News, Humor, Events, Clothing & more for Tall Women & Men

Britain's tallest girl

Sun, 07/24/2011

Jessica Pardoe - Britain's tallest girl She might have to duck her head when she walks through a door.

But Britain’s tallest teenage girl likes towering over her friends.

Jessica Pardoe, 18, who is 6ft 9in in bare feet, said: “I’m really proud to be this tall. I don’t mind being a bit different. And it has so many advantages.

“I love going to music festivals and it’s great to be able to see over everyone’s heads.”

Since going to a festival this summer, art student Jessica is becoming a celebrity herself.

“Lots of people wanted me to pose for photos with them,” she says. Now a Facebook tribute page set up in her honour has more than 3,500 fans.

Jessica’s height runs in the family. Mum Lisa, 41, is just over 6ft and dad Andrew, 43, is 6ft 7in. Brother Niall, 17, is an inch taller than her at 6ft 10in, while stepbrothers Liam, eight, and Ethan, six, are 5ft and 4ft 8in.

 

Jessica weighed 8lb 10oz at birth and measured a long, but not unusual, 53cm from head to toe. But at 18 months she was much taller than other tots.

“Passers-by used to give me strange looks,” says Lisa. “I’m sure they believed she was too old to be in her pushchair.”

By the age of 11 Jessica was ­already 5ft 8in – 3in taller than the average British woman. “We think she has stopped growing now – she’s been the same height for 18 months,” says her mum.

She is perfectly healthy with a pair of stunning 38in legs, which she believes to be the longest in Britain, and size 11 feet. Read more »

Tall, Obese Men More Prone to Leg Clots

Men who are both obese and tall face a much higher risk for developing potentially fatal blood clots, though overall the risk remains quite small, according to a new study.  The researchers report that extra weight and extra inches together seem to raise the risk more than either alone.

"Tall and obese men had more than a fivefold higher risk, compared to short and lean men," said the study's co-author, Sigrid K. Braekkan, who warns the vertically and horizontally gifted to avoid sitting in one place for too long. Read more »

Leicester Tall Person Club Weekend 2010

Ping! The lift doors open in the lobby of Leicester's Holiday Inn to reveal a huddle of legs, arms, chests and … well, that's about it. It's like a badly taken family portrait with everyone's heads chopped off.

The missing heads, after much maneuvering and careful unfurling of assorted body parts, are eventually ducked under and out of the doorway.

Such is life when you're in the Tall Persons Club of GB and Ireland. Even exiting a lift comes with complications.

No-one takes much notice, though, because the hotel foyer this morning is a happy hubbub of similarly-sized XXX-largers all gathered to go off on a guided tour of our city's historic sights.

As someone who's just shy of 6ft, I feel like I should be wearing a white suit and shouting, "De plane, boss! De Plane!"

Carsten Mathiesen is marginally the tallest at 7ft 2in.

He's come all the way from Denmark for this, the Tall Person Club's annual get-together, held this year in Leicester.

"This weekend means more to me than Christmas, to be honest," says the 32-year-old. "It is the time when I meet all the persons I really love." Read more »

When shopping for clothes is a tall order

It is most striking when she stands next to her husband. Barack Obama is no slouch at 6ft 1.5in, but as Michelle Obama hugged him on stage on election night, she was very nearly his equal in height. A kitten heel, giving her barely more elevation than his block heel, was all the help she had. At 5ft 11in, she doesn't need any. Read more »

Tall Airline Passengers May Be More Prone to Deep Vein Thrombosis

For tall travelers, flying is more than uncomfortable, more than painful, it may be downright dangerous. "I literally couldn't get in my assigned seat without jamming my legs," said a 6' 10' airline passenger. "Shortly after my return home, I suffered a deep vein thrombosis, then almost died from a pulmonary embolism," he added. Read more »

they were all little bitty things running around in the studio

"I never walked the streets of New York hoping to be a musical comedy star. For one thing, they would have thought I was too tall, because l was five feet eight and a half, and they were all little bitty things running around in the studio at that time."

— Esther Williams

My dream date is a tall, dark, handsome, blue eyed man

"My dream date is a tall, dark, handsome, blue eyed man with a bubble butt who will whisk me away to Paris in a hot air balloon to wine me, dine me and..."

— Karen McDougal

I used to wear heels

"I used to wear heels because I wanted to show people I wasn't ashamed of being tall. But I don't wear them any more because you don't have to wear heels to be beautiful. I can't even remember the last time I wore heels."

— Elle Macpherson

For me, being tall was very positive

"For me, being tall was very positive because I thought my mom was the most beautiful person ever."

— Lisa Leslie

be proud of how tall I am

"I don't think I would have been able to stick with it and been proud of who I am and be feminine out on the court. I think I would have folded to the peer pressure if I didn't have my mom to encourage me to be me and be proud of how tall I am."

— Lisa Leslie