Photo Credit: Joseph Ash

How do you begin a love letter to someone you really, really love when they barely know you exist? That is my conundrum with this post. I love, love, love Long Tall Sally and have loved them for over a decade now. So when I was given the opportunity to to review a piece from their holiday collection, I was overjoyed. I blushed. I jumped up and down. I wrote back “yes” with shaky hands.

Long Tall Sally is hugely important to me. So much of my life has been that scene from ‘Pretty Woman’ where Julia Roberts tries to go shopping before she needs Richard Gere’s intervention. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into stores to be told by sales clerks, “I’m sorry, we don’t carry your size here.” They’re referring to my height, of course, and they don’t consider that an insult or hurtful, but it is hurtful. And alienating, and defeminizing, and a lot of other things.

So, early on, someone (I don’t remember who, but bless their heart!) turned me on to Long Tall Sally, and as soon as I walked into their store in the Twin Cities four hours west of my hometown, I was hooked. I could look in any direction in that store, and literally, I knew that everything I was looking at would fit me. And I could try it on. I didn’t have to order it online and cross my fingers, hoping it would fit. This had never happened to me before. It was—and still is—an incredibly intoxicating feeling and a huge rush of relief. Any tall woman who has been to their Minneapolis or Detroit store—or to one of their popups or UK and Canadian stores—knows this to be true.

Long Tall Sally is the oldest and most steadfast love I have in the fashion industry. I can always rely on them to be size-appropriate and fashion-forward. They are a legitimately tall line for seriously tall women. They don’t skimp. They adjust every dimension, every angle to appropriately fit a tall body.

So, the long and the short of it is (pun intended) that I love them very much, and was humbled to get to review and wear this beautiful black wrap dress. I wore it to the Barboursville Estate in Virginia to tour the crumbling ruins and go winetasting in the vineyard (2 hours south of DC). I was so excited to go on my first outing in this dress, and it did not disappoint—it was comfortable, formal but not stuffy, and romantically elegant with its sweetheart neckline and lace detailing. The sheer arms and shoulders are so flattering, as the fully-lined body molds easily to one’s body shape. It fits so well, and do you see how far it comes down? To my knees? On a 6’3” body, that’s pretty incredible. For that reason, and because it is blessedly forgiving to my rounder parts, this dress trumps all of my other LBDs. It’s timeless, Christmas-ready, and I can’t wait to wear it again!

Shop it in red here, or browse LTS’s other eye-catching stunners in their holiday New Release section found here. Happy shopping!