So apparently I’m tall
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It came as a surprise to me too. I've been told this fact by almost every new person I've met for the majority of my adult life. Come to think of it, I was told this fact quite a lot before I was an adult too. I've even been told multiple times by people who have known me for years. Even if there was no other evidence, I should have reason to be quite convinced by now.
But there is evidence. And I'm not just talking about the measureable fact. It's called clothes shopping. And it's rather difficult to do when you're very tall. For me, it's not all types of clothes. Some things I can buy 'off the rack' just the same as anyone else. With shirts and such I have to be conscious of sleeve length, but I can usually find something in my size if I look hard enough. But trousers are a different matter.
Most clothing manufacturers assume one of two things. The first and most popular option is that nobody could possibly be as tall as me, so it's not even worth making clothes for people that tall. Thank you for that, by the way. The second is that, okay, perhaps people can be that tall… but if that's the case then logically they must also be equivalently broad as well. Sorry to disappoint but I'm afraid that isn't always how it works. And all of my unsuccessful attempts to put on weight have yielded the frustratingly lean figure to prove it.
In the UK, men's trousers are most often sold by waist size—usually in inches. For each waist size, there will normally be three options: short, medium and long. These descriptions refer to the inside leg measurement. From my perspective, as descriptions go they're wildly inaccurate. The actual measurements for each of the options scale up as the waist size increases, again following the logic that in order to be tall, one must also be wide, and vice versa. Presumably limited university funding has meant that in the last few decades, fashion students have had to make do with dressing matryoshka dolls.
The short option I can agree with. From my point of view it is very short. Medium is a relative term. Insofar as the measurement falls halfway between short and long, I'll accept that it's a medium of sorts. In any other sense, however, it's still terribly short. Long is a quite a different kind of misnomer entirely. I can assure you that 'long' is not an accurate description for the option that carries its name.
The longest inside leg measurement I can normally find for any waist size is 34". At a push, and if you really look, there are a few places out there that will go to 36". My inside leg measurement is 39". An off the rack 'long' shows off my socks in all their glory. I'm not embarrassed by my socks. But I would be embarrassed if I was wearing a pair of trousers that left them on display. The only reliable option I have is tailoring, which adds to the wait and the price tag, but at least keeps my ankles warm in the winter.
The reason I was reminded of this is because I've recently had cause to meet some new people. While being told I'm tall isn't an irregular occurrence anyway, I have had to get used to hearing it more frequently again for the time being. And it's reminded me that I probably need to order some more trousers. Blast.