Tall Girl Problems

Hi Kendra, I work for Barefoot Tess, a large shoe site.  I saw your “shop tall!” link and we’d love for you to tell your readers about us!  What size are you?

Okayokayokayokayokay………So. I’ve been reading this site and I love hearing from all the tall ladies. I’m only slightly distressed hearing about the Tall Girlfriend, Short Boyfriend thing. I wanted to share my story because I feel like it could really help some ladies out.

I have ALWAYS been tall. When I was in kindergarten, I was a head taller than all of the kids in my class, and I was almost the same height as my teacher. At SIX. That’s actually when I really started noticing a difference. All of the kids wanted me to be the ‘mom’ when we played house. The girls told me I was like a boy because I was tall. And I know that kids, especially young kids, don’t always mean things in a cruel way, but it was still so hard for me, that I remember telling my parents that I wished I was short, because then I’d be a girl. My mother (5’9”) told me they just wished they were as tall as I was and that I shouldn’t let them bother me. My dad (6’6”) especially knew my pain.

I struggled so much through grade school and middle school and would wish nightly that I was shorter. I wouldn’t have to wear old lady clothes, I wouldn’t have to only wear flat shoes, and boys wouldn’t look at me like I was a freak just because of that extra few inches.

By the time I reached high school, one of two major things in my life happened. I saw a magazine photo shoot from ‘Girl’s Life’ magazine (oooold school, I know :D) that had models of all shapes and sizes. The last picture was of a girl who was 6’, 180lbs with flaming red curls, wearing a green dress with white tights and HEELS. And she. was. GORGEOUS. Her caption read “I dont care about my height. When I try to hide in my clothes, I just look awkward. When I wear the clothes I want, people mistake me for a model, and I love getting to wear heels all the time!” It really stuck with me and I started to really branch out with my wardrobe. I wore heels. I wore dresses. I wore shorts. I wore tights. I wore anything I wanted. And you know what? People noticed. In a GOOD way. I got compliments daily. Boys noticed me. Heck, GIRLS noticed me. I wasn’t just the tall girl anymore. I was the tall girl with some serious fashion sense.

That was around the time I started dating my [now ex] boyfriend, who was 6’2”. He was taller than me and that made me think ‘this could be it!’. Turns out no. I wasted 4 years on a guy that was taller than me, but a serious jerk. It wasn’t the only factor, but height really did play into why I stuck around for so long.

I started college and met a new boy. He was sweet, funny, and 6’. Now, this is technically taller than me, but you wouldn’t know it if you looked at us. If i wear any kind of shoe other than flip-flops around him, I’m taller. 

See?

So it was awkward. I was one of those girls that always said “I’ll never date a guy shorter than me! it would just be too weird!” While we were dating, that stuck out in my head. Holding hands was hard. We would get funny looks sometimes. “Are you guys the same height??” “Can you even wear heels when you’re with him?” The whole she-bang. I felt those insecurities coming back out until the second of those two things happened.

After being with him for almost a year, I made a comment about how I wished I were shorter. He said, “I don’t. I don’t have to bend over to kiss you”

BOOM. Done. Insecurities gone!

And now, seven years later, we’re married and I’m no longer worried about my height in any way.

I guess the long-winded moral of my story is, the right person will find you to be great, tall or no, and you shouldn’t let his height dictate YOUR happiness. Don’t let others make you feel weird, or bad about your height. Your height makes you who you are and more rightly, makes you BEAUTIFUL. 

Here’s some advice for when people tell you “Well at least you’ll have tall kids (hopefully boys) :D” A good comeback is “Yeah, if only I was able reproduce…” Then they drop the your tall subject :) I know it’s pretty harsh… but whatever to them :P.

“You wear your height very well.”

“What is it, a sweater?”