You folks are all shopping in the wrong stores, and possibly even asking for the wrong styles. Nowadays you are supposed to fit the retailer, not the other way around.
Somebody mentioned Express Men. They have an ideal customer body type, and he looks like this. If you don’t look like that, they’re just gonna sneer and tell you to go to Old Navy.
[QUOTE=DianaG]
Sure, once I abandoned the fantasy of clothing with buttons on it that would fit my entire torso.
Seriously, my shoulders are a small, my waist is a small, and if I buy to fit my boobs, things don’t fit correctly anywhere *but * my boobs. So I wear my jacket with at least the top couple of buttons unbuttoned, and in the extraordinarily rare event that I wear a button-down shirt, I wear a cami under it.
[/QUOTE]
Banana Republic recently had some really really nice stretch shirts that fit me over the chest AND were in my size. I’m a 32D. They were about $50.
I’ve also had some luck at Ann Taylor Loft.
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd]
At least there are B&T specialty shops.
The “Mr. Big & Tall” franchise is all over the damned place, but I’ll be buggered sideways if I can find a “Mr. Skinny Little Freak.” 
[/QUOTE]
My point–points, manifold–were that, A) thin people have always, and will always, have more clothing sources to choose from; B) that the buyers for the “specialty” shops were all badly dressed by their mothers well into adulthood, and wouldn’t know fashion if it held them down and rubbed their noses in a steaming pile of it; and B) you can always make too-big clothing smaller, but rarely does that road go two ways.
[QUOTE=Crocodiles And Boulevards]
I set off for Korea for the first time during college, and you cannot imagine my surprise at the shopping options suddenly made available. Abruptly, shirts that fit! Pants that emphasize what little buns I have! A whole deluge of clothes tailored for men of slight-frame. By the time I came back, I knew that I’d return again if only just to buy more shirts. And a suit, perhaps. Because the people at Men’s Wearhouse in Arkansas tailor-made my suit gigantic on me, for whatever reason.
[/QUOTE]
You’re lucky. I’m female and the height of the average American male. This means that just about all the clothing in women’s departments are not made for me. Not because of a “fat” issue, but because I’m taller than they expected and that my frame is proportionate to my height. I am tall, but definitely not willowy. I’m considered to be at least on the taller side just about everywhere, but I’d definitely be Giant White Lady just about anywhere outside of North America and Europe.
My biggest gripe is that, while those who are too short for a lot of clothes can get things hemmed, I can’t just magically pull more fabric for the bottom hem out of nowhere. It’s like I’m relegated to a life of men’s pants or highwater pants forever and shirts that don’t cover everything unless they’re meant to be a “tunic” length. I guess I could shop in Scandinavia and have better luck, but pay twice as much and encounter a lot of inconvenience to do so. I just have no guarantee that it’s going to work as well as the stuff I can get around here at this point. 
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd]
At least there are B&T specialty shops.
The “Mr. Big & Tall” franchise is all over the damned place, but I’ll be buggered sideways if I can find a “Mr. Skinny Little Freak.”
[/QUOTE]
And there is no such thing as a skinny and tall shop either (my husband wears wears 32 waist and 36 length pants), big and tall shops seem more focused on the big than the tall part.
I think neutron star is right; nothing fits anyone, and I would never have known it if I didn’t post here.
I’m a tallish woman with short legs for my height, but a long torso and long arms. (and yes, that is as freaky-looking as you think) You know what fits me without trouble? Shoes. That’s it. Everything else is either impossible to find at all, or made for people whose weight and length of limbs is arranged in a completely different way.
Maaaaaan, I love being an average-sized guy. 36 x 32 pants, “Large” size shirt – if they don’t have it, Medium or XL usually works – and we’re home.
For the record, I’m 5’10" and 240, though I look nothing like what a guy my height and weight is apparently supposed to look like according to the BMI charts (i.e., round). I really do fit into a 36 inch waist, I promise. :D.
The ones who get my sympathy are the ones who fall on the extremes not of normal size, but of normal proportions. I have a buddy who’s 6’4" with a 30-inch waist. He has a hell of a time finding pants, and his shirts all look like puffy buccaneer-wear because they’re made for guys with four times his girth. I also once had an acquaintance who couldn’t have been taller than 5’5", with a waist about twice as big as mine. I didn’t know him well enough to ask him where he shopped, but I’ll bet you he had a few gripes, too.
