Ladies, it’s time we had a chit-chat about a certain double standard you’ve been allowed to brashly flaunt for far too long.

And sorry^{(not sorry)} to call you out like this, but you had to know it was coming. You think we haven’t noticed all that shameless discrimination against guys lacking in a certain, shall we say, vertical asset?

Face it: we’ve got a female "height supremacist" problem, and there are a lot of you taking part. Thank Tinder and Reddit for the outing.

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Joerg says: I don't approve of the content of this article. I believe everybody has a right to have preferences so I wouldn't condemn a woman just because she wants to be in a relationship with a taller man. Is she shallow? Maybe. But I'm not in a position to criticise her for it.

Sabrina Rojas Weiss - Yahoo Lifestyle, 30 January 2018

Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas have been together for almost a year and a half and the couple have been engaged for about three months, which seems like enough time for Turner to get used to feeling like she’s in a “fishbowl,” as she once told Glamour. It is not enough time for some onlookers to get over a simple fact about this couple: At a reported 5’9,” the Game of Thrones star is taller than her 5’7″ DNCE fiancé.

The paparazzi caught the two walking out in unseasonably warm weather in New York City over the weekend, with Turner wearing a pair of boots with tall chunky heels as Jonas strolled along in his Converse. Gossip site Just Jared posted a photo of them to Instagram, and immediately the comments section became host to a load of criticisms over their height difference.

“She is sooooo much taller than him,” noticed @aurmichkell.

“And why does she wear such high heels?” wondered @csre27. “I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being taller than your partner, but it just seems uncomfortable to accentuate it like that.”

“So … Joe is the little spoon,” wrote @amandachristy12. And @geronimogl was meaner, joking, “Caption should say, Sophie’s fiancee and her little bitch!”

When they first started dating, a couple of tabloids made a big deal about their height difference, but they’re hardly the first celebs to demonstrate that sometimes taller women like men who are ever-so-slightly shorter than them. See also: Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban (or Tom Cruise), Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden, Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik. Jonas has dated other statuesque women, such as Taylor Swift and Hadid. Why do people get so fixated on this kind of pairing? Does it have any bearing on the internal workings of their relationship?

A lot of that depends on the couple’s past, New York-based relationship therapist Jean Fitzpatrick tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

“Because we think of man-as-taller as ‘normal,’ sometimes this height difference sparks anxiety, usually at first,” Fitzpatrick says. “A very tall woman may have felt like a giant growing up and dating, and may sometimes wish for a guy who feels like her match in height. A shorter man may have been the smallest guy on the team and so dating a taller woman may be an uncomfortable reminder of shame he hasn’t worked through yet. The biggest height difference any of us experiences in life is the one we have with our parents growing up. When we were small and they were tall, we felt taken care of and loved, or deprived and judged, or both.”

But none of that baggage is insurmountable, Fitzpatrick notes, particularly if both parties are willing to talk about it.

There’s one way in which Turner and Jonas are already getting past one shorter-man stereotype: “Tallness in men is associated with career success, which isn’t an issue for couples who are already successful,” Fitzpatrick says. “And with today’s partnership marriages, I find couples less interested in height and more in sharing career, household, and parenting equitably.”

Fitzpatrick says there are much more important questions they’ll have to face together than physical differences.

“Once a couple have been together awhile, it’s the quality of the relationship that matters: Do they listen to and understand each other? Do they express care for each other in everyday ways? Do they trust each other?” she says.

Regardless of height, “Jophie” look pretty happy together, as they begin to plan their wedding, which will feature Maisie Williams as a bridesmaid and some kind of speech (or more) from Nick Jonas. Then we’re betting Turner’s choice of footwear will have everything to do with her dancing plans, not her groom’s height.

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Why finding large women's shoe sizes can be a problem

By Caroline Bullock
Business reporter

18 August 2017 Business

The UK footwear chain Jones Bootmaker was saved from administration earlier this year but its new owners are still closing a number of its stores - which is a setback for women with larger feet and few options.

