I’ve talked before about the dearth of shopping options when I lived in the Back Woods (Maine): Gap and Salvation Army. But what about those of you that dwell in Flyover Country? A reader from Kansas just checked in with Short Shrifted to share his go-to regional chain store:
I though I’d pass along a shopping tip for all my fellow readers here in flyover country (KS, OK, NE, AR, MO, TX, TN, MS): Half of Half Price. They buy out department store remainders (lots of items from Macy’s) and returns, and I’ve had very good luck finding suits and slacks that are properly sized for me (38 chest, 33 waist).
And cheap!
I’ve paid $100 for a black Alfani wool suit, $29 each for a 38 Short grey wool pinstripe Ralph Lauren blazer and some perfectly hemmed Tasso Ella tan merino wool slacks, and today’s coup — a pair of Kenneth Cole black wool slacks, size 33, and hemmed just right, for $5. That’s with daily discount: email list membership took the $19 tag price way down.
Because much of their merchandise consists of returns, caveat emptor applies. But check back often, because guys our size can find clothes that fit. They run sales constantly, and I’m always getting updates. And if you see something you like, buy it, because they move stock quickly.
Take care, and keep up the great work on the blog.
–CF
5-foot-4, 150 lbs
Thanks CF. Sounds like a solid lead — and super-cheap to boot. Wish we had one of those in NYC…
Can any other Mid/Southwest dwellers vouch for Half of Half Price?
What other options exist in that part of the country for men under 5-foot-9?
Consider tuning in to The Little Couple tonight (Feb 9) at 10PM EST on TLC.
In the episode “Three Shops and a Baby Doc,” the male lead in this reality show makes a shopping trip to Jimmy Au’s, the Beverly Hills specialty-clothing store for men 5′8″ and under (Read about my own trip to Jimmy Au’s here). The episode will be re-aired a few hours later at 1 AM (Feb 10), and again on Feb. 16 at 6 AM and Feb. 17 at 7 PM.
For those curious about the Jimmy Au’s experience, this could really be worth checking out.
Bill, the character in the show, has Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, “a rare disorder of bone growth that results in dwarfism,” according to Wikipedia. I point it out for this reason: Bill is under 4-feet tall and may have certain “skeletal abnormalities” that are “characteristic” of SDC. Meaning he has some very different fit issues than anything I’ve ever talked about on Short Shrifted — or presumably the majority of Short Shrifted readers.
Just wanted you to know that his experience is outside the realm of my usual area of coverage.
That said, since there are so few web resources for short people, I try to be as inclusive as possible here. My focus with this blog skews toward people most like me (male, 5′5″, skinny) if for no other reason than it’s easiest to write what you know. But I shop the men’s, women’s, and children’s sections. I’m open to advice and fit solutions from everyone of short stature: athletic or hefty men, dykes, transgender, cross-dressers, folks with dwarfism. And I’m happiest when someone — of any size, background, gender, body type, or political bent — gleans something useful here at Short Shrifted.
If you watch it, let me know what you think. I don’t have cable!
Sure, I’ve dallied with other shops. Gap was my go-to when I lived in the backwoods of Maine, thanks to their XS size. But who wants to look like a Gap ad? H&M can be good, but their styles change so fast and sometimes the of-the-moment stuff just looks ridiculous. Uniqlo? They’re great if you happen to live in NYC; otherwise you’ll have to book a flight to Japan. Black Fleece, Club Monaco, Rugby, Band of Outsiders, TopMan, and all the rest: damned expensive.
Nope. For me, it’ll always be Salvation Army. Over the course of my life, I’ve found more great clothes there than anywhere else. It’s my one constant. A chain I know that I’ll be able to find anywhere I live, work or travel. One that actually has affordable stuff that fits me.
Sure, any given trip to a Sally Ann’s can turn up zilch. But over the long haul it’s a goldmine. It’s all about knowing how to shop a thrift store. Tips on that here and here.
So, besides price, what makes Salvation Army unique? Sheer variety.
