I have a lot of trouble finding trousers that fit in Germany. It’s not that they’re too long; I can always hem them. it’s the fact that even the waistlines are cut for much taller people. At best I get looks that invoke the 1970s or Marlene Dietrich. At worst I get Urkel pants.

(A ’90s nerd looks suspiciously like a modern hipster)

As a result, I buy jeans and trousers online and when I visit the UK and Canada, and keep them until they are far past their prime. I recently managed to let go of a couple of pairs of jeans that were threadbare in places and were full of holes and repurposed them into my old clothes quilt. But I’m at a bit of conundrum. I have a few pairs of trousers that I love, and they’re some of the only ‘dressy’ pairs I have. I’d like to keep a smarter wardrobe, even though a lot of my life revolves around a casual atmosphere. I’m not, at heart, a casual dresser. I have several pairs of trousers that are too short, as I grew a bit after I moved here (unusual but I’ve read you can grow until you’re 25 or so). I have a pair that I love, and they’re short but narrow-legged, so they still look ok with ballet flats and heels; however they’re quite faded and I’m questioning re-dying them (black is an easy colour to dye!) Others are not so easy, as they are wider-legged. I feel at this point options could include cutting them off into capris or shorts, adding some sort of trim to the bottom to lengthen them, or sewing the legs narrower so that they suit the shorter length. Decisions….