This evening Erin and I went out to get me some dress shirts and trousers (pants) for the job fair tomorrow; apparently I can’t wear jeans and T-shirt like I normally wear. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised in a country that is obsessed with appearance, where a 40inch waist is located in the big and tall section. Anyway I digress; back to the subject matter. I picked out a shirt that was marked 18.5 38/39 so I assumed the 18.5 was collar size and 38/39 was the chest size, I was correct about the 18.5 but a million miles away on the second measurement. I unpacked the shirt and as soon as I unfold it, it’s blatantly obvious that it wasn’t the right size as the shirt was almost twice as wide as me. The 38/39 was a measurement of sleeve length not chest size. So now we have to go back tomorrow and get them exchanged for something smaller. The pants also have to go back because they are too small; I bought the same size as the jeans I buy; that’s 38inch waist and I could just about squeeze into them whereas the jeans fit perfectly! Dress shirt sizes are measured by chest size not sleeve length in the UK (at least in the places I shopped for them) so I assumed it would be the same here. I only got the correct shoe size because it had UK. European and US sizes, I wear a UK size 10 which is a US size 11; it’s all very confusing!
