2015年11月09日 15:57
Many women strap on heels for a night on the town with the intention of turning heads.
Holly Burt avoids them for that very reason.
“It leads to nonstop questions,” the 20-year-old tells The Post at her photo shoot at Tender Bar & Grill. Standing 6-foot-5 — and with 49.5-inch legs — Burt already gets questions about her height 20 to 30 times a day, even when she’s just wearing sneakers.
The Florida native didn’t even buy her first pair of heels until October. That’s when she went public with the news that her legs are a half-inch longer than those of Lauren Williams of Houston, who claims to have the longest of any women in America.
But with those eye-popping gams come some unique tall-girl problems.
“I can’t fit on a plane — I have to duck,” Burt says. “I’m literally walking like I have a broken neck, and if [someone seated in front of me has] the audacity to put their chair back, I won’t let them do that. I’ll push up against their seat with my hands.”
Riding the subway to Parsons School of Design each day from her Bushwick, Brooklyn, apartment requires ducking down, too. She also has to deal with gawking straphangers who shamelessly snap her photo. “That’s where I get the most attention.”
Burt’s yet to try and squeeze into a seat at a Broadway show, but she’s got a strategy when attending lectures at school. The graphic-design major shows up early to classes to get a front-row seat. That way, she can stretch out and no one has to climb over her.
Luckily, Burt can solicit advice from her family: She comes from a long line of sky-high giants.
“My mom is 6 foot, my dad’s 6-foot-3 and my sister’s 6-foot-1,” she says. “And my grandpa was 6-foot-8.”
When it comes to dating, Burt, who’s single, turns to apps like Tinder and Bumble — which usually list a guy’s height — to help weed out the short stuff.
As her Bumble profile says, she’s looking for her very own Yao Ming.
“I’ve had one type all my life, and that’s tall,” she explains. “It’s not like I have trouble getting guys. I’m a pretty personable person, so if I see a really tall guy, of course I’ll go up to him and say, ‘Hey.’ ”
She tends to meet men at trendy nightlife haunts in Williamsburg and on the Lower East Side. But Burt cringes when recounting the main pickup line she gets from guys.
“‘Whoa, you’re really tall.’ Then that’s over right there,” she says. “They’ll be like, ‘What’s your name?’ and I’ll say, ‘You can just shut up now.’ ”
Another challenge when your legs are more than 4 feet long? You can’t just pop into a store and buy pants.
“Tall orders are [usually only] available online,” she says. But sometimes even that’s not enough: “At Gap you can get a 35-inch inseam online, but I wear a 37-inch inseam.”
Burt’s favorite online retailer is alloyapparel, which specializes in tall sizes. When she finds something she likes, she buys in bulk.
“I swear I’m a normal girl!” says Burt, who wears a size 2 from the waist up. “I can shop anywhere really for [tops and dresses]. It’s just pants — and shoes. I wear size 11.”
Her favorite article of clothing right now is a Bebe bandage skirt, size XS.
“It gives [me] a really nice hourglass, and my legs look really awesome in it.” It just barely skims the tops of her thighs, and she’ll pair it with flat boots and a crop top for a night out on Ludlow Street.
Soon, she might have a camera crew tagging along: A major cable channel has contacted Burt about a possible reality show, and she’s more than game. But even though she gives supermodels like Heidi Klum — whose own legs are insured for a combined $2 million — a run for their money, don’t expect to see Burt stomping the runway anytime soon.
“I don’t see myself walking New York Fashion Week,” she says. “I’ve been hit up by one modeling agency that specializes in [body] parts — like ad campaigns that need a real leggy model — which is where I would be perfectly happy.”