Being A Tall Lolita

It's no secret, I'm a tall girl. In certain pairs of Rocking Horse shoes I stand taller than most everyone I know, and I love me some Rocking Horse shoes. If you're over 5'5” you know the angst of buying Brand. Even if it fits everywhere else perfectly, the hem is still going to end miles above your knees. It's sometimes hard to look adorable when you feel like an Amazon warrior who's just finished raiding the toddlers section. I've found the most important thing about dressing Lolita and being tall is to remember to dress proportionately. Some people think this means only ever being able to buy Tall sized Lolita clothes, or to stick to custom made clothes. But it doesn't have to be this way if you follow a few easy rules, and keep a few key pieces in your wardrobe.

The most important piece a Brand loving tall Lolita should have is a simple skirt with a ruffled hem. Get it custom made to your size, it doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to fall just above your knees and have a wide ruffle at the bottom. The sales community is full of people who would be willing to make you a skirt like this for relatively cheap. Buy it in a matching color, if you have lots of black dresses, buy it in black. If you have lots of sweet dresses, get it in white, or even pastel pink or blue, depending on your wardrobe. This skirt is going to save you a whole Hell of a lot of angst over too short pieces. Just wear it under anything you have that's too short (and over your petticoat, obviously). It will end up peeking out from under your shorter skirts hem a few inches, but those inches will really help make your skirt look the proper length. This works best with skirts that already have a ruffle, but as long as you didn't get some kind of crazy over-stuffed ruffle on your underskirt, it should look just peachy under a skirt without a ruffle.

A few more Dos and Don'ts for tall Lolitas
  • Don't think a lengthening underskirt is necessary for everything. Some dresses look awesome on the shorter side. But it's just not always the look you're going for.
  • Do wear over-the-knee socks instead of knee socks. This works great if you don't want to deal with wearing an extra skirt. I think that over-the-knees have a more elegant, and less school girl look than knee socks anyways.
  • Don't wear Brand bell sleeved tops. Most one size Brand tops have very short sleeves. You might be able to get away with long sleeves that don't quite go to your wrist, but bell sleeves will just look silly. If you want a bell sleeved top. Get it commissioned. Or if you just have to have a Brand blouse with bell sleeves, get a blouse with detachable sleeves, and get new sleeves commissioned at the proper length.
  • Do invest in a pair of wrist cuffs. Yeah, I know, a lot of people think wrist cuffs look stupid and itatastic. But you don't have to wear them with short sleeves. You can wear them with a long sleeved blouse to add an extra inch or two to the sleeve length.
  • Do check yourself in a full length mirror, stand as far back as you can from it and check to see if everything is the length you want it to be. If you stand really close to the mirror you're just going to be looking down on your skirt, and not be able to tell how long or short it looks on you. A few times I've forgotten to take a step back and check and ended up noticing my skirts were way too short in photos taken that day.
  • Don't substitute bloomers for missing hem length! They're underwear, so keep them under your skirt. A half a foot of bloomers peeking out from under your skirt is just going to make you look even more like Little Bo Peep than you already do.
  • Do wear bloomers though! Especially if you're rocking the shorter skirt look. Short skirts with a petticoat poofing them up is going to make accidental butt flashes more likely.
  • Lastly, don't be afraid to be tall! If you want to wear 6 inch platforms and have to duck to get into doorways, go for it! I know it sounds cliché, but the more confidence you have, the better you look. You can rock any style, so long as you know you can.

24 comments:

  1. Thank you very much for this. I'm 5'7”and I always have problems with my skirts and even if I think they're fitting perfectly, after I left the house the angst is crawling up my back. So next time I'm going to try your advices.
    Greetings from Germany!

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  2. Ah, thank you so much for this entry. I found it extremely useful. :)
    Greetings from London~

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  3. This post just made my otherwise sucky day less sucky. I too am a tall lolita and I often feel "like and amazon warrior just finished raiding the toodlers section"

    The tip about the wrist cuffs is so awsome I wonder why I haven't thought of it before.

