https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 25 Apr 2026 22:50:15 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-462224 Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:10:14 +0000 mamaKate 462224@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Scarlet, I am laughing out lout with your story and with this whole thread. My sister is an American who has been living in Germany for 6 years and at a statuesque 5'-10" (178cm) she said she's happy to finally live in a place where she feels normal and she doesn't have to constantly look down at everyone else! </p> <p>Also, I can never imagine it happenning in the "customer-is-always-right" US, but I can totally imagine a German saleslady pointing a petite woman to the children's department! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-462212 Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:59:56 +0000 Scarlet 462212@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>High five, Patty! I took mine straight to bed with me to wear under my nighty By the way Levante makes really great stay-up tights if your daughter is still looking. They are pricey but really last and they don't slip down. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-461481 Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:08:35 +0000 Patty 461481@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Last year I bought my daughter some over the knee socks to be thigh highs for her because she sometimes has problems with tights but these bugged her too so the over the knees became mine. Oh let me tell you how comfy warm my knees were last winter and are again this fall!!! Like knitted heaven on forever cold knees! Gonna get some more!!<br /> Scarlet--would you need a garter for your over the knee thigh socks?? LOL </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-461408 Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:04:46 +0000 JennyAnne 461408@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Funny! My only comment about height is I seem to have bounced all over through my life. 1st, I was a late bloomer, so I had a short complex. Then, I spurted up, to an average height of 5'6", but I come from a pretty short family, so I felt very tall. Then, I worked in a very male-dominated field and felt like a shrimp again. Now, as a SAHM, I'm feeling average. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-461403 Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:57:52 +0000 Aida 461403@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Scarlet I enjoy reading your musings :D</p> <p>I'm with Elisabeth, that could be my response word for word. Since I'm usually in tall heels (not because of my height, I just love 'em), people don't generally comment on my height until I've removed them; then I get a lot of "oh yeah I forgot how short you are" comments, especially from my 6'+ friends To be fair, my height is 5'3" so with my usual 4" heels this puts me at a pretty average height. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-461105 Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:51:55 +0000 Aziraphale 461105@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Funny story!</p> <p>I'm pretty good at gauging the height of other people, I think because I'm consistently shorter than everyone so I always have to look up, just to different degrees! It's rare that I look someone in the eye. I almost never feel exceptionally short, though. I'm not sure why that is. I guess I'm just used to it. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-460428 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:51:22 +0000 Angie 460428@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, Scarlet. Your musings are a joy. </p> <p>Re hosiery: I always size up to get leg length (and I stand at a regular height of 5ft 6). I rip hose that is too short more easily. </p> <p>I am pretty good at guessing the height and size of people in real life, after all, I do this for a living and have 20 years of experience in the game. But my judgment goes haywire on photos. I CANNOT judge height and size from photos, and this has come up before on the forum. I have also written a blog post about it. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-460424 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:41:41 +0000 Scarlet 460424@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Alicat, that is funny. I also tend to think I am bigger than I am. All evidence to the contrary, like photos of me next to a friend, somehow continue to surprise me. I returned a sweater once to a store saying I realized at home it was really too large. The owner seemed surprised I had bought that size and said, yes, usually you would take the XS. I said, yes, but I feel small but, you know, not extra small. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-460411 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:01:17 +0000 Suz 460411@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Funny story, Scarlet!! </p> <p>And yay for PPL!!!! </p> <p>I do notice people's heights but not especially accurately, if you know what I mean. I see that someone is taller or shorter than I am, but if asked to specify their height more exactly I might have trouble doing that. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-460378 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 13:50:59 +0000 Janet 460378@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>That's funny. I think of myself as average height, I suppose because on average, most of the people I spend my time around are on the average-to-tallish side (at home I'm surrounded -- my husband and my stepsons are all over 6'5").