And I should know: as Jones is one of the few High Street staples to offer a larger than average range of big sizes, my local branch was the first port of call to accommodate my own size nines.

Now it lies empty, the latest instalment in a troubled footwear history that sentenced me to boy's lace-ups at school and overhanging toes in any sandal since.

With independent shops rarely stocking shoes above size seven and larger brand outlets offering merely one or two options - if I'm lucky - finding suitable shoes remains the Holy Grail.

Since the 1970s, the average shoe size of men and women in the UK has increased by two sizes, from a size eight to 10 and four to six, respectively, according to research from the College of Podiatry.

"When size five was average the industry would think providing two sizes above to a seven was just about the fringe of adequate for women, but now that it's a six, we should be seeing far more eights and even nines as standard," says the college's Dr Jill Halstead-Rastrick.

She believes the footwear industry is not moving with the times to accommodate a nation that is taller and heavier and so by evolutionary logic, has larger feet, and warns this is an issue that could be a time bomb for the next generation.

"Increased weight splays the feet and we are seeing a lot of adults wearing shoes that are too narrow or small. This is only going to become more of a problem as we continue to grow in stature - we need a wider variety of larger sizes."

It's a familiar narrative to Laura West of the Society of Shoe Fitters.

She estimates around 30% of inquiries she receives are from girls aged around 12 unable to find school shoes above a size eight, and who have to wear boys' shoes as a result. Irrespective of any aesthetics this has serious repercussions for girls' foot health, she argues.

"Boys' shoes will fit differently, and ill-fitting footwear does change [girls] physiology.

"If feet hurt you shift your weight unnaturally when you walk and this wears out other joints and tendons leading to hip, knee and ankle and neck problems later on."

West believes the problem stems from the demise of British manufacturing in the 1980s, when many UK brands shifted production overseas to cut costs. This has meant less research into foot development and a deeper disconnect between the manufacturer and consumer needs, she says.

"When we produced shoes here we could run short production lines including larger sizes at little extra cost, but in an overseas factory you have to order in far greater numbers, which becomes cost prohibitive.

"Independent shops can't compete with low cost imports - and they would have been the ones to feedback the inability to supply certain items like larger sizes to their manufacturers' representatives.

"Now consumers trawl from High Street chain to supermarket and the staff have little involvement; it is a self-service mass market approach and an 'if we've got it you can have it - if not tough' mentality, so manufacturers don't have a clue."

A focus on fashion over quality has compounded the problem for many UK women's shoe makers. By contrast the men's market has benefitted from higher-priced items such as Goodyear welted shoes which enjoy a healthy export trade to Europe, Asia and US.

"The price commanded for them makes UK production profitable," says British Footwear Association chief executive John Saunders.

By contrast "most UK women's shoemakers were operating in the volume to mid-tier market," he says, and were hit hard in the late 20th Century by increasing Asian competition, retailers demanding a greater share of profits and consumers turning to cheaper shoes.

China now accounts for about 65% of shoes made worldwide, and with this production coming from a country where the average female shoe size is a UK three-and-half, this virtual monopoly has hit shoes sizes.

Former luxury shoe buyer Naomi Braithwaite, now a fashion marketing and branding lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, recalls how standard sizes of shoes at the company she worked for reduced after it switched production from Italy to China.

"Sample sizes were based on Chinese feet which are smaller boned and narrower. As well as this, many of the designers at the luxury end simply didn't like to see their shoes in bigger sizes as they didn't think they looked as beautiful as the more petite sizes."

The additional cost involved in producing larger sizes to cover the extra material and increased shipment weight is another deterrent for a somewhat already reluctant industry, she concedes.

It's a gap in the market that Long Tall Sally, a specialist in fashion and footwear for tall women, has successfully exploited. Its shoe range starts at size seven and goes up to 13.

Making shoes above a size eight costs the firm about £5 extra a pair because of the extra material, and it also uses a bespoke 'last' - a three-dimensional foot shaped mould on which each shoe is made.

