Sarah Vain and Tall

no, not THAT Vain.  I don’t even own that much hair product.

Usually the emails and comments I get are lovely, positive things.  They say,  ‘I like what you’re doing!’! or  ‘Good on you for this, we need it!’

I’m not mentioning this because I think everybody loves me: most people who don’t like what they see, quickly move on without engaging.  It’s only those who like Sarah Vain and Tall that leave any comments.

That’s why I am grateful and surprised that someone who disagrees with what I’m doing, went to the effort of telling me why.

I think the name is a bit unfortunate. The word “vain” conjures up a whole lot of negativity. We tall girls need all the positivity we can get…

You know what?  My Mum doesn’t like the name, either!  She’s not a particularly religious woman, nevertheless, Mum wishes I’d chosen something else.

Here’s where it gets interesting though: I don’t think it’s good to be vain.   I hope I’m not and I don’t suffer people who are.

Why, then, the name?

First up: my competitors’ names are mostly pretty much the same.  Height this, tall that, something about legs.   I wanted to stand out — if you think my name sucks, you’ll probably still remember it!!

Second, and more important: all those weird misconceptions about tall girls.  We’re undateable.  We think we’re prettier than other girls.  We’re unfeminine.  We’re genetically gifted and look down on other people.  We’re awkward.  We’re models.  We’re huge.  We’re stick figures … hang on, is this making ANY sense?  It’s all a load of … you get the idea.  And it bugs me because we can’t even dress like the ‘vain’ catwalk models we’re supposed to be.

(By the way — most of the models I’ve met have been far from stuck up.  If you want to feel superior to the rest of the world, becoming a human pin cushion, squeezing into shoes two sizes too small, and changing in front of a room full of people wondering out loud if your body shape “can be made to work” is probably not your best move).

My husband and I were playing around with puns and he came up with a fun take on the book title, Sarah Plain and Tall.  It’s an ode to all the crazy hypocrisy, and tells you what I’m about: awesome and interesting clothing — something you could feel vain in, if you wanted to.

So ‘Vain’ seemed, and seems to me, to be absolutely perfect for this shop.

But what do you think?  Am I nuts?  Do you cringe every time you see my logo?  Now I’m interested!

Hey, look up.  See that tab?  The one that says ‘Store’?

You can click on that tab, and buy a fabulous, long sleeve, tall-as-they-come wrap dress.  It’s called the Kenya Wrap: congratulations to the winner of our contest, Melissa.  Melissa, send me your snail mail address and your size!

Praise must also go to Webmaster Evan, who has worked all weekend to get the store and payment channels working and looking slick.  I think he did an amazing job, don’t you?

There’s even an extra bonus — a pre-order of the next dress — but I’m not going to show you, you’ll have to visit the store!