A Tall Girl's Lessons from a European trip

I was fortunate enough to travel throughout parts of Europe for 2 full weeks this year. 2 weeks! I’ve never taken this long of a vacation in my life. I went to Ireland once with my best friend for 9 days about 3 years ago. It was the longest, best, 9-day pub crawl I’ve ever done. But this was different. This was with my boyfriend of 3+ years and we wanted to sight-see as well as visit his French family.
I also wanted to simply be me. When I’m me, things happen. My height attracts attention and I wanted to record the extra-ordinary events that take place when you are tall. Being tall creates opportunities. However sometimes it’s difficult to see these situations as opportunities. Every city holds a special piece of me now because I can say that I’ve been there and in every city, something special happened. In fact, it all started in the airplane. My boyfriend told the flight attendant that I was a former Miss Tall International and he wanted his picture with me. He then announced it to the crowd as we were waiting in line to get through customs.
In Amsterdam I was absolutely astounded at how tall people were. Everywhere I looked I was staring people in the forehead, or even in the eyes. Sounds silly, huh? Not if you’re 6’4”. Typically I look around and all I can see is hair or the tops of heads (sometimes bald). But this time I saw faces and it was beautiful! Amsterdam had scores of tall folks everywhere I looked. I felt very at home. When I visited the Anne Frank historical site there were several other tall folk there and we all had some trouble on the teeny tiny stairs. I had to go up the stairs sideways because of how steep they were and it gave our tall group something to giggle about even though it was a very somber historical setting. I had a feeling of camaraderie with these strangers and I wouldn’t have had this without my big feet.
In Brussels I’m fairly certain I was hit on by a homeless man. I can’t be sure of the language he spoke nor can I be sure that he was homeless but he followed me along making gestures and speaking. I simply nodded and smiled the entire time. He kept making this tall motion with his hand and when he realized that I didn’t understand, he winked. Now that I’m familiar with so I understood part of what he was saying but it’s too bad we couldn’t understand each other. That really would’ve been a fun conversation.
We took a side trip to Bruges. I would highly recommend this city to anyone and everyone as it is so beautiful! As we sat in the restaurant overlooking the smaller town square I asked the waiter if he could recommend a local brew. He suggested one and I always go with suggestions of waiters (they know what they are talking about!). He brought the glass of Leffe beer and it was huge. He had this cute little grin and he impishly said, “Grand beer for grand lady”. I couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, I know I’m grand. The beer was delightfully spicy and I was pleasantly surprised to find a store here in Portland that carries it.
In England, London Bridge was where I had the most fun with my height. Visiting the London Bridge was a popular place for schools to take tours and I ran into many, many children who would laugh with me as I had to bend over to fit through the tiny doors.
In Paris I wanted to shop. I could’ve shopped along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées but I’m a bargain shopper and I really don’t care about brand names or couture. I wandered all around Paris and I found a shop called ‘Sunshine’. I found exactly what I was looking for in this shop. Longer tops, fun and feminine, I even saw a few dresses that looked pretty good but I was looking for tops. I went into H&M and found a couple of cute shirts there too. See, tall people can find shirts…we tall girls simply can’t find pants and fitted pieces of clothing. It was fun watching my boyfriend speaking in his fluent French (he’s from Montreal) and me pretending that I understood exactly what was being said by everyone. I think the best part of shopping in Paris was when I wandered into a plus size shop and the saleswomen were trying to fit me into everything as well as teach me French, to the amusement of my boyfriend.
What I learned from my European trip is simple: People are generally the same everywhere…Period. It’s wonderful and consistent and as long as you continue to have a smile on your face you’ll be received as such. For me, this lesson was life-changing. The better my outlook, the better I feel, the better I’m received by strangers. It’s such a simple thing and it goes far beyond my vertical measurements.

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TALL FASHION FROM EUROPE

Listen up ladies I’ve got the skinny on fashion. I’ve been visiting Europe (Belgium, the Netherlands, England, and France) for 2 weeks and I’ve got to tell you what I’ve seen. Now keep in mind, I’m no fashion expert. I love fashion but I’m a stickler for being comfortable. My personal fashion mantra is “I wear what I like.” Sometimes I hit it really well, and then other times I think I miss the mark, but overall I enjoy clothes. My go-to outfit this trip were my super long jeans and favorite purple sweater (both from http://www.longlegs.ca/).

Below is my inventory of what I saw during my travels. Please keep in mind that I was in bigger cities and of course the fashion that I saw doesn’t necessarily reflect what you should wear; it’s more of a fun ‘This is what they are doing on the other side of the pond’. I always say, “Wear what YOU like.” I should also mention, it’s tough to snap good photos of fashion in action so I don’t have any great shots of what I’m going to describe below. Hopefully you can imagine all of the sophisticated women dancing lightly along the sidewalks of Europe looking fabulous!

Scarves—Holy cow! Scarves everywhere. Even the men wear scarves. I wasn’t completely sold on the look before my vacation however I’ve seen so many different looks that I’m now on the bandwagon. You can wear them in your hair, around your waist, around your neck, thrown casually about your shoulders, it’s so versatile. Plus…(this is key) your scarf doesn’t have to match. Prints go with anything and a full colored scarf will make any outfit ‘pop’. The light-weight scarves are great for warmer weather, and grab a knit when it’s cold. Love it!

Skinny Jeans—I love this look on ladies with svelte figures however this is a tough one to pull off if you don’t find the right cut of jeans. I can’t wear this look very well. I have wide hips and the skinny jeans seem to accentuate the parts of me that I’d prefer to keep hidden. Women in Europe are wearing this look everywhere and it looks really…cool. I can’t think of a better word to describe this.

Boots—Tuck your skinny jeans in your boots, throw on a scarf and off you go. Seriously, boots are everywhere too. I wish I would’ve gotten a picture of this one woman who had lighter, brown, tall boots with a matching purse. She had on dark jeans and a dark shirt with a colored scarf. It was a sharp look. I’m going to attempt this look myself with a twist on the skinny jean. (It’s going to be fun!!)

Dressy Coats—I love coats. I have way too many and I see that I would fit in very well in Europe. Coats that are fitted (Trench Coats in particular) seem to very popular although short fitted coats are quite prevalent as well.

Jewelry—Yes, ladies jewelry is everywhere. Long chains, lots of bracelets, and big rings. I love key pieces of jewelry but I actually found myself wondering a few times what the point of wearing so much jewelry when it’s covered by a scarf…but I’m only here to report what I saw, not judge. I literally found that I could sit and stare for hours at all of the fashion that walks by. In fact, that’s what I did a couple of times in London, Paris and Brussels. I ordered some local beer or wine and my boyfriend and I would split a dessert and I sat and simply enjoyed my environment. So, there you have it. These are the looks that I found extremely popular while overseas. I have to admit, I love seeing the outfits that people put together. Some hits, some misses…hmmm, a lot like me.