Are all tall people the same shape then?

I read an interesting blog piece a couple of weeks ago about the tendency of make up tutorial books to have loads of different eye types but then just have Asian eyes, as if those of an Asian background all have the same eye shape. It was definitely an eye opener (please excuse the pun there) although I was previously aware of the differences in eye shapes across all ethnic backgrounds!!

I've just been browsing around the Channel 4 website and come across their 4Beauty section (I've just watched a couple of particularly harrowing videos on civil war in Sierra Leone and needed some fluff). There is a 'how to dress your shape bit'. And here is where it begins. There is pear shaped, inverted triangle, apple, slender, athletic, petite and tall. So can tall or petite people not be any of those other things as well? I'm not sure I got the memo, are you saying that Tall is a body shape now?

Not that this is new. All books about style love to cram anyone over 5'7" into the 'tall' category without a second thought about the actual shape of their body. I guess I'm a little disappointed that a media outlet as forward thinking as Channel 4 tends to be (tonight they are showing a documentary made by Jon Snow about the killing of Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka at the end of the civil war. More on that tomorrow.) would have been a little more forward thinking than to designate 'Tall' as a body shape.

So, in case Gok Wan/Trinny and Susannah/any other stylists are reading: TALL IS NOT A SHAPE.

Shall I say it louder?

TALL IS NOT A SHAPE.

I happen to be a reasonably pear shaped, tall person. My legs and hips are curvy, my bottom is peachy and my breasts are medium sized. These are the details that make up my shape. The fact that I'm tall just means I need to buy longer trousers, and longer tops, and that normal long sleeved things aren't always long enough (thank the shopping deities for H&M's impossibly long sleeves). 


Actually, I think even Long Tall Sally are guilty of over generalisation of tall people's shapes. I do not have large breasts. I do have a wide back. I do not have skinny thighs. I do have a skinny waist and a big bum. I know it is difficult for retailers to tailor to every body shape, but at least for average heighted people they have the opportunity to work out which shop's base shape works for them. For us tall folks the choice is so limited that we have to go with what we have. 

Anyway, rant over. Cleared my brain a little bit :)