LABEL VARIETY
If you’re short — or really any sort “odd” size that falls outside of the narrow silhouettes of the apparel industry, you have it tough. If the couple dozen major brands at Macy’s don’t flatter your shape, you’re screwed. But at any given SA there are literally hundreds or thousands of labels. And many of them boutique, foreign, or defunct — weird, wild, under-the-wire stuff.
HISTORICAL VARIETY
Unlike every other store on the planet, Salvation Army doesn’t just carry clothes from a designer’s 2010 Spring Season (or whatever the current line is). You can find stuff from five, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago. This frees you from the tyranny of the moment. You can find items from periods when cuts and styles were vastly different from the shape-du-jour. And I think that (barring Hammer pants in the early ’90s and those boxy power suits from the ’80s) most of the menswear in the latter half of the 20th century was cut tighter, shorter, and smaller than today. And arguably, the average size of the American male was probably a bit smaller. Besides shirts, pants, jackets and all the rest, it’s probably the #2 best place to score vintage neckties for this reason.
GENDER VARIETY
Sex is natural, sex is good, quoth George Michael. But gender is a social construct. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the history of men’s fashion. Towering bouffant wigs, makeup, stockings, corsets, earrings, glitter… all considered the height of male fashion at one time or another. So why should a guy feel bad about buying a shirt marked “women” in this day and age. Especially when, oftentimes, the only notable difference about a women’s shirt is that the buttons are on the wrong side. And it actually fits.
What’s nice about the thrift experience is that categories like these often begin to break down a little: I’ll zip down a row of men’s blazers, pull out a dozen with short sleeves, and a couple of them will be women’s blazers (usually on the less “effeminate” side: tweeds, not frilly, etc.).
“I have no problem wearing ladies clothing. At 5′4″ and a slim build, most of what I find thrifting makes me look like I’m playing dress up in daddy’s closet. Luckily, gems like this will slip by most guys and into my basket.”
NOTE: There’s a downside to this, too. Since organization is a bit more scattershot at used-clothing shops, the clerks who stock the racks use size as one of their sorting aids. I suspect there are loads of small and short men’s clothes that end up in the women’s and children’s sections. So you may have to pick through those, too.
CUSTOM VARIETY
Where else can you buy a custom-made shirt — that wasn’t made for you? OK, granted, the whole point of going the bespoke route is that you get a piece of clothing precisely tailored to your exact dimensions. So buying a second-hand blazer that was custom made for someone else may seem absurd. Still, what’s cool about it is this: With used custom clothing, you at least get a shot at finding something that fits your unusual shape. At the very least you’ll find pieces that are tailored to specs outside the mainstream. And since you find yourself in that number, the odds of finding something that fits you improve, too.
Good hunting, everyone. Have a thrift-shopping secret you’d like to share? Know of any super-cool second-hand stores in your area? Or just want to crow about an awesome vintage find? I’d love to hear about it.
My blog just got a nice plug from Elizabeth Anne Designs, a wedding website updated daily with tips and stories from brides, newlyweds and wedding vendors. In a post called Tales of a Petite Groom, a bride-to-be recounts her and her fiance’s fruitless hunt for a suit for the big day.
Mo writes:
It is so hard to find a good fitting suit for the short, thin man in the States. I know, because the boy and I covered some serious ground in San Diego and the OC, only to realize that everything is way. too. big.
What was even more frustrating is that salesmen tried to convince us that suits that clearly did not fit in the shoulders were perfect on him. Sorry Hugo Boss, we’re not shelling out two thousand on a suit only to have it pulled apart for alterations.
Sounds exactly like my own frustrating experience as a groom — and the whole reason I started this blog. Very cool, then, that Mo and her man went home, fired up the internet, and were psyched to find Short Shrifted. Full circle.
It’s cool to see their process unfolding online. And it’ll be interesting to see what he eventually comes up with. Looks like they’re starting with a custom-made suit from Thick as Thieves.
