This article was originally published on the Kimes blog – thank you for the opportunity to write with you.
I’m not quite sure how old I was when I realized that being a tall women wasn’t a “normal” thing. Fortunately for me, I am one of those “tall women” who played basketball, so the random comments when walking through stores asking if I played basketball or volleyball never took me off guard.
It wasn’t until high school, when I hit a six inch growth spurt and started pushing six foot, that I realized I was slightly taller than all my girl friends. Not just that, but I became acutely aware that my older sister, who is a few inches taller than me at 6’1”, was like many tall women and uncomfortable with her height. In fact, she was mortified and would do everything she could to slouch and hide.
I went on to have a successful high school athletic career, which resulted in a scholarship to play basketball. That was where I met even taller women, women who were 6’3” on average and some were even getting close to the 7’ level. I never felt tall because of these amazing, athletic and gorgeous individuals. What I did feel were the eyes as passersby gave them the “tall girl look.”
The “Tall Girl Look” is when someone looks at you, is shocked by your height, then they look at your feet to see if you have some sort of heel on, and then they look back at your face in shock over the fact that you aren’t wearing heels. We get it all the time!
Understanding how out of sorts my tall friends felt, I realized that it was unknowingly ingrained into our society to ostracize those that are not “normal,” whether that be in height or body type. In fact, it got so bad that the only thing I wore from the growth spurt to my mid-twenties was Nike athletic wear. Nike was for athletes, they were made for those that were tall, but then, upon getting a “real” job that wasn’t athletically inclined, finding inseams were impossible!
Keeping your confidence and self-esteem high while trying to find clothes that fit you is really hard when you don’t fit the “norm” and a long inseam is one of those things.
I have always ridden horses…correction, I started as a carriage driver and then progressed to riding horses after getting caught on the back of my driving mini one too many times at the age of eight! I quickly found out that inseams of extended length were IMPOSSIBLE to find when it came to a life in the saddle. The “longs” found in stores were barely long enough for my flat footed inseam, let alone when I rode a horse.
I remember the excitement when I first found 37” inseam jeans online, on a sketchy site. I bought them, these ENORMOUS bell bottom pants, and proceeded to be the laughing joke of everyone as I always wore them to barrel race in as they wouldn’t ride up and show the tops of my cowboy boots!
Embracing my inseam and height as the 2016 Miss Rodeo Oregon, I was more than happy to share where I was finding long jeans and was a huge advocate of those few brands that carried them. There’s something about women who just can’t find the right fit or size of clothing EVER that gives us the confidence to approach each other at an airport or in a coffee line to ask, “Where did you get those jeans?!”
In mid-2018, through a random influencer photo shoot, Jackie Rhoden, the proud owner of Giddy Up Clothing Company in Prineville, Oregon, introduced me to a brand of jeans she carried in her store: Kimes Ranch Jeans. 
“Here,” she said, tossing me an outfit she had assembled. “Go put these on, you’ll love it!”
I stared hopelessly at the tag: LOLA, Size 4, 34” Inseam.
“Jackie,” I said with that sickening feeling of disappointing Jackie, who I had just met, “There’s no way these are going to fit me.”
“Too big?” She asked, not even thinking about the inseam length.
“Too short,” I said apologetically.
“They’re really generous, you’ll be okay!” She said with a smile.
Bless her heart, I couldn’t help but think. I figured, why not let my long inseam prove a point?That was the first day, since before my last growth spurt, that I wore a 34” inseam with boots. To put it in perspective, I usually wear a 36” inseam flat footed and a minimum 38” inseam to ride in. The Lola jeans had a GENEROUS length to them, as well as a comfortable stretch where I ended up going down a size to purchase my first pair of Kimes Jeans right then and there!
Once I have my eyes on a long inseam, I’m on the hunt, and after meticulously going through the Kimes website I found a variety of sharp looking, quality denim, blue jeans that were not only LONG enough for me to ride my horse in but also small enough in the waist to fit the way that they were supposed too! It was hard to choose but I ended up going with the Francesca’s in a 38” inseam and absolutely love them as they match both my long inseam and the long legs of my 16 hand barrel horse Fortune.
My hunt to find jeans that allow me to embrace my inseam has been halted thanks to Kimes! If you have any question on fit and length, feel free to send me a message on any of my social media platforms and follow along with my adventures in my Kimes on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!
Pacific North West Country Girl 