Re: Height
 

I note your careful wording here.:sneaky:

What the statistics actually show is that there is very little difference in height between UK adults and Spanish 21 year-olds. They also show that on average 21 year old Spaniards are very slightly taller than 21 to 25 year old Spanish and that British 25 to 34 year olds are slightly taller on average than British adults.

All of this is consistent with a gradual increase in average height in both countries with Britain slightly in front.

There are various figures I could find that compare like with like, these are a couple...

http://www.disabled-world.com/artman...ht-chart.shtml

Spain 170cm, UK 176.8cm (males, 1988)

http://www.interbasket.net/news/4385...ales-20-years/

Spain 172cm, UK 175.4cm (males >20yo)

Re: Height
 

So why oh why do they sell such long trousers here? :frown:

Re: Height
 

You can always chop a bit off, but not so easy to add a bit on.

Apart from that the younger generation seem to prefer them long enough to sweep the streets with.

Re: Height
 

Yeah, but, we're not talking a few cm here and there, we're talking 20-30cm at a time, and I'm not particularly short.

And unless absolutely straight legged, they're not the same taken up. I confess that trousers are one thing I still look for when I'm back in the UK.

Re: Height
 

Its always been the same since I moved here 10 years ago with all the shops big or small offering to hem them to suit the individual. Some charge but most dont.

It saves having to stock up with differing leg lengths.

Re: Height
 

make sure you choose trousers that stay around your waist! I used to laugh at kids with their trousers half way down their legs, but it seems the stores are selling them in this style :thumbdown:

Re: Height
 

You are expected to tailor them

When I've bought suits here in the past they also expect to tailor them to make sure they fit you exactly, both the trousers and jacket. I've even bought shirts here where they've tailored them to fit me better. And normally for free

Re: Height
 

I think you will find that most on here left the "suits" behind when they came to Spain, as a symbol of a life change.

A tailor catering to expats would have less work than one working for Tarzan.:D

Re: Height
 

You're so right! Before I left the UK I got rid of at least 20 "business suits" (mostly to charity shops) - it felt rather like the ritual we used to have of trashing your school hat on the day you left for good (do they still do that, I don't suppose most have hats to begin with, now)!:D

I often look at clothes in UK shops when I go back to visit now, and have to force myself not to buy them as I wouldn't have any occasion to wear them. I'm still mourning the Prada dress I found in TKMaxx for 10% of the original marked price, but it was really "office" wear and the fabric too heavy to wear in Spain, so I had to leave it behind.:thumbdown:

Re: Height
 

You really are different from the rest of us on this forum, and by your posts you must see it.

Tailoring a shirt to make it fit better!!!!!

If Ifound a shirt that did not fit me well, I would try another one,simples.

One can always be found unless one has a hump like a wok on your back.

Most on here do not do dress functions, and find that smart casual does for the events they attend.

Re: Height
 

I've still got one suit and a couple of ties left for weddings and funerals, but I noticed at the last funeral that most people now wear casual clothes, even my dead pal in his coffin.

Re: Height
 

And was he wearing square toed shoes?:D

Re: Height
 

My OH is the same, never wears a suit except for weddings and funerals. Not everybody dresses casually for funerals even now, though - his oldest friend died earlier this year and we went to the funeral in the UK. There were about 50 of his former workmates there, every one of them in black suit, white shirt and black tie - it looked like a scene from Reservoir Dogs!

Re: Height
 

Or a ladies night in Great Queen Street.

Re: Height
 

Ah, how little you appear to know about fashion, styles and fitting. It simply isn't always possible to recreate the same shape from the same fabric after cutting a huge chunk off the bottom. Sometimes there just isn't enough fabric in the right places.

If it were really as simple as you say, it wouldn't be a problem.

Re: Height
 

I'm not saying I know anything about what the right thing to do is, I am only telling you what the shops expect you to do!

I suppose you have short legs. I have a friend who is a barrister and under 5ft tall, she has to get all her suits tailored :)

Re: Height
 

That's the thing, they're no shorter than average and even a bit longer than some. That's why I just don't get it.

Re: Height
 

As already mentioned, normally trousers are long simply to allow for alterations. It's cheaper than storing different lengths as you do in the UK... and pay extra for that choice by the way. Many times I get annoyed because I can find short and normal but not long in my size and prefer a system where you can get exactly what you need whatever your legs lenght.

I never had any issue getting an alteration in Spain if needed, and in many places they are done free.

If you are talking about "real" fashion that cost a lot of money, then you can afford getting things tailored. For normal people, looking for normal street fashion, this is not a problem as the designs allow for adjustments if needed.

Re: Height
 

I remember when I first saw a tiny boxer strip peeping out of the jeans edge of a male model... I think it was an add for Calvin Klein? that was sexy!

Now... I'm not interested in seeing stupid kids' underwear, as their trousers start after their bottoms have already finished. It looks silly and they obviously haven't got a mind of their own to refuse dressing like clowns. Last week I had a couple of those in front of me, and I got the giggles, so at the end I had to wait and go out of my way, as I was about to start laughing and in these times unfortunately you can easily find a knife poking out of your belly at any moment if a small kid thinks you are not "respecting" him enough. :huh:

Even at work I had to tell a young colleague of mine on a casual Friday that I wasn't interested in knowing the colour of his boxers (navy blue with white skulls and bones...). I have never been able to look at him professionally again! :rofl:

Re: Height
 

Jeez, whatevers happened to todays generation of females that they appear unable to take up a pair of trousers or use a needle and thread ?

I've been capable of doing my own patching, stitching and repairs, if needed, since I was in my teens and I didn't join the lasses at domestic science at school neither.

