.