Year’s end. Time to take stock. Celebrate your sartorial victories. Review your fashion defeats. Plot a strategy for 2010. I know finding clothes that fit is tough when you’re under 5′9″. But not if you have the gift of knowledge.
These are things I’ve been collecting for years: websites, blog entries, forum threads, online shops, product reviews, news articles, etc. Quite the mishmash, but I hope you’ll have fun sorting through it.
Maybe you’ve noticed these bookmarks before. Over to the right on the sidebar. Scroll down a bit. Keep scrolling. Yep, past the Archives. Past my Flickr pix and the recent Reader Comments. No, too far. Don’t click on the Twitter badge. I’m taking a break from that. Too many spammers…
And loyal readers, please know this: Even when a week goes by without a post, I’m constantly updating that thing. Research, research, research.
So cast an eye over there from time to time, eh? Have a suggestion or a helpful link to share? Send it my way. And while you’re at it, please remember to save Short Shrifted to your social-bookmarking contraption of choice.
Xmas shopping in the Time Warner Center a few weeks back, I noticed that J.Crew now carries XS sizes! Guess it’s no coincidence that every time I go in there it seems like all the male sales associates are on the shorter side. I asked one of them how the XS stuff was selling: Flying off the racks.
Curious whether they’ll continue the smaller sizes or if this is just an experiment, I queried Heather McAuliffe, PR veep at the Crew:
“Like everything we do, it was really based on our customer feedback… We heard that our guys were requesting additional sizes in the store and so we brought them in. We have been really pleased.”
Well, so am I. Thanks, J.Crew. This really demonstrates how powerful customer feedback can be. The takeaway: If nothing fits you in a store you like, speak up. Occasionally corporate entities listen.
So…
THE FIT: XS button-up shirts fit well on my 5′5″/130-lb frame. Any tighter and they’d be too snug. XS sweaters were slightly too tight for my taste. A few years ago I picked up one of their size Small V-Neck cotton sweater, and it fits beautifully over a shirt. Loose but not baggy — just right for a sweater.
Anyone else scoped out the J.Crew XS sizes yet? What did you think?
“Diminutive players such as Maurice Jones-Drew and Steve Smith, once thought too small for pro football, now thrive at the top of the statistical charts. Quickness and the proliferation of spread offenses are factors.”
This, according to an LA Times story on short players in the NFL. (Thanks to Allen, a longtime reader, for sending me the link). I normally don’t post on ‘newsy’, non-clothing-related stuff like this, but hey. It’s Friday. And it’s football, about the only sport I try to follow. Here’s the list:
NFL PLAYERS SHORTER THAN 5-FOOT-9:
Stefan Logan, Pittsburgh RB: 5-6, 180 lbs.
Darren Sproles, San Diego RB: 5-6, 185 lbs.
Several readers of this blog have recommended Indochino, an online suit-maker that offer made-to-measure suits at reasonable prices. I was curious, but had never tried them out. This summer, they offered to make me a suit gratis for the purposes of a review.
I chose their Navy Blue Pick-Stitch Suit with Peak Lapels (regular retail price $379). The peak lapels because I’d always heard that they accentuate your height (and they just seem cool). After picking the style and entering my measurements, just a few weeks passed and my suit arrived in the mail. Now that I’ve worn it at a few weddings this summer I can say this:
I am extremely satisfied with my Indochino suit — and would recommend them highly (with a few minor caveats). Details below the slideshow.
THE FIT:
As a shorter guy, fit is paramount. And basically, the fit is perfect. Sleeve length, shoulders, jacket hem length, crotch, waist, inseam — all are spot on. I couldn’t be more impressed! Much better than anything I’ve ever tried OTR.
This is now my best-fitting suit.
That said, I’d already done an online shirt measurement with ATailoredSuit and jacket with DressMonkey, so I was checking and rechecking my numbers against those as I went through Indochino’s self-measuring process — just to see if the numbers were in the right ballpark.
