Long Tall Sally is a shop that sells clothes for women who are over 5'7" tall. Their mission is "to be the first choice in shopping for tall women in the UK and around the world". They have about forty shops in the UK but most of their business is done by catalogue orders/online. I started shopping at Long Tall Sally when I was about 15 - I'm only 5'9" tall but find that clothes in high street stores are sometimes a bit on the short side.
******Products******
Products include:
- Clothes (sizes 10 to 20, ranging from suits to pyjamas to jogging bottoms to ball dresses)
- Shoes (all with practical low heels, available in sizes 7 to 11)
- Jewellery (designed to complement the clothing ranges, necklaces have longer chains than standard)
- Handbags, scarves, tights etc
The range offered is really wide so you could buy your entire wardrobe from LTS (if you wanted to!) In my experience the clothes are all of a really high quality - they don't shrink in the wash and last really well. If you were only 5'7" tall you'd probably find that most of the clothes were too long. I think that most garments would probably best fit women of about 6' tall. Lots of the trousers come in two leg lengths - 34" and 36" although in store both options are not always available.
******Prices******
Prices are perhaps inevitably high because of the small market LTS operates in, but the prices at LTS are slightly on the high side for my liking. Prices are typically as follows:
- Trousers - £40 to £50
- Shirts - £30 +
- Jeans - £45
- Shoes - £45+
- Pyjamas - £40
******Style******
I'm not the biggest fan of the style of LTS clothing. The shop has two ranges - its main range and the more youthful "Tall Zone". In my opinion, the two ranges are both a bit too extreme. Some of the traditional range could be described as frumpy - they do lots of floor length skirts and knitted jumpers for example. The fit of the clothes also isn't as fashionable as it might be and is maybe best suited for the middle aged figure. The fit of the suits for example is slightly masculine. The Tall Zone clothes are at the other end of extremity - they are very small made and probably designed with teenagers in mind. Lots of the Tall Zone garments are very brightly coloured with loud, garish patterns.
******Sales******
Long Tall Sally has some excellent sales, which happen at least four times a year. It's not just the tat that nobody else wants that ends up in the sale - there are some really good bargains to be had. Most items in the sale will be going for around £10. However, when a sale is on there is often not much else on offer in the shop so if, for example, you were looking for a last minute outfit for a special occasion you'd not be likely to find it when a sale is on.
******Bonus Builder System******
Another excellent feature of LTS is its bonus builder system. I've not seen any other stores which have a similar system. Every time you spend over £100 in the shop you get a £10 voucher which you can use against your next purchase in the shop.
******Staff******
The store I usually go to is the Aberdeen shop and the staff there are really friendly. They always give a warm welcome and are only too happy to offer advice if you want it. All of the staff are tall which means that they're well acquainted with the issues of being tall. (However, I'm not sure that their employment policy complies with anti-discrimination laws - the vertically challenged need not apply!)
******Online/Mail Ordering******
Because they operate in a bit of a niche market, lots of LTS's sales are made either online or via their mail order service. I find the website really easy to navigate and the pictures of clothes are big enough that you can tell what the clothes really look like. However, the website would be improved if it showed more clothes actually on the models to give a better idea of how the clothes hang etc.
One minus point is that on the website a lot of items are only available in a very limited range of sizes - often you find that only the size ten and twenty are still available. This is especially true when there's a sale on - it can be annoying if you find several items you like but none in your size.
However, I've never had any other issues with the online/mail order service - clothes always arrive in the right size and promptly. Delivery charges are reasonable at £4.95 and there is the option for next day delivery for only £7.95. LTS aim to deliver items within 4 to 5 working days from when the order is made and, in my experience, they always manage to meet this target.
LTS has probably suffered in a bit in recent years because of the increase in length options offered by high street stores. I used to do most of my clothes shopping at Long Tall Sally, but in recent years most of the high street shops have caught on to the fact that all women aren't the same height. Unless you're freakishly tall you probably don't need to shop at Long Tall Sally - high street shops with tall ranges will offer higher fashion clothes at better value. But, if you're much over 6' then LTS is probably the best place to get clothes.
Tall women need look no further 
Great review! LTS is a little out of my price range and they don't do most of their clothes in an 8, but the stuff is good quality. I use their website usually but the shops sound great. I'll check out the sales! Thanks!