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  4. if you don't mind i transleted it into hungarian and posted it on my blog:
    http://miss-wolf.blogspot.com
    , off course with your name and link under it. thank you for this article, helped a lot!

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  5. Hello Caro-chan. This is my first time commenting on your blog, which I've been following with enthusiasm for the last couple of months. I'm sorry to comment on such an old post, but this is what made me love you lol. I'm pretty tall too, and often feel uncomfortable when other lolitas wearing platforms are still shorter than me :P
    I wanted to let you know that I've translated some of your posts into spanish, and intend to post them on my Paraguayan lolita community on orkut. I hope you're ok with that, for there are few of us, Paraguayan lolis who understand english, and I, with another friend want our younger lolita friends to read what you've wrote, because it's been so useful for us! So, thanks a lot.

    One more thing, here's my question for "ask miss caro-chan" haha.. What would you recommend for a summer lolita look. Where I live it's hot most of the year, and a lolita coord with so many layers can be pretty uncomfortable, and even not worth the cuteness :(

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  6. Thank you for the comment! You are more than welcome to translate any of my posts into Spanish, so long as you link me back and give me the link so I can add it to my side bar of translated posts ^^ I'm always excited when people want to translate my posts!

    Thank you for the question as well! I've got a few more I need to get to first, but yours looks like fun, especially since it's the dead of winter here! I have the same problem when summer comes, sometimes it's just too hot out!

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  7. Thank you so much for the tips, being a 5"10 lolita isn't easy xD
    I've decided to try heels anyway whereas before I was afraid it'd make me look like a giant ^^; but I just love me some oldschool maryjanes and RHS <33

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  8. I am almost 5'7'' (169 cms) so I know how you feel. Fortunately I have never been afraid of heels and plataforms as they make me look less fat and used right help me look majestic instead of awkward lookng :D

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    1. Honey, 5'7" is not tall. It is above average height for a woman (average height 5'4"), but it is not "tall". I'm 5'10" and that's the beginning of tall. 5'9" is the average height for a man in the west. Unless some height standards have changed, most tall people are considered tall when they are measured against a standard. You are the ideal height for a woman. And oh yeah, f asian sizing. I just have a pet peeve here: stop saying you are tall if you are 5'7". You are slightly above average height. But you are not tall. When you give yourself a concussion on a subway car hand rail for standing up too fast, that is tall. When you actually INJURE yourself for being above average height, then you are tall. When you benefit from being 5'7", you are not tall. No modeling agency would accept you as "tall". Trust me on that. Consider yourself lucky. You are just experiencing the pleasures of asian sizing. But you have ALOT more options clothing wise in general than I do. So sick of these women who are NOT TALL complaining about how hard it is to be tall. Cry me a river, "almost 5'7". You ARE NOT TALL. So I'm reading this again and *you aren't even 5'7".* Give me a break. You are not tall. Please stop this at once. You are NOT TALL.

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    2. As a very short person, that is definitely tall, while not being extreme. Chill.

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  9. I am a 6'0" lolita who adores the fashion but has such a trouble with lolita skirts and shirts being the right size for me. I am tall and thin, so I fit into brand, but I've never thought it looked right on me. Thank you SO much for these wonderful tips! I'm definitely taking them to heart.

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  10. Thanks, I especially like the over-the-knees instead of knee-socks idea. Probably because I already love over-the-knees. They look good on long legs. ^^" At least I'm aiming for a classic and punk-loli wardrobe instead of OTT sweet. That would just be scary on me. O_O

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  11. Finally someone addressed this! I'm 5'10 and very self-conscious about starting classic loli because of it. I'm going to be making my own dresses and such and these tips are going to go a long way for me. <3

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  12. i'm 6'2~ this is awesome tips~ thank you ^_^

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  13. These are great tips! At 5'6/5'7, it's been really hard finding dresses. I'm skinny, too, so I can't go for the longer XL and L dresses. I'm definitely going to figure out how to make a ruffled, black skirt now. I also happen to have a pair of lacy five inch wedges that would look great with my classic lolita stuff. Thanks! 

