This New Year walk tall with pride

We know it's cool to be tall and we know what authentic style looks like, and so do these two women. They dress not to conceal but to celebrate. 
Pat Collins a 6ft teacher embraces her height "I won't 'downsize' myself with flats." Get Up, Stand Up: "Child, stop complaining," Pat's mother would tell her. "God made you tall so that men would look up to you." Although Pat still has insecurities about her height;" When I was young, the other kids treated me like a freak''; her husband (over six feet tall himself) encourages her to walk tall: "Put on your heels!" he says.
 High Style: Pat's heels and skinny jeans emphasize her endless legs; nice to look at, difficult to shop for. "It can be hard to find pants that are long enough," she says. "Sometimes I wear men's." She avoids miniskirts ("I don't need extra drama") and likes her hair long ("It softens my profile. With short hair, I look too androgynous"). 
The Big Idea: A former runway model and junior track-and-field Olympian, Pat conducts health and beauty workshops in elementary schools. Mental strength, she argues, is crucial to self-acceptance: "I tell the girls to send themselves positive messages; I'm beautiful; I stand tall. Mirrors are an important way to talk to yourself." 

Amy Sacco, 6'1'', size 12; is proud of her statuesque proportions "I wasn't born a waif." She is a successful business woman and owns Bungalow 8, a club, and Bette, a restaurant, in New York City.
 Blonde Venus: Amy still remembers the names she was called as a kid: Daddy Long Legs, Amazon Amy, Jolly Green Giant. But her mother urged her to be proud of her statuesque proportions, and that helped; so did voluptuous actress heroes like Sophia Loren, Anita Ekberg, and Mae West. "I'm the quintessential big blonde; the only time I've felt like a shrimp was next to [seven-foot-tall basketball superstar] Patrick Ewing."
Club Queen: A glamorous presence on the nightlife circuit ("I have 20-hour days; I don't need to go to the gym"), Amy has been clubbing since she was 15: Her extra-long legs came in handy when she was a New Jersey teenager sneaking out her bedroom window to make the Manhattan scene.
Learning Curves: "It's important to embrace who you are," Amy says, "and I'm never going to be a skinny girl. It's sad: I love fashion, but it's not necessarily inclusive." She works her cleavage, adores Donna Karan ("She dresses women of all sizes"), and eschews anything bare ("I have to wear a bra") or super short ("I hate my chub knees").