Yet it seems to be paying off with footwear growing from a 5% to 15% share of the total business. Size 10 is now its most popular size, representing 30% of footwear sales.

"Demand for larger size women's shoes has risen steadily," says Long Tall Sally's shoe buyer, Chris O'Shea.

The other option if you've larger feet, is to buy German.

"Germany is very much an exception - it has always had much better selection in larger size footwear and what they do well is shoes with quality, comfort and longevity'" says O'Shea.

While Germany still outsources production to Asia, many of its footwear brands retain head office, marketing and design in the country - with a consistent focus on function and quality over fashion.

It's why Dr Halstead-Rastrick often directs patients to German brands. But she says the industry could better use technology to provide more personalised fittings without the prohibitive prices that handmade shoes usually command.

"You can even scan and measure feet via a phone app now, so surely we can't be that far off a situation where we can send our measurements to companies and say, this is the shape of my foot can you make me something?"

Here's hoping change is afoot.

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By Sara G. Miller, Staff Writer | November 16, 2016 01:51pm ET

NEW ORLEANS — Taller women are more likely to have physical or mental health problems by the time they reach their mid-70s than their shorter counterparts, a new study finds. However, rather than resigning to such a fate, women can take certain steps to ward off the negative effects of a tall stature.

Several factors, including genetics and certain circumstances that take place early in life, influence how tall a person will be, the researchers wrote.

Previous research showed taller people have a reduced risk of heart disease, but a greater risk of cancer, said Wenjie Ma, a doctoral student in epidemiology at Harvard University's School of Public Health and the lead author of the study. Ma presented her findings here Tuesday (Nov. 15) at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions.

But researchers didn't know how women's height would affect their overall health as they aged, Ma told Live Science.

In the study, the researchers analyzed data on more than 68,000 women who were enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study. The women's heights, along with information about their BMI, smoking status, physical activity levels and diets, were recorded in 1980, when their average age was 44. [5 Key Nutrients Women Need As They Age]

The study follow-up continued until 2012, when the researchers determined which women met the criteria for "healthy aging." A "healthy ager" was defined as a woman who had no reported memory problems, no physical problems, no mental health limitations and was free of 11 chronic diseases, such as cancer, Type 2 diabetes and kidney failure.

The women were placed into five groups based on their height, Ma said. The median heights of the groups were 62 inches (157.5 cm), 63 inches (160 cm), 64 inches (162.6 cm), 66 inches (167.6) and 68 inches (172.2 cm).

Compared with the group that had a median height of 62 inches, the women in the 68-inch group were less likely to meet the criteria for healthy aging, Ma said. The findings did not change when the researchers adjusted for factors such as ethnicity, marriage status, menopause status and family history of disease.

It's not clear why taller women may be less likely to experience healthy aging — future studies should look at this question, the researchers said.

But when the researchers studied the women's lifestyle factors, including diet, they found that tall women who reported eating a healthy diet fared better than those who didn't. In other words, eating a healthy diet appeared to soften the association between taller height and unhealthy aging.

The healthy diet that appeared to have a positive effect was rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, Ma said.  

The researchers noted that the study found an association, and does not prove there is a cause-and-effect relationship between being taller and experiencing more health problems during aging.

More research is needed to see if the findings apply to other groups of people, the researchers said. The findings have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.  

Originally published on Live Science.

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WNBA Star: You Can’t Please Everyone, ‘People Hate Beyoncé’

by Christina Santi, August 17, 2018

Dallas Wings center Elizabeth Cambage is 6’8 and leads the WNBA in scoring. Despite better than average stats, the London born baller believes she cannot get everyone to be sure of her greatness, according to Bleacher Report.

The 26-year-old is the tallest woman in the league. She plays hard, is second in rebounding (9.7 per game) and has an over the top personality. Cambage played for the Tulsa Shock in 2011, the year she was drafted 2nd overall. Then she spent time playing overseas in Australia before allegedly being cut from the national team.

Drake recently shouted her out on “Sicko Mode,” a song on Travis Scott’s recent album, Astroworld. However, things weren’t always so bright for the ball player. Cambage was teased for her height growing up and feels her game is lowered because of her height and passion. “A lot of people have tried to dull my light,” she said.