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  14. I'm 5'9 ft and skinny. Lolita dresses that fit me properly usually will stay above my knees and this something that I have to accept if I want pretty brand prints. I have a underskirt but usually I just wear dress + fluffy pettitcoat + tights and looks really nice with my gothic and punk lolita coords. :) There's a lot of lovely "above the knee skirt" coords at f- yeah gothic lolita tumblr.

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  15. I am 5'9 and desperately trying to find Lolita style clothes that would fit me!! I am a slim European girl but as soon as I wear dresses I feel like a man! The waist band always comes just below my bust its not a good look!

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    1. this happens to me as well, I learned to sew my own clothing. It's better than spend money with something that does not fit well. You can always buy skirt though!

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  16. I'm 5'11 and feel absolutely ridiculous in anything and everything I wear. Thanks for the article, it cheered me up a bit. I have one lolita dress, and it is ridiculously short:p Ill just have to plan more in the future and get more comfortable in my own skin before attempting to wear again! Thanks again:))

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  17. Reading this encouraged me. I have some pretty strange proportions: long legs, short torso, but still top heavy somehow. I'm a little worried how lolita might look on me; I've been inspired by it for some time now but shied away from actually going for it. Today I ordered some fabric and elastic to make my first skirt and petticoat. If I can fix the sewing machine, I should be halfway lolita-d within a week. If not, it might be a fortnight or so, but it will be a very personal look.

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  18. I'm 5'8" and getting into the fashion (and learning how to sew!). Thankfully my waist-to-knee measurement is fairly normal (20-22") but I ordered a 20" organza petticoat and am eyeing up some 'skirt slips' or 'skirt extenders' with decent quality lace. I think it would be okay to have a couple inches of petticoat showing if it's a nice material like a matte organza. That's just my opinion. I only want to sew an extra ruffle or lace on things I love enough to keep permanently, as altering things immediately reduces their worth by $20-30 if you intend to eventually buy/swap on Lace Market. Maybe I'll make a very plain skirt for that eventually (like a slip-style with a ruffle on the end) but I'll have to get a bit better at drafting patterns. Fabric prices are insane in Canada ($12-20 a meter) so wasting things is a no-no.

    I also think wearing very good quality, thick opaque tights look good. I used to be a competative figure skater and our tights always had to be very good quality ($30-40 pair, went through about 3 a year with normal use anyway), but that can be hard to find these days and brand-make and standard tights tend to have a low crotch on tall people. Hopefully I can find a good stockings website with a large range of sizing.

    Also sucks being between normal and plus (5'8" 160lbs) both conventionally and in height. And with an hourglass shape (41-31-41) it's difficult to gauge how things are going to look. Whether bust is going to turn a regular waist into an empire, shoulders may or may not look ridiculous with puff sleeves. Lolita body type charts can help a bit and are easy to find on Google images or Pinterest as a lot of the communities become more and more barren (except /cgl/ which I still stalk on the 'reg). Very thankful for Lolita trading websites because of this. Every tall Lolita should consider having a Lace Market and Closet Child account. I have heard of some also using Buyee but I find the website to be a bit more confusing when it comes to search terms and navigation.

    Hope my comment helps someone with this in the future. And don't be afraid to be tall. My fiancé is 5'7" and I think it's fun to be an 'amazon woman' next to him, as I become about 6' tall in some shoes. Reminds me of Seth Green and his wife (who I think are a gorgeous couple, even if a bit unconventional) :)

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  19. Thank you for this! Really great tips. :)

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  20. I'm 5'8", which i guess is borderline tall, but the blog was super helpful. Thank you!

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  21. im 5'2 almost 5'3 and im getting a lolita dress and i wanna wear it to school i am 12 years old in 6th grade im scared to wear it at school :(

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