As a tall woman, clothes shopping is rarely a fun or successful experience. Being 6ft, I hardly ever bother searching for anything other than tops or jumpers, because I have accepted that very few shops stock jeans or trousers in my size.
If the shops do stock longer lengths, they are only online, which offers little relief. Like many women, I automatically buy more than one size of the same item, knowing I will have to send at least one thing back. Rather than being excited to find something new to wear, I often come away from shopping feeling worse about myself.
I am not alone in this feeling. When researching and planning this feature, I posted a survey onto social media to collect experiences from other tall women, and some of the responses made me emotional.
All the responses shared experiences of not being able to find clothes that fit properly, especially jeans and trousers. One response from Chloe shared something that many tall girls can relate to, ‘having to size up to find something that fits the length but then it’s too big on the waist’.
Another common frustration raised by Abby was that ‘many … clothes made for tall women are super basic, and don’t align with trends’, meaning that we often have to choose between clothes that fit, and clothes that we actually want to wear. Natalia described this frustration perfectly, saying that she wants to feel confident without having to keep ‘pulling my skirt or dress down’, adding that ‘tall should still feel beautiful’.
One anonymous response even said that shopping made her feel ‘sad [and] lonely, like fashion is made for shorter people’.
Jade Rozana, the founder and owner of Rozana LDN, knows this feeling well. After years of struggling to find clothes that fit her height and matched her style, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
Tucked away in Woolwich, Rozana LDN is a boutique designed specifically for women who are 5ft 9 and above. After reaching out, I was invited to visit the studio a week after the relaunch in September. As I entered, I saw a rail of jeans that touched the floor alongside jackets that had longer arm lengths, as well as bright dresses with bold colours and prints.
Although the collection is still growing, it currently features 36in and 38in inseam jeans priced at £75 alongside a selection of maxi and mini dresses, including occasion wear pieces that range from £95 to £165.
Jade was 5ft 11 at age 11 and told me that the frustration came early. The first memory was prom, where she “burst” into her house to tell her mum, “I’m not going”, because she couldn’t find anything to fit her. She eventually had a dress custom made and people made comments about it, which led her to think,
“why am I extra for wanting a dress that fits?”
Years later, she saved £300 for a birthday dress, convinced that money was the reason she couldn’t find anything she liked. It wasn’t.
“I couldn’t find anything. Not a single thing that matched my aesthetic and height.”.
For Jade, enough was enough, and she thought,
“If these clothes don’t exist, then maybe I should do something about it.”
So, she did. During her final year of university, she began to build the brand but later put it on pause due to exams and the start of the pandemic. She was doing everything by herself at a pivotal moment, so she decided that it was not the right time.
But now, Rozana LDN is back. She relaunched her online shop and opened her appointment-only boutique at the end of September with a simple aim:
“Good quality pieces that are well-priced and fit you perfectly”.
She also stressed the importance of giving tall women the freedom to try something on and decide whether they like it, rather than whether it simply fits.
We spoke for a while about the complex process of making clothes to fit taller women, a world I knew nothing about. Jade explained that when it comes to making clothes for tall girls, she feels like mainstream brands simply “add things to the end” without adjusting for differences in hips and waist, the exact problem Chloe mentioned in my survey.
However, Jade discovered that making clothes for tall women was difficult. She explained that she wanted to produce tights but struggled to find a manufacturer willing to take her on. The extra fabric needed can mean extra development costs, and some were reluctant because the order didn’t seem worth it. Others were slow to reply to her emails, but she eventually found someone willing to work with her.
For now, Rozana LDN is appointment-only due to logistics. Jade says she is “still learning” how to run a business alongside her full-time corporate job. However, she hopes to one day have a “permanent retail space”, so that women can pop in and buy something at short notice in addition to giving tall women “options, because we’ve literally never had that before”.
After the interview, Jade offered to let me try on a few pieces. I tried a blazer that cinched in my waist at exactly the right place, and I couldn’t help but smile. For once, I wasn’t pulling at the sleeves or worrying about the fit, I was just enjoying how it looked on me.
It was a small moment, but it perfectly encapsulated the conversation I just had with Jade about what Rozana LDN is all about: giving tall women the chance to enjoy shopping without consequences, and to feel comfortable and confident in their own bodies.
