Offline vs. Online Shopping

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Online shopping is convenient. But if we all did it, our city centres and high streets would become deserted. Or rather more deserted. The tendency can already be seen. Many people don't buy the things they have in front of their noses but complain when shops are closed and boarded up. In German a new term has been coined which translates into English as 'advice theft'. People go to a shop specialising in electronic goods, for example, and have a gadget explained to them in greatest detail until they know everything they need, leave and buy it online. Of course, the shop-owner can't offer it at the same price as, say, Amazon. They have to pay rent for the shop and wages for the shop-assistants. What I find in our town, I buy here. But unfortunately, I don't find everything. The town is small and there aren't many shops. For summer I want to have dark blue linen trousers, but there aren't any. So I checked online. I found some but with little information. How long are the legs? I must know this. It doesn't help me if the length is given for the smallest size. How can I know how many more centimetres the bigger sizes have? Is the hemline broad? Can I open it and make the legs longer? The online photos don't show me this. I'm not a giant, but my legs are long for my size. Unfortunately, although people become taller and taller, most clothes are still manufactured for vertically challenged customers. I found my trousers in the online shop of a nation-wide department store. To my surprise I was asked for the postal code of my town. When I had written it into the box, I was informed that the department store in the nearest big city had five trousers of the kind I was interested in. Yesterday I was there, tried the dark blue trousers on and bought them. In fact, I also bought an olive pair because they fitted well. Of course, they are too short, but the hemline is wide and I've already made both pairs longer. I'm the world champion in the field of lengthening or shortening hemlines. I do it by hand in no time. I have a sewing machine, but it's very old and has no free arm. Sewing round trouser legs on a flat surface needs a lot of fumbling, and then you always see the stitches. With my method you'd have to lie on the ground in front of me with a magnifying glass to see a stitch. I don't understand how people can take clothes to tailors to have such a simple thing like lenghtening trouser legs done. On the other hand, tailors want to live and earn as well. In Germany, they're mostly Turks and Greeks who have corner shops for small repairs. Can you help yourself or do you need professional help when clothes don't fit properly? ---- Photo: pixabay