Giant American SMASH puny Korean!
[QUOTE=nashiitashii]
You’re lucky. I’m female and the height of the average American male. This means that just about all the clothing in women’s departments are not made for me. Not because of a “fat” issue, but because I’m taller than they expected and that my frame is proportionate to my height. I am tall, but definitely not willowy. I’m considered to be at least on the taller side just about everywhere, but I’d definitely be Giant White Lady just about anywhere outside of North America and Europe.
[/QUOTE]
In parts of Europe too, judging by the description. If it’s any help, my brothers’ Spanish Language teacher in High School fit that description too and all the boys fell in love with her instantly.
Doesn’t make it any easier for her to get clothes, though.
[QUOTE=buttonjockey308]
I happen to be one of those giant sized Americans the OP is talking about (6’5" 295 and shrinking, thanks to a LOT of gym time I’m down 25 currently) and I’m here to tell you it’s damn near impossible to find clothing that fits, let alone properly, when you’re large. Fat guys are relegated to camp shirts, the dreaded polo :rolleyes: banded bottom shirts, jeans, sweats and pleated-front dockers that make you look like you’re smuggling miniature footballs in your pants. Not, I should mention, in the good way. And now that my body is getting that -V- shape, I’m stuck with stuff that’s too big to be good looking or too small not to be all ‘international-maley’
And shoes? Forget it. I’m a 15 wide. You know how many pairs of shoes come in that size that are readiliy available and worth buying? About 1. If I lost every ounce of fat on my body, I STILL couldn’t wear anything close to what society or the OP would consider “regular”.
All that said; even with the kinds of troubles Omegaman is talking about, which don’t happen to me as much anymore, I like being a big guy. I’m head and shoulders over damn near everybody, being this size has worked to my advantage kicking in doors, fighting fires, catching bad guys and what not. I’m a kilt-wearin’ man to boot (fully regimented when necessary) so when I’m out and about with that on, I get attention. Plus, I look smashing in fire gear, and I can reach the highest shelf without even the mere mention of the words step ladder.
[/QUOTE]
Damn!! I think I’m falling in love!
While I do not have the priveledge of being a fireman or a police officer you can count me in on any nefarious adventures you have planned! And while I’m just a wee lad at 6’3", I can stomp the bumper off a small car with my delicate size 14 boot clad clodhoppers in short order. Comes in handy whilst dealing with smart alecky punks who like to play their radios too loud and other such undesirables.
Nothing finer than hanging out with the boys, I tell you!
[QUOTE=JR Brown]
Hemming pants is dirt easy. My roommate (who is petite but refuses to shop in the petite section) has made me hem every pair of pants she has ever bought. Just mark where you want 'em on one seam, trim off the extra about 1.5 inches from the mark (for a 1-inch hem), turn inside out, fold over the last 0.5 inches and again 1 inch deep, check to make sure the folds are straight and even on both legs (this is the only anywhere-near-hard part), pin, and hem or slip stitch by hand (for pants this much easier than by machine). It takes like 15 minutes, tops, unless you are dealing with wide flares or something else with a curved hem.
JRB
[/QUOTE]
I appreciate your advice but my sewing looks like something Dr. Frankenstein did after a 3 day weekend in Tijuana. I go for strength, using as many lock stitches as I can. I figure if it came apart once, and it’s clothing worth keeping, I don’t want it to come apart again. I’m like a bull in a china shop unless it’s something mechanical. There I’m graceful as a swan.
[QUOTE=buttonjockey308]
I’m a kilt-wearin’ man to boot
[/QUOTE]
More men in kilts, is what I say!
[QUOTE=NajaNivea]
More men in kilts, is what I say!
[/QUOTE]
A short kilt anecdote ; was on the way to see a frineds band one balmy Chicago evening, walking down Clark street when I heard off my left shoulder the unmistakable sound of a bus. I glance over and see it’s a tour bus from Iowa. Everyone on the tour bus from Iowa was pressed, cameras first against the windows on the passenger side of the northbound bus snapping pictures of the giant man in the skirt.
I DO love this city, and my kilt.
I do hope you at least considered giving 'em a quick peek of what one wears under a kilt. 
