idlerich how tall are you? do you fit portugese clothes?
Sorry, only just saw this, I've always thought I was five ten, but in fact recently I've measured it and I think I'm a bit shorter than that, so say Five foot nine and a half... basically about 177cm.
And it is true that things made for Portuguese people are often very small, particularly old things.
Good example is this, our balcony
Those flowerpots along the balcony are nailed to the balcony and sure, they do have flowers, but the main reason they are there is cos the railing is so low - particularly that bit where it's just a railing not a wall, that is below my waist and also Liza's (she's virtually the same height as me) and so it doesn't feel safe. Your centre of gravity is above the railing and so if you leaned on it properly you would just flip over and fall to your death. So the flowerpots being rigidly stuck there and becoming effectively part of the railing make it higher.
There are other things like that, old doorways and stuff that look like they were made for gnomes, light switches and key holes you have to bend down to use.
But clothes, they probably make smaller sizes than you get in the UK or NL etc but they also make larger sizes too, I've never particularly had a problem with sizes. I reckon that that is cos, while the average Portuguese is short and there are some very short people, there are quite a few taller people too - and I would say that often posher people are taller. This is entirely supposition or anecdotal based on simply my own observations but It definitely feels like people who are posh and have had good nutrition for generations are taller.
Following on from that I guess that the ruling classes have demanded that clothes be made in their sizes and they got what they wanted.