The MVP candidate understands that she needs to love herself because not everyone will. “People hate Beyonce. People probably had s**t to say about Mother Teresa, you know? You can’t please everyone,” Cambage asserted. “You’re not an avocado. Not everyone’s going to love you.”

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By Munson Steed | April 15, 2016 2:31 PM EST 

WNBA star Swin Cash, 36, was selected as one Sports Illustrated’s inaugural “Fashionable 50” and graces the cover of the coveted issue. She ranks among Russell Westbrook, Victor Cruz, Serena Williams and Misty Copeland, who are also considered the most stylist athletes in sports.

“I’ve always dabbled back and forth between the fashion and sports worlds because when I was 14-years-old I had the opportunity to walk in New York Fashion Week,” she tells SI, “…then I went on to play basketball in college and now in the WNBA. Because I am 6-feet tall, I’ve always had to be creative and versatile with my clothes. I love to come to games dressed from head to toe, but I also work in TV as a commentator. So I can do that classic look or I can pull off an elegant dress for a black tie event. Or I can be tomboy chic at a football or basketball game. I love that I can be this chameleon and my fashion can really transcend through the different avenues and areas I work in.”

...

Name a few of your favorite designers from head-to-toe?

Shoes – I’m a big Stuart Weitzman fan. I wear a size 11 or 11.5 in heels and SW always come through for me with fashionable ones. Also Vince, Jimmy Choo and Sam Edelman.  Clothing – Ted Baker, Helmut Lang, Robert Rodriguez J brand jeans Top Shop (tall) My dream would be to partner with a designer or store like Top Shop to do a signature tall line for women and girls. I am asked all the time where do I find clothes because of my height and body type. Tall women love to dress fly too and everyone, I would love to do a collaboration like that one day soon.

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A WOMAN bullied at school for being "too tall and nerdy" is having the last laugh - after becoming a successful Naomi Campbell lookalike.

Gorgeous Lystra Adams was constantly teased while at school in Montserrat for being taller than everyone else in her school.

The name calling was so vicious that the young Lystra used to suffer panic attacks before going to class.

Now the 37-year-old stunner has conquered the bullies and has carved out a successful career in modelling.

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• Caroline Stillman has designed 10 pairs of shoes for women with large feet
• Wears a size 11 and is 6ft 4in tall as a result of Marfan Syndrome
• Was buying footwear in a size 8 shoe when she was just 12 years old
• 23-year-old will launch Carobella shoes online in coming months

By Martha Cliff for MailOnline
Published: 12:36 GMT, 13 April 2016 | Updated: 15:44 GMT, 13 April 2016

A woman is set to launch her own collection of footwear after struggling to find shoes to fit her size 11 feet.

Caroline Stillman, 23, from Rutland, Leicestershire, stands at 6ft 4in tall and was wearing an adult size eight shoe before she was 12.

Throughout her teens she struggled to find footwear in her size - meaning that while her friends wore fashionable designs, the leggy blonde was left in frumpy flats.

Frustrated at the lack of options for tall women with big feet, Caroline - who wears a size 10 or 11 shoe depending on the shop - decided to take matters into her own hands.

Caroline, whose legs alone are more than 3ft long, studied a fashion course at her local college before enrolling at the London College of Fashion.

Spurred on by the petite, small-footed fashionistas around her, she began thinking up designs for shoes she would love to wear herself but had never been able to.

Now, after years of pining to wear beautiful shoes, Caroline has turned her dream into a reality - and will launch her own range of footwear this summer.

The shoes - fashionable flats inspired by top designers like Valentino and Christian Dior - will be made in sizes eight to 11 and sold on her website.

Caroline said she hopes her shoes will be stocked at fashionable high-street stores like Topshop and Selfridges one day.

She said: 'I was really interested in fashion from an early age but I struggled to find nice shoes to go with my outfits.

