Time to stock up on Cuban heels, boys? 70% of women say a man 'wouldn't stand a chance' if he was under 6ft



Tom Cruise, Daniel Radcliffe, Seth Green and Jack Black are all below 6ft



UK men have grown four inches in 100 years to average height of 5ft 10ins

Ideal height for a male partner is between 6ft and 6ft 6ins



British woman's average height is 5ft 4ins



Tom Cruise, Daniel Radcliffe, Jack Black, Seth Green and Macauley Culkin should probably visit their nearest Cuban heel outlet the next time they're interested in wooing a lady friend.

The vast majority of women say a man 'wouldn't stand a chance' in the love stakes if they were under 6ft in height, and 'would struggle' to get their attention... despite the average height of the British man being just 5ft 10ins, two inches below a 'perfect' height.

And although men are getting there (slowly but surely), having shot up by four inches in the past 100 years, 71 per cent of females still say the ideal height for a male partner is between 6ft and 6ft 6ins, according to a new poll.

Kate Holmes towers above her ex-husband Tom Cruise (5ft 7ins), left, and her co-presenter Danielle Radcliffe (5ft 5ins), right



Meanwhile, the average height of women in the UK is 5ft 4ins - just one-and-half inches more than 100 years ago.

And as far as men are concerned, 45 per cent would date a woman taller than them - if she would have them - and 49 per cent said the ideal woman was between 5ft 7ins and 5ft 10ins tall, according to the study of 1,400 British women by men's big and tall brand High And Mighty.

Of these women, 71 per cent want their man between 6ft and 6ft 6ins, 26 per cent between 5ft 7ins to 5ft 11ins, and three per cent between 6ft 6ins and 6ft 11ins.



A total of 63 per cent also said they thought that 'taller men' were sexier than smaller men - mirroring Hollywood's penchant for taller leading men such as 6ft 3ins tall Thor star Chris Hemsworth and 6ft 3ins tall Transformers star Josh Duhamel.

Jack Black, 5ft 6ins, promoting Shallow Hal with his co-star Gwyneth Paltrow in 2001, left, and actor Seth Green, 5ft 4ins - but neither of them need worry as they are both already married

Women also said they believe that 'short man syndrome' or 'small man's inferiority complex' - also called the Napolean complex after the famous emperor Napolean Bonaparte, who was 5ft 6ins tall - really does exist, with 62 per cent saying smaller men had an inferiority complex linked to their height.

What women look for in a man

Sense of humour Kindness Height Grooming Physique Fashion sense Hair

A total of 33 per cent of women polled said they believed tall men were happier than short men.

Women were also asked which factors were 'most important in a man', with the top answer being a sense of humour, followed by kindness, height, grooming, physique, fashion sense and hair.



The poll found that 72 per cent of men were 'happy with their height', with the most ideal height listed as 6ft by 23 per cent, 6ft 2ins by 17 per cent, and 6ft 3ins by 10 per cent.



Some 54 per cent of men polled said they thought 'height made no difference to their attractiveness'.



Sally Smith, 32, of Birmingham, said: 'I'm 5ft 8ins and my ex-boyfriend was only 5ft 7ins. After a while I got a bit sick of looking down on him and never being able to wear heels, so after a year I gave him the push.'

The accounts worker added: 'I'm now dating a man who is 6ft 2ins, and now I can wear whatever kind of shoes I want without feeling like I'm towering over by boyfriend.'



Women also said they believe that 'short man syndrome' or 'small man's inferiority complex' - also called the Napolean complex after the famous emperor Napolean Bonaparte, who was 5ft 6ins tall - really does exist

Psychologist Portia Hickey said: 'Psychological research has found that women tend to describe their ideal man as taller than average.



'Women's attraction to taller men is likely to be driven by both evolution and positive stereotypes about tall men.