[QUOTE=lissener]
My point–points, manifold–were that, A) thin people have always, and will always, have more clothing sources to choose from; B) that the buyers for the “specialty” shops were all badly dressed by their mothers well into adulthood, and wouldn’t know fashion if it held them down and rubbed their noses in a steaming pile of it; and B) you can always make too-big clothing smaller, but rarely does that road go two ways.
[/QUOTE]
I didn’t mean to be unsympathetic – I’m just whining my own whine.
I wouldn’t overstate the alterability of clothes for skinny little freaks, though. Any shirt that has pockets on the front is a non-starter, unless you are happy with the breast pockets tucked into your pants – if pants or sleeves are tapered, forget it, too - you usually can’t shorten them in a way that doesn’t look ridiculous.
I am not too too worried about fashion, I would be happy enough if there was a “Munchkin Barn” where I could go and pick something off the rack that was work appropriate. (eg; shoes that fit that don’t have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles branding on them.) I don’t mind that I can never find something that I like, it’s that I can’t find anything that fits, and there’s very little that can even be cut down to size.
I am talking here more about “little” than “skinny,” obviously. I have no pity for 6’ stickmen, I’m sure they make out just fine. I know I wouldn’t have an easier time getting dressed if I packed on another fifty pounds.
[QUOTE=NajaNivea]
I do hope you at least considered giving 'em a quick peek of what one wears under a kilt. 
[/QUOTE]
I did more than consider. I would hazard a guess that priests, shrinks and the odd bartender in Iowa saw a spike in business when that bus pulled back into town.
I think Beware of Doug nailed it.
First, how tight your clothing fits varies quite a bit with style. If you take two equal-sized people, one from Manhattan and one from Northern Georgia (to name two styles I’m familiar with), there’s a good chance they will be wearing different-sized clothing. In many places people wear t-shirts that are–by my fashion standards–one or two sizes too big. So I think part of it is fashion, rather than fatness. Europeans (and, in my experience, Chinese, so maybe Koreans too) wear their clothes more like Manhattanites than residents of Marietta, Georgia.
Second, clothing that is nominally the same sized usually isn’t, in reality. You would think that waist size would be a more standardized measure, for example, but it really isn’t. Buy a 34x32 at UNIQLO and one at KMart and tell me they fit the same-sized person. That’s because even if the waist measurement is right, there are a lot of other factors that go into whether those pants will fit. The same is true of dress shirts and all manner of clothing that is ostensibly sized on an objective scale. So you have to be shopping for a manufacturer that makes clothing that fits you properly. If you always shop at one kind of store, you might find that even though you are average, nothing quite fits you right.
[QUOTE=Telperien]
I think neutron star is right; nothing fits anyone, and I would never have known it if I didn’t post here.
I’m a tallish woman with short legs for my height, but a long torso and long arms. (and yes, that is as freaky-looking as you think) You know what fits me without trouble? Shoes. That’s it. Everything else is either impossible to find at all, or made for people whose weight and length of limbs is arranged in a completely different way.
[/QUOTE]
We must be related - I have the same body type. Shirts are always too short and pants are always too long. I don’t mind the pants too much, I can hem those, but what can I do with shirts? ARG! I should note that I’ve found a couple shirts in Banana Republic that are long enough and that “skater” cut men’s shirts fit very well.
I have the additional problem of small hips but a sizable and well-formed butt. It’s hard to find pants that not only give enough room in the back but also don’t have too much room on the sides. Old Navy actually will sometimes have good pants. I apparently have the Old Navy/Banana Republic/Gap body. But only sometimes. Stupid changable fashions. grumble
[QUOTE=lexi]
And there is no such thing as a skinny and tall shop either (my husband wears wears 32 waist and 36 length pants), big and tall shops seem more focused on the big than the tall part.
[/QUOTE]
My problem is that most B&T stores are really Big OR Tall, not Big AND Tall.
If I were short and fat or tall and skinny I’d be fine. Big & Tall seems to be archaic signage if it were ever true at all.
[QUOTE=Belrix]
My problem is that most B&T stores are really Big OR Tall, not Big AND Tall.
If I were short and fat or tall and skinny I’d be fine. Big & Tall seems to be archaic signage if it were ever true at all.
[/QUOTE]
Word to your Mother.