'I remember going into shoe shops with my mum as a child and trying on size eight adult ladies' shoes when I was about 10 or 11. It was frustrating.

'If I was going somewhere nice with my girlfriends they would always have really nice shoes. I thought I would never be able to wear or find anything like that.

'I would always have to buy shoes from different websites. There wasn't a big range of styles and there weren't any fashionable ones at all.

'They would all be aimed at older women - not teenagers or girly girls, like me.'

After walking through her teenage years in unfashionable footwear, desperate Caroline decided enough was enough.

She said: 'I've always been into fashion, so I decided to study fashion design at college.

'That was when I realised there was a gap in the market. I started designing and making shoes that I would love to wear myself.

'I thought, if I can make these shoes easily then why can't I make them for other girls?'

She added: 'I'm launching this range because I think everyone deserves to be able to experience wearing a beautiful pair of shoes.

'I hope that I can help bring that dream to life for some people who might find it harder to find shoes like myself.'

Caroline's height is due to Marfan Syndrome, an inherited chromosomal disorder which can cause heart and eye problems as well as exceptional growth.

Common complications include a leaky and enlarged aortic valve, meaning Caroline is being closely monitored by medics and will one day have to have open heart surgery.

Sufferers also often have extra-long arms and legs, are tall and thin and have long, slender fingers - like the Stillmans.

Although being tall is not unusual in the family - Caroline's mother, Sarah, stands at 6ft tall and her brother Sam, 24, is 6ft 7ins - she hasn't always felt normal.

At secondary school, cruel bullies taunted her relentlessly about her height, calling her a 'lanky b****' and 'giraffe legs'.

Caroline, who has just graduated from her final year at De Montfort University with a degree in footwear design, said: 'I was always tall, always different, even as a little girl.

'In primary school I didn't have any problems but at secondary school I was teased all the time. Girls would call me lanky and a giant.

'It made me feel so horrible. I didn't have a problem with how I looked, so it was horrible that other children did.'

The teasing was so severe that Caroline was forced to move from Uppingham Community College in Rutland, Leics., to Stamford Girls School, Lincs.

Since then, Caroline said most people have been supportive and complimentary, and she was even approached by a model scout about a job on the catwalk.

But the passionate entrepreneur decided she would rather design shoes than model them and set up Carobella Boutique, in spite of warnings from doubtful tutors.

Her first range, which is set to be unveiled in the coming months, will consist of around 10 pairs of luxury flat shoes for tall women.

'The shoes are all kind of simple. I have got big feet so I don't really want them to stand out any more than they do already,' she said.

'They are all very elegant and beautiful. I'm so excited to let everyone see them.'

Caroline's dad, Bill, who is 6ft tall himself, added: 'Dealing with the Marfan Syndrome has been really difficult for the family.

'I'm so proud of what Caroline has achieved.' 

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By Tracey Spicer

The scene: a suburban hairdressing salon on a Saturday morning. A bride-to-be is in for experimentation with various hairstyles for the "big day".

"Would you prefer an 'updo'?" the hairdresser asks.

Are you kidding?" the bride says. "I'm almost six foot tall [183 centimetres]. Don't need any more height. It'd be embarrassing for my fiancé!"

"Have you got some nice flats to wear?" another client asks.

"Wouldn't want to be towering over the poor guy in your high heels."

"Yep, I've got ballet shoes. Otherwise I'd feel like that terrifying chick Brienne out of Game of Thones."

Perhaps I've been transported to medieval times. I check. Nope, it's 2017. Why is it still taboo for tall women to date short men? Or for women to appear the same height as their beaux?

Poor Princess Di must have been kneeling in those commemorative photos with Prince Charles. As a newsreader, I copied her head-tilt and small smile for a series of shots with (petite) male co-anchors in the '80s and '90s. I looked like some sort of simpering wife.

I know, women are – on average – shorter than men. But study after study shows men and women exaggerate this disparity by seeking out taller-shorter pairings for relationships.

