Stand Tall
Vogue US|Winter 2024
Modern life doesn't exactly encourage an upright perspective. Good posture, however, has the ability to change not just our stance but our entire outlook. Thessaly La Force takes note. 
Jack Davison.
Stand Tall

IF YOUTH IS WASTED ON the young, then height is wasted on the young and tall. I can recall with total clarity my disappointment in my sixth-grade class portrait. I had experienced a growth spurt that summer. I had always been tall, but now the fact of my height was unavoidable—a topic among relatives, teachers, even strangers at the grocery store. I had picked out my outfit that day with care. But the school’s photographer assigned me to the back row, next to the tallest boy in the class—such cruel fate! From then on, I had only contempt for my height.

My solution was to hunch. To shave even just a few inches from my stature, I’d slink to my classes with my shoulders rounded forward and my head down. Later, I spoke to boys with my body awkwardly tilted against a wall or, preferably, sitting down. This was the late ’90s in Northern California. There were no deportment classes, no one telling me to stand, as my mother’s generation did, with my shoulders back and chest out. If anything, the pervasive look and feel of grunge and the laid-back cool of California’s surf and skate culture only further reinforced my decision to slouch. There was a rebellion to slouching, an insouciance to bad posture that felt in tune with the bleached-out, tomboyish femininity of the world around me.

Eventually, I grew out of it. I discovered that my height was something of an asset. I started a career, got married, had kids. Motherhood finally allowed me to feel a purpose with my physical self that wasn’t tied to vanity. The only problem was that I had completely obliterated my posture. Years of rounded shoulders had taken its toll. Two pregnancies had stretched out my core. The decades spent working in front of a computer hadn’t helped either.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM VOGUE USView all
WOMAN TO WOMAN
Vogue US

WOMAN TO WOMAN

Chemena Kamali's debut for Chloé was notable most of all for the way it connected with so many. Chloe Schama meets the designer whose name is on everyone's lips.

time-read
10+ mins  |
October 2024
In Wonderland
Vogue US

In Wonderland

Coach creative director Stuart Vevers and husband Ben Seidler's country cottage on 40 rolling acres is filled with antiques, flea market finds and their gorgeous young twins.

time-read
5 mins  |
October 2024
SUPERNOVA
Vogue US

SUPERNOVA

A searingly modern take on Sunset Boulevard, starring Nicole Scherzinger at the height of her powers, comes to the New York stage.

time-read
8 mins  |
October 2024
Mr. Happy
Vogue US

Mr. Happy

Kieran Culkin as electric an actor as he is a constitutionally ambivalent one-anchors the dark comic indie A Real Pain, and is leading Glengarry Glen Ross to Broadway. It's a lot to process.

time-read
10 mins  |
October 2024
SHAPE SHIFTER
Vogue US

SHAPE SHIFTER

Who is Lady Gaga now? A Hollywood superstar, a pop innovator, and a much happier, more grounded creature altogether. But as Jonathan Van Meter discovers, she's still an ever-evolving puzzle all her own. Photographed by Ethan James Green.

time-read
10+ mins  |
October 2024
An Un-Still Life
Vogue US

An Un-Still Life

The vibrant paintings of Hilary Pecis pulse with energy.

time-read
4 mins  |
October 2024
Giddyup Cup
Vogue US

Giddyup Cup

The storied Austrian glassware maker Lobmeyr looks to the American West.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024
What's Going On With Pants?
Vogue US

What's Going On With Pants?

The current (and oft-confusing) proliferation of them mirrors our lives today. By Maya Singer.

time-read
6 mins  |
October 2024
Full Flower
Vogue US

Full Flower

Erdem Moralioglu plants a new seed with his bloom-adorned bag.

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
Out of the Box
Vogue US

Out of the Box

A biopic made from Legosfor Pharrell Williams.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024