</p> <p>But at 5'7" I'm on the taller side, my inseam is long relative to my body, and I frequently wear at least a 2" heel, so I think I might often appear taller than I am. Which is fine by me. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-460375 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 13:42:11 +0000 Anonymous 460375@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Scarlet, I once argued with a saleswoman that I needed the same size tights she would wear. Finally, exasperated, she said, "I'm six feet tall!" Oh. I'm 5' 7". But I'm six feet tall in my mind! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-460333 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 08:24:42 +0000 Michelle 460333@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Scarlet, it's based on where the voice is coming from. I can tell general positioning, like whether it's eminating from somewhere over my head, near my own level or a good bit below my face. It's only when I hug someone that I can gauge their height more accurately, as well as assess their general size. If I spoke to someone on the phone I would have no clue at all of how tall they were, though I would fill in other mental details that often prove accurate (I've had a good track record on things like hair/eye/skin colour, for instance). </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-460331 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 08:19:08 +0000 Scarlet 460331@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Jenava--another reason I like to stick to brands where I know the sizing :)</p> <p>Michelle--that is interesting that you can guess based on talking. Do you mean because of the tone of voice or because of how far away it sounds? I often find myself surprised when I hug someone--for me a tall man is a bit awkward because my cheek is nowhere near clearing the shoulder. Also, yes it was a shocker how effective PPl is! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-460325 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 07:52:39 +0000 Michelle 460325@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>There's another takeaway lesson from this hilarious tale, too -- Perfect Pant Length is obviously super leg-lengthening! Go Angie and Scarlet!<br /> Um....as for your question. I am quite tall at 5-8 + my usual 1 to 2.5-inch heel, but people almost always guess my height accurately (it happened this evening, for instance). I myself am ok at guessing height based on hearing people talk, but my accuracy improves greatly if I get the opportunity to hug the person. Now there are the occasional give-away height clues, like the time I walked smack into a guy...and the side of my face barely cleared his shoulder. NBA much? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-460322 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 07:46:56 +0000 Jenava 460322@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, um, I'm pretty oblivious, too. I'm terrible at telling sizes! I usually think I'm smaller than I am which lends itself to some VERY horrifying dressing room experiences. *sad face* </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/a-funny-experience-shopping-for-tightssize-perception#post-460316 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 07:35:40 +0000 Scarlet 460316@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So I go to the store to pick up some leg warmers, but I happen to notice some really pretty tights on the mannequin. I ask the sales lady for the tights pointing to the mannequin. She smiles and says “These ones?” pointing to her legs because she is wearing them too. “Yes!” I say. “They look great!”<br /> The mannequin, I will point out now, is also wearing some very stylish coordinating over-the-knee socks, a look I didn’t even know I liked until I see it looking somehow chic in this rarified hosiery setting. I wonder at the back of my mind why the saleslady doesn’t wear those great socks too.<br /> She asks me what size tights I need. “Hmm, probably the smallest size”, I say.<br /> She regards me a bit quizzically and asks, “Well how tall are you? How long are your legs? Can you move your jacket a bit, so I can see?”<br /> At this point I am a bit confused because as a petite person living in Germany, I am more commonly sent to the children’s section than questioned whether I really need the smallest size. I say, “I don’t know my height in centimeters but I am, I don’t know…” casting my eyes about for a reference point when I notice the saleslady is actually quite small too, “about like you.” I finish.<br /> Now she is really looking at me oddly and asks, “Are you wearing heels?”<br /> “Yes!” I say, “huge ones!” pulling up my pant leg to reveal my chunky platform boots that were previously obscured by my Perfect-Pant-Length.<br /> “Ahhhhh”, she says, smiling now, and gives me my tights. </p> <p>I bring my prizes home—I bought the delicate over-the-knee socks too--and try them on. I know now why the saleslady wasn’t wearing the beautifully coordinating socks. The perils of tall socks in a land of tall people—they fit me like thigh-highs, a rather odd look for socks.</p> <p>Reflecting on this long story (is anyone still with me?) I was thinking,<br /> (1) I did not notice the saleslady’s height when I walked into the store, although she was unusually small.<br /> (2) When I actively thought about it, I perceived her to be like me and didn’t realize I was looking down at her until she reacted strangely to my insistence that I was the same size.<br /> (3) She looked completely stylish and adorable. That was the main thing I saw.</p> <p>I think it was interesting that I didn’t notice her size. What I am wondering now is whether most people notice their size in relation to other people, and I am just oblivious. So, do you notice much? </p>