Analysis of Yahoo personal ads by US academics George Yancey and Michael Emerson found that while 13.5 per cent of men only wanted to date women shorter than them, some 49 per cent of women only wanted to date men who were taller.

In her 2008 book Factory Girls, Leslie T. Chang notes that height in China was a proxy for class – signifying fortune and a good diet in a country which had experienced famine in living memory.

An Indian friend of mine says he's attracted to taller women, but fears an assumption by others that she's the one "wearing the trousers".

A trawl of wedding websites reveals how far photographers stoop to hide a woman's height. Th ese include the groom standing at the top of a hill and the bride stepping into a hole. One site suggests, "Ask him if it will make him uncomfortable to look up to you."

Seriously, sister, if his answer to this is "yes" then run away screaming!

Drilling down, the reasons for this preference are complex. Researchers point to evolutionary psychology, gender stereotyping and social exchange theory.

The first suggests that taller men are seen as stronger, more able to intimidate rivals and to secure resources. But surely we're beyond the stage of clobbering a challenger over the head with a club. And modern resources are best secured via technology, not brute strength.

The second is societal expectations, in which the "less powerful" man is ridiculed; people still make jokes about short men. I reckon this is at the root of the issue. And so is the third, which centres on status and power. "In a patriarchal society where they operate at a disadvantage, females may have more invested in locating a higher-status partner than men," Yancey and Emerson write. "Height may play a significant role in establishing the perception of higher status among males and thus is more important to women than to men."

This is reinforced by women feeling more "feminine" with a taller man. "Many women hold this stereotype to a point where it excludes a lot of people they might be interested in otherwise," sociologist Dr Pepper Schwartz has said.

We need to break down this everyday sexism by analysing our unconscious bias. Otherwise, our children will continue to absorb images, both in the mass media and at family weddings, of a "dominant" man hovering over a "submissive" woman.

Put simply, our mundane preferences for height in romantic relationships are contrary to our arguments for equality.

Walking out of the salon that day, I placed my hand on the shoulder of the bride-to-be. "You stand proud on your wedding day," I said. "Don't be shamed into slumping."

She looked confused. "I don't want to upset him," she said. "But I guess, stuff it! He's gonna have to live with all six foot of me for the rest of our lives. Thanks." Sometimes, a few small words can make a big difference.

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Bazaar celebrates women who live by their own rules and are brave enough to take flight. See all of the Daring Women featured in our November 2015 issue here.

By Laura Brown

A few years ago, Gwendoline Christie was treading the boards for the Royal Shakespeare Company and playing Mag Wildwood in a West End production of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Now she finds herself at the epicenter of three massive pop-culture movements: Game of Thrones, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2. While an actor saying he/she is grateful has become a cliché, Christie really means it. "It means there's a shift in our culture and our way of thinking about how women are perceived," she says. "People want to see a more diverse representation of women than the homogenized ones we've had so far."

Christie, 36, is far from homogeneous. Standing six foot three, she contended for years with the perception that "if you were taller than average, you couldn't act on-screen. But you've got to hang in there because things change." She had a role in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus in 2009, then a friend told her "there was something online about me being in an HBO show." Christie researched Game of Thrones's Brienne of Tarth, the loyal-to-a-fault soldier who stars in the series' most riveting battle scenes, and thought, If this remains in audiences' minds, this could work to change the way we view women on television.

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She Is Not The Tallest Girl, However, She Has The Longest Legs

By Momina Wijdan Last updated Oct 24, 2019

We just came across a video (by Barcroft TV) of the girl with World's Longest Legs, Maci Currin. And that has really surprised us. She is not the tallest girl in the world. However, she has the longest legs. Comparing her to Netflix's Tall Girl Ava Michelle would be unfair. So, let us just compare her with the record-holder longest-legged girl.

Maci Currin | Girl With The Longest legs

Maci Currin is a 16-year old towering teenager from Texas. And she is a proud owner of the world's longest legs. Like seriously, her legs are too long. She officially has 53 inches long legs, that is 134.62 centimeters or 4.42 feet. (Considering I'm 62 inches tall, I really cannot imagine standing next to her legs.) Currin is actually from Austin, Texas and she is officially breaking the record of Ekaterina Lisina, of Russia who has 52.5 inches legs.