Dives for cover from the incoming. ! :rofl:

Re: Height
 

OK - I'll go first :D

If I pay good money for an item - whatever it is - I expect to be able to use/wear said item immediately, not have to alter it to suit!

Re: Height
 

Well, I have to admit that I have occasionally had newly bought clothes altered so that they would fit better in one respect or another. In fact I've just had a dress bought in the summer sale in El Corte Ingles let down by a couple of inches as I felt it was too short, but I liked everything else about it so I bought it anyway, having made sure the hem was deep enough to let down. I didn't have in done in-store, although quite possibly I could have done, as I didn't want to have to make a special trip back to collect it. A friend did it for me, and has made a very good job of it. I'm absolutely rubbish at sewing, wouldn't tackle anything more complicated than sewing a button back on. We were allowed to drop domestic science after the first year at my school, in order to concentrate on more academic things, and I couldn't get out fast enough!

Re: Height
 

Well, in the days before it became fairly easy to buy petite sizes (in the UK at least), being rubbish at sewing, I trained my OH to take up hems for me & he did very well!

Oh - and wundaweb - what a wonderful invention :thumbup:

Re: Height
 

Have you ever seen a Spanish funeral procession? ,right scruffy bunch but weddings are the complete opposite :confused:

Re: Height
 

Thats because weddings are invite only and reserved for best friends and family. While every man and his dog is meant to attend the funeral, including your gardener, bar man, portero and the dentist ;)

Re: Height
 

Intersesting, is there actually a protocol for funerals?

Re: Height
 

In small villages you will find that mostly everybody will go to the cemetery and show their respects to the family of the deceased. That includes people who were just passing by, saw the funeral procession and joined to say their good-byes and maybe a pray for the deceased and for those left. Just as you see many people crossing themselves when they see an ambulance or a funeral procession. Or non religious people wishing well to the sick and relatives instead of crossing themselves.

I remember when my grandad died maybe 15 years ago in a small village of Segovia where he had lived for maybe 60 years. Most of the pueblo was there and there were many people we had never seen before, many from different pueblos who had barely known my grandad but heard of his death.

Unfortunately my grandma was already losing it by then, and when people spoke to her she started repeating that it was a very nice party and that we should do it again soon... well, better for her to think that, she actually had a good day. :)

Many people are cremated or buried in large cities, so you won't see all the community joining to give their condolences to the family.

In my personal experience, both from family and friends... people do not tend to stay after the burial or cremation, and it is rare to offer food and drinks. Normally people prefer to deal with it privately and only a handful of very close relatives and friends will stay with the family to help.

But yes, if you knew the deceased, it would be normal for you to at least give your respect to the family, make it religious or not.

Re: Height
 

In my town it is important to turn up at the church for the funeral service to pay your respects. The family and their closest friends go to the cemetery.

At the end of the service the men of the family go outside to accept condolences and the women stay in the front pew for the same purpose.

Dress appears to be unimportant as it seems to be more imperative to actually turn up. So if someone is working in the fields they come as they are, it truely does look like it is the thought that really counts.

Rosemary

Re: Height
 

Completely right, it's just a show of respect to the family an the decesased, dress is not important at all.

Re: Height
 

Thanky you evamar and Rosemary, it is interesting to learn these things.

Re: Height
 

Different than British culture then , turning up in scruffs would often be considered an insult and I'd probably think they were only there for the food and drinks afterwards!

Re: Height
 

Sorry, Rosemary, I meant attending the service. I said cemetery, but normally there are less people there, just as you said.

Dress is not important because normally there won't be food and drinks afterwards for everybody, that's more private in Spain than in the UK.

While I've been living in the UK I found that people deal with these matters in a completely different way than in Spain. Well, of course everybody reacts in his/her own way when somebody close dies, but I actually liked to see people sharing fond memories of the deceased as well as drinking a bit sending some farewell toasts.

In a couple of the gatherings people met at the home of a son or daughter living close, so that the widow could retire and rest if she so wished, which I also found very considerate. I like crafts and when a close relative of my British husband died I made for them a memory book for people to share some moments with the family and they told me that later they had a bit of a laugh when reading some of them, so I try to make one for the widow/er since. In Spanish guest books people normally simply give their condolences to the family and many don't share their memories of the deceased.

I'm not religious, so I think it's nice that people join to remember their lives, and not only to cry for their deaths. Not saying people should go blind drunk, but a bit of joy seems better than a lot of tears. :)

Re: Height
 

Funerals in Spain usually take place pretty quickly, sometimes from one day to the next, unheard of in the UK, where is usually takes about a week.

So with such short notice in Spain, it is understandable that people dont dress in rigorous balck for funerals, more come as they are.

Re: Height
 

Maybe climate has much to do with it.
Up in Sweden six weeks is not uncommon, though they do consider it disrespectful to have it over too quickly.

Re: Height
 

When I lived in the centre of a Spanish city, in an apartment overlooking a Church, I heard the Church bells announcing a death on practically a daily basis. I remember that only a few notes were played, the saddest music I've ever heard.

I never saw anyone going into the Church dressed in anything other than respectable clothes, though not always rigid black in colour.

Re: Height
 

One or two of the men seem to be steering clear of this thread, I wonder why.;)

Graham

Re: Height
 

Maybe they are a bit short :ohmy:

Re: Height
 

:thumbup:
Well, there are a few on here whom I have long suspected of having a bad case of 'Napoleon syndrome'! (i.e. short*rses making a lot of noise to overcompensate)

Re: Height
 

What? of cash or vitals????:rofl::rofl:

Re: Height
 

er well hmmmmmm I really could not say as I don't know many here and have met only few. Any measurements I could give would be in feet and inches and only approximate, not much to go on :rofl: