It’s a well known “fact” that women like tall men, or at least men who are taller than them, and that tall men often get “ahead” in life. But at what point does height start to bring “diminishing returns?” By this I mean at what point does height provide no added benefit, and even become detrimental?" 6’5? 6’4? 6’3?
It depends on your build, imo. If you aren’t a lanky rail, I’d say the ceiling is close to 7 feet. Maybe a couple inches shorter. In my observations and experiences, that is. A friend of mine is 6’7" and for as long as I’ve known him (close to 15 years), he has always been somewhat of a ladies man. And he is a fucking giant.
I’m 6’6" and i’d say I’m right about the limit. Being tall never hurt my chances with women and just before starting to date my wife I instituted a policy that i would stop dating women more than a foot shorter than me since I had enough choices.
On the other hand I’m either right at the top end or slightly over not having to buy custom clothing and shoes and everything else. I’m currently looking to get a pair of boots and generally wear a 15 though in some brands I wear a narrow 16. Of thw most recomended backing packing boot makers only Lowa makes shoes in my size and then only 4 types and not in all colors. Of course when I go to REI or Amazon even those types and colors that Lowa’s website list as available in my size are not for sale. Luckily, i don’t have to get everything custom and pay that premium but generally it takes a bunch of research and work to find the mass produced stuff that works.
My brother is 6-even, but has 15E shoes, which he has to order. Not so bad now, but a PITA when he was in his 20s, before the internet. He has trouble finding gloves too, and bicycle helmets.
My son is a 10-year-old who is the size of a 13-year-old (actually, he’s bigger than some bar mitzvah boys I’ve seen). He wants to have cartoon underwear like his friends, so I buy his underwear online from place that sell whimsical underwear for adult men, with R2D2, the minions, Power Rangers, etc. on it. There’s a pair he wants with Pac-Man and the ghosts on them, but the waist band says “Eat Me,” so I won’t get them, and I just told them they say “something rude.”
Anyway, he may be looking at a life of special-ordered clothing. His hands and feet are already bigger than mine.
So yeah, I’d say at whatever point stores don’t carry your size is a point of diminishing returns.
It’s not just buying clothing - as a man gets taller his risks of back problems and dying early of heart problems goes up. I doubt there’s a sharp cut-off, but past a certain point human anatomy doesn’t scale up well. Taller people are also at greater risk of some types of cancer although it’s not an enormously greater risk (basically, the more growth required the more likely cancer is to occur).
WHY the person is tall is also a factor - pituitary giants, who grow tall due to hormonal imbalances, tend to have more health problems than people who come from families that are tall due to (presumably) inherited traits.
Broomstick will understand this one…
I have friend who’s 6’7". He became interested in earning a pilot’s license and discovered he’s very limited in the airplanes he can use. He cannot fit into a Cessna 152* at all, and the 172** is barely adequate. According to him, he cannot use any of the small Pipers either (Cherokees, Arrows, etc.). He can fold himself into them, but his knees interfere with the control movements so much that he considers it unsafe. He says the C-182 is the only one the “fits” him.
He also has problems with some small cars as a passenger, in that his knees contact the dashboard and his (very long) legs cannot fit in the footwell. This has obvious drawbacks when you consider airbag deployment. Some small cars work fine for him though.
*common 2-seat training airplane for most civilians.
**larger 4 seat version, much more expensive to rent.
A few years back I posed this same question to an acquaintance who was pretty tall, 6’8". He felt that while there were some advantages to being tall, the novelty wore off when he grew to 6’5", and his height then started to become a persistent inconvenience.
He wished he could’ve stayed 6’4".
Just came in to say: 6’4".
^^Maybe we know each other. 
7 feet?! I’m “only” 6’5, and people don’t shut up about how tall I am, I can only imagine how annoyed someone who is close to 7 feet would be.
I can’t really say my height has provided me with any advantages in life, (other than on the basketball court). In fact, when I’m out in public, I’m slightly uncomfortable because of how much I stand out.
I also can’t stand it when people tell me “wow, your tall” and then just leave it at that. As if I don’t already fucking know.
I would like to hear a rational explanation for why more than 12 inches of height difference is a deal-breaker.
(go ahead and fire off the jokes - I can feel them coming - but I would really like to know Oredigger’s rationale for this)
mmm
double post
Speaking as someone who once had a relationship with someone 14 inches taller than herself: at a certain point the height differential is such that you can’t have penis in vagina sex and kiss at the same time. Unless the taller partner is some sort of contortionist I suppose, but we weren’t able to do it. Is that a deal-breaker? Well… I guess not for me, we were an item for two years and that’s not why we broke up, but start adding up all the awkwardness that difference in height causes and yeah, I can see where dating/living with/marrying someone closer to one’s own height becomes appealing (the guy I wound up marrying was about 3-4 inches taller than me, which made him under average US height for a man). It could well be a deal-breaker for some people.
As I said in another thread, it is literally true that “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” Very tall people are at increased risk for medical complications from slips and falls.
(This has actually been worked out mathematically, on the “square/cube” principle, and points to a fifth power increase in impact to the skull from falls. If you double the height, you increase the shock applied to the skull by 32 times.)
(Obvious modeling errors apply: someone who is 3 feet high does not have the exact same physical proportions as someone who is 6 feet high. Some simplification was applied. Cows are spherical.)
(Try not to fall in such a way as to smack your skull against the floor.)
Scientific studies have shown 6’ 2" is the point. But it also depends on how good you are at hoops.
I should be so lucky!
Eh I’ve never had that problem. My wife is ~14 inches shorter than me, and there’s not much that’s impossible.
But then while I’m no contortionist, we’re both relatively fit which might allow us to manage where others possibly could not.
Depends on what you’re kissing. 
Of the giants I’ve known, which I’ll classify as guys over 6’6", all of them have noted the difficulties of finding clothes, economical cars they can fit into, the flight training issue with one of them, but so far none voiced problems in the romance department. I would think women have the greater problem there with many men not interested in women even a few inches taller than they are, and that provides plenty of opportunities for the tall men among the taller women. I’m a mere 6’0", my wife is 8" shorter than I am, no problems with that particular difference.
Also, some of the inconveniences for taller guys will change based on their proportions. I knew one guy at 6’4" who was all leg. No problem finding shirts and jackets that fit him, all his pants and suits had to come from the Big and Tall category though. And though I’m much shorter because of my proportions I have a difficult time finding clothes that fit since the one or two size 50 jackets and suits on the rack are usually not what I’m looking for and even the-big guy shirts won’t button at the neck with enough room for me to breathe comfortably.
Yes, I presume it will vary depending the flexibility of the taller partner. Not everyone bends equally well. Your mileage may vary, etc., etc.
And, as pointed out, proportions vary. A really tall guy who is mostly arm and leg is going to have different issues than someone with a long trunk.
I am 6’2" and have never felt self-conscious about my height in either direction. People sometimes remark that I am tall but not THAT TALL. I could probably go up another inch and feel the same way but not much more than that. Any taller than 6’3" and you start to have trouble fitting into common things. I already have problems with economy class airline seats and compact cars. I have had friends that were about 6’7" and they were limited in their clothing and vehicle choices. One of them had to drive pickup trucks, not because he liked them or needed one, but because that was one of the only vehicles that offered enough headroom.
However, I think that being moderately tall has helped me. I think I partially have my job because of it. I am a consultant to mega-corps and, while my height was never mentioned during interviews of course, most of my cohorts are above average height as well.
Funny story, I work in an industrial site that is dominated by ethic groups that tend to be on the short side. I am used to being the tallest person around. However, one day I had to bring in two other consultants that I had never met before to do a site survey. A 6’4" Norwegian and a 6’6" German showed up. I showed them around while being the shortest of the group but we looked like Gulliver trampling across Lilliput.