Currin is an aspiring model with a total height of 6 feet 9 inches. When she was born, she was slightly smaller than the average newborn. However, she went through some serious growth spurts and by the time she was 9, she was 5 feet 7 inches tall.

Currin Explains Pros & Cons Of Her Height

Maci Currin is a proud owner of the world's longest legs. Though her legs come with some pros and cons, she does not mind having the longest legs. With an outseam of 53 inches and an inseam of 43 inches, she can find her friends very easily in a crowd. Her mother said when Currin was just 18 months old, she stood a foot taller than other kids with the same age.

Maci Currin says finding friends in the crowds is very easy for her. However, there are some disadvantages to being that tall. These cons include hitting her head, getting into cars and finding the clothes. Currin's father Cameron is 6 feet 5 inches tall.

Her mother Trish said that there were some years in Maci Currin's life when she was growing 5 inches in a year. When she goes to public spaces, a lot of people stare at her. And they take pictures of her without asking for her permission. And it really annoys her. She does not like shopping at all, unlike other girls. We wish her all the best for her future and we'll hopefully see her official verification soon in Guinness World Record.

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Anne Murphy, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Jan 28, 2017

Motto: My mother told me that tall women wear their clothes very well — when they can find clothes to wear! It made me feel better about my height.

At 65, though Cindy Peterson plans to retire this year from her job as administrative assistant at Grand Meadow Elementary School, she plans to continue the active lifestyle she has always known in her hometown.

"I was born and raised in Grand Meadow and have lived there all of my life," she said. "My husband and I raised four children, and I have 11 grandchildren. My husband of 41 years passed away five years ago, and I remarried two-and-a-half years ago to a wonderful man and longtime friend.

"I love to spend time with family and friends, cook, work out, garden, read, attend concerts and travel," Peterson said. "I am very excited about retirement and having the time to finish projects that I have started and can't seem to finish."

Please tell us a little about your style.

I don't know that I have a particular style but would say that I am mostly conservative with a little bit of fun thrown in. Being tall - 5-foot-10 - it's always been difficult to find clothes.

And a bit of background?

When I was in high school, I learned to sew and made all my clothes as there were no ready-to-wear tall clothes in department stores back then. We had a dress code, meaning all girls wore dresses or skirts. I learned to like long lines with fitted waists as those looked the best on me.

Did family figure in?

Once I started growing taller than my peers, around the eighth grade, my mother told me that tall women wear their clothes very well - when they can find clothes to wear. I learned to always look for items that no one but a tall woman could wear. It made me feel better about my height and helped ease the discomfort of being taller than all of my friends, or even any other girl in my class.

Has your style changed with your stages in life?

I have always been somewhat conservative, but I think I went through a very conservative time when my kids were growing up - probably because I was so busy raising a family that I didn't have time or money to think about how I dressed.

Is it easier being your height today than earlier?

I love the fact that today's pant lengths are all over the place, so at 5-foot-10 I can wear a pair of pants that are meant to be full length and sport them as ankle pants or even capris! I also love the fact that boots are in, and any style boot is in. You can still wear the boots that you had five years ago, and you can extend the wearing period of your summer capris by wearing boots over them.

What do you hope your style communicates?

That how you dress is a reflection of not only who you are, but where you are. My late husband and I worked hard to communicate that to our four children. It's so important to dress for the occasion.

Do you have a priceless sentimental piece?

I have a string of pearls that belonged to my grandmother. They were probably purchased in the early 1900s. I have never worn them, but I certainly cherish them.

Advice for readers?

I read once that whenever you are thinking of purchasing an item, try to come up with at least three or four things you have at home that you can wear with it. I have always tried to remember that.

Anne Murphy is a Rochester freelance writer who has been a professional journalist for more than 30 years.
Do you know somebody who's got special style? Send nominations to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call Life section editor Jeff Pieters at 507-285-7748.

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