I found that Indochino’s online measurement guides were helpful and accurate, but my first caveat is this: There’s probably always potential for a customer to screw up a measurement. Maybe it’s your first time going MTM, maybe you can’t handle a tape-measure, or maybe you *think* you know your measurements, but they’re wrong — or you’ve gained or lost weight. In any case, there’s definitely the potential for error (I experienced this my first time doing MTM with DressMonkey).
On the other hand, Indochino has a 100% Perfect Fit Guarantee. And this policy is a huge selling point for me. It boils down to these three options:
they credit you $75 for alterations at your local tailor
you send it back and they fix it
they make you a brand-new one for free
Amazing. I don’t see any risk here, which is incredibly smart from a marketing perspective. Indochino has removed the single biggest reservation that people ordering MTM clothing online have: fear that you’ll be stuck with something that doesn’t fit (and out hundreds of dollars).
And here’s another neat thing. Let’s say, the sleeves do end up being too long. You decide to bring it to your local tailor. Indochino has a printable Alterations Form to take with you. It provides detailed info on each aspect of the garment: exactly how many inches each element can be shortened or lengthened.
And once your tailor is done, they note the changes on the form, you enter the info into “My Measurements” on Indochino.com, and next time you order a suit from them, it should be perfect.
When it comes to fit, they’ve thought of everything.
MATERIAL & CONSTRUCTION:
Here’s the one potential downside: I didn’t think the quality of fabric and workmanship of my suit was super high. It’s perfectly fine, but certainly not luxurious or finely wrought. And they don’t seem to offer actual fabric swatches on their site, which is a bummer.
To be fair, I’m not an expert on fabric or garment construction. But I’m not a knuckle-dragger whose girlfriend can’t get him out of his baseball hats and into a suit, either. I’m interested in menswear and enjoy dressing well when it’s appropriate. And I just don’t feel like the quality is quite there.
But it may not matter to most people. To be honest, at this low price point, it doesn’t matter to me.
The thing is, I don’t think these details would be noticeable to anyone other than a true clotheshorse or someone in the menswear industry. The other 99% of people you’d encounter — at weddings, your office, the Oscars, or wherever you’d wear a suit — won’t be able to tell the difference. What they will notice is that you look sharp in your perfect-fitting suit.
COST:
Their suits run from $300 to $500, but the vast majority are under $400. And they offer free worldwide shipping. Gotta love those prices!
So, OK. If you want a high-quality MTM suit, you are just going to have to pay well over $1000, and should probably do it at a local brick-and-mortar suitmaker anyway. But ultimately, for less than $400, a great-fitting suit based on your exact measurements is completely worth it.
It’s way better than spending the same amount of cash — or more — for something ill-fitting you’d get off the rack at Men’s Wearhouse et al. I can’t put it more strongly than this: Although this suit was free, I would absolutely buy another suit from them with my own money. I’m already ogling this baby…
BOTTOM LINE:
With their perfect fit, decent quality, and low cost, Indochino is a fantastic option for short men — or guys of any size.
“Would you happen to have any suggestions on a good place to find a winter coat? In terms of what I’m looking for, I just need a warm coat that’ll protect me from the brutal winter while I’m on the road in areas like Canada and North Dakota - my main concern is utilitarian.”
–Phil, 5-foot-5, 125 pounds
Good point. There’s not a whole lot on Short Shrifted about winter jackets. Time to remedy that. Two things come immediately to mind — and then I’d love to get some reader suggestions for Phil.
The North Face: “The unfortunate thing about winter is you gotta wear those big, puffy jackets to keep warm. But The North Face is great because they’re not too puffy where I look as wide as I am tall. They’re classic; they’re not trendy, it’s not a fad. Just a good, basic winter jacket.”
G-Star: “I just got a nice G-Star jacket recently. Down, fur hood. It’s a little on the puffy side, but it’s not to bad.”
Indochino (I’m going to post my suit review soon, I swear!) makes custom outerwear. However, not sure they’d be up to snuff for a Canadian winter.
I was born and raised in Maine, so I should probably have more of a handle on the winterwear. But that’s all I have.
So what do you think — Where should Phil look? What are you going to haul out of the closet when the snow flies this year?
