I’m always lamenting that one size never fits all on the high street – the great mystery of buying clothes is that I can be too big for a 12 in one shop and too small for a 10 next door! When it comes to sizing, every designer and high street label is different… Which is why the second thing I constantly champion, is the value of finding yourself a good tailor!
However, there are more and more options available both on and off the high street to suit a variety of body shapes (petit, longer length etc.) and knowing your body shape rather than your size is the key is taking the stress out of shopping.
Last month I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with Emma Stewart (right), a remarkable woman who has created a fashion label that caters to ladies 5’10 and over. ‘Allta’, contemporary tailoring for tall women, offers a mix of trendy blazers and jackets, with sizes ranging from 8 to 16. Both styles of jacket retail for £250.
Emma, 49, lives in South Oxfordshire with her husband, Colin, and cockapoo, Wilf. Emma has spent her career in the creative industries, including stints in publishing, radio production, journalism and PR. She has worked in environments as diverse as the City of London and from home in a country village, but has always struggled to find the kinds of good quality clothing she likes to fit her 6ft frame.
As a jacket addict, she started Allta Ltd with a plan to offer premium jackets and blazers made from high quality fabrics to tall women everywhere who struggle, like she does, to find the right things to wear for work and weekends.
“A sharp blazer can be broken out for any and every occasion, it’s a wardrobe staple” Emma tells me. “A wardrobe built on a streamlined selection of key items like this, makes day-to-day dressing infinitely easier.”
And I couldn’t agree more. The classic styling and signature details such as the longer proportions, contrast piping and zips, make Allta jackets and blazers an indispensable item in any tall woman’s wardrobe – invest in one of Emma’s blazers and I guarantee you’ll never have to worry about “not having anything to wear” again.
Allta will eventually offer a range of tops, trousers, dresses and skirts, all crafted using the best quality fabrics and impeccable attention to detail.
For more information and to browse the collection, visit ww.allta.co.uk. You can also follow Allta Clothing on Facebook and Instagram for news, product updates, ‘how to’ videos, the chance to win a personalised style guide for tall ladies, and much more…
