Sarah Vain and Tall

(What do I do?  I hug random tall girls in the street, of course!)

So, I don’t just hang around all day thinking deep thoughts about shoes, fabric options, and very tall men.   Much of the day, sure, but I also take snack breaks.  Sometimes I even read business and marketing blogs, and one of those, IttyBiz (warning: strong language) is playing with a meme this week.

“… answer a very scary question. What do you actually do?”

What a brilliant idea.  Just as we go into production, it seems like a great time to take a good look at Sarah, Vain and Tall the brand.  So here goes…

What’s your game? What do you do?

I make tall women feel fabulous.

I love my long legs.  I believe that tall women are beautiful.  I know that they haven’t had a chance to enjoy fashion and I am determined to make that happen.  I do this by designing and selling clothing that combines great fit with great fun.

I back up what I sell by blogging, sharing, and trying to tell the truth about our lives on the far end of the bell curve.

Why do you do it? Do you love it, or do you just have one of those creepy knacks?

This is what I was born to do.

• I have always had a crazy entrepreneurial bent.  When I was little we always had hundreds of extra potatoes growing in the garden — I thought my parents were really mean to say no, I couldn’t just set up a baked potato stand.  Turns out there are inconvenient laws that really get in the way of 10 year old would-be caterers!
• I have always loved fashion and sewing.  I used to collect pictures of Westwood and Gaultier couture and glue them together in ‘look books’.  For a while there I got disillusioned by fashion, feeling as I did that tall girls like me were not wanted by the industry.  All that I needed was time and confidence.

(yeah… that’s me in my teens.  You can just feel the self love, hey.)

• About that confidence: I got some.  I realised what needless harm a lack of it can do, especially in a world that doesn’t ‘fit’.  I decided that if I were only to achieve one great thing in my life, a generation of tall girls who didn’t think they were ‘freaks’ would be it.
• Writing is my other passion, and I’ll never stop blogging.  Did you know I have a Master’s degree in Literature?  I wrote my thesis on body image in Jacobean plays and poetry.  That comes in handy, like, ALL the time.
• (It turns out that blogging is waaaay more fun.)

I certainly don’t have a ‘knack’ for anything beyond biting off way more than I should, but I don’t believe that ‘having a knack’ is a good business plan.  Why run a business that isn’t about your life’s passion?  You may as well work for someone else and get a secure pay check.

Anyway, one day I realised: if I was Googling late into the night trying unsuccessfully to find awesome clothes, probably I wasn’t the only one.  Voilà, Sarah Vain and Tall.

Who are your customers? What kind of people would need or want what you offer?

My customers are tall women who know what they want and have no intention of being treated like second class citizens.  They are web-savvy, confident women who like to be noticed and treat their height as the asset it is.  I’m not designing for wall flowers or bargain shoppers, though I will happily point you in the right direction for casual slacks if that’s what you’re after.

If you’ve ever had a party, a wedding, or a job interview to go to and thought, “but all the clothes that fit are so aggravatingly NORMAL!” then you’re my kind of gal.

What’s your marketing USP? Why should I buy from you instead of the other losers?

(A USP is a Unique Service Proposition, the thing that sets a business apart.)

I shop from the other stores, so clearly I don’t think they’re losers!  Everyone needs jeans and basics, and it’s part of my mission to point you in the right direction when that’s what you need.

However in my own line, I hope to add sparkle and fun to shopping.  I’m not making 1000 white shirts — I’d rather make 50 ridiculously cute party dresses, sell them to 50 girls who want to stand out and agree that they’re ridiculously cute, and move on to the next dress.  It won’t be for everybody, but for those who like a point of difference as well as good quality, it’s a perfect fit.

Even beyond this, I will stay on top of great shoe shops and new trends in the tall world, and put their info and links all in one place for you so that putting together an outfit is easy and fun.

What’s next for you? What’s the big plan?

Well, launch is the next big thing   Beyond that, I would love to get to the point where I can work full time on building a whole online store-full of dramatic, unique, engaging pieces, and never have to worry again about what to wear!