Short Shrifted

OK. That was a cruel teaser. There ain’t any besides yours truly. I don’t know of a single blogger out there that does what I do. So you’re stuck with me for now. But I have come across a few blogs over the years written by guys:

Hey, it’s slim pickins out there in the wilds of the web. I feel lucky to have stumbled over these few great voices. For such a tiny cohort, it’s a pretty diverse mix in terms of height, body type, age, background, and style. So be happy that these well-dressed shorter guys are sharp and on the scene.

LeDANDY (Alan, 5′5″)
His Bio: A unique fashion/lifestyle guide from a forty-something dandy residing in the SF Bay Area. LeDandy is the founder and self-appointed leader of the Reform Dandyism movement. Unlike other sites, LeDandy stresses affordability, individuality and a lighthearted approach.
My Take: He pretty much laid it all out there. And he posts on clothing and style regularly. This 42-Short dandy truly embodies the notion of ‘personal style’: opera pumps, pince nez, fountain pens… but suits be damned. His fashion sensibility doesn’t always resonate with me, but that’s not the point. Alan inspires me mainly as a guy who is hacking his own stylistic swath through the fashion jungle. Not many true trailblazers like him around.

LOVESHIP (Michael, 5′5″)
His Bio: Chronicles of a couple building our wardrobes, making a home, and growing into adult babies in the upper midwest. Herewith, our musings on style.
My Take: The rare co-blog. Mostly his wife, Susie. And mostly high fashion. But every once in awhile Michael surfaces and does a post. And it’s almost always inspirational and applicable. Fearless man that he is, he couldn’t care less about tha rulez. I’ve posted on him twice, here and here.

SHACK ATTACK (David, 5′3″)
His Bio: A site composed of dated entries, chronologically arranged.
My Take: Well, yeah. It really is a weblog at its most basic, vital best. He doesn’t write about clothing often, but then, bam, he’ll bust something out. His blog tangentially relates to short guys and personal appearance when he focuses on exercise, diet, and footwear. He’s also a regular commenter here, and as My Man in Tokyo, guest blogged a guide to Shopping in Japan.

THE SQUIRRELOLOGIST (Seth, 5′5″)
His Bio: This site is a work in progress. Evolving from its initial concept as a consumer action portal to its current focus on multiple topics. It’s also a medium to convey the story of my other business, Shortees, which manufactures and sells clothing designed specifically to fit men under 5’8″. There are over 34 million men under 5’8″ and now there is an easy-to-find resource for great fitting clothes.
My Take: Definitely a work in progress. Seth just started this up and he’s still finding his way. A general-interest blog at this point (if such a thing exists). Hopefully he’ll share more of his own thoughts on fashion and the behind-the-scenes travails of growing Shortees, his short-man’s apparel business.

STRANGE TRAVELERS (Robert, 5′5″)
His Bio: I was born in rural Maine. I came to Pittsburgh, PA, to attend Carnegie Mellon and graduated with a degree in Psychology. I play electronic music, but with the goal of creating organic-sounding music, and recorded a soundtrack for one of my favorite books, City of Saints and Madmen, by Jeff VanderMeer. Besides music, I am also an amateur photographer and a hobbyist cordwainer (shoemaker).
My Take: I’m a fellow Mainer. Grew up about half an hour from Robert. In a mill town that was one of the nation’s chief shoe-manufacturing centers during the industrial revolution. And I also make my own music, electronic and otherwise. So I sense a kindred spirit here. Robert’s blog is rarely updated and hews closely to his personal interests. But for short men (or really anyone with hard-to-fit feet), it’s interesting whenever he recounts his attempts at the above-mentioned cordwaining. Check out his DIY ’shoes’ archive. I’ve also tapped him to do an upcoming guest post on Brown’s in Toronto.

THIS FITS (Anon, 5′7″)
His Bio: Here’s the TLDR version: this site started as, and remains primarily, a very personal endeavor, chronicling one man’s efforts to identify, document, and emulate classic and affordable men’s style, especially for brown-skinned fellows like myself. I am by no means a style expert, but I like to help people, so to the degree I can, I’ll help anyone who has questions, or I’ll direct you to someone who can help.
My Take: He did, indeed, direct somebody to me — that’s how This Fits blipped onto my radar. The Tumblr platform really is a perfect fit for what he’s doing: a pastiche of images, lookbook tearsheets, notes to self, wishlist items, questions & answers. It’s illuminating to witness this process — a shorter guy striving to dress better and figure out his own personal style — and to watch it unfold in real time.

THE TRAD (John, 5′8″)
His Bio: Not as good as it was. Better than it will be. … Anyone can tell me I shouldn’t wear it. No one can tell me I can’t.
My Take: What can I say? My daily go-to blog for a couple years running now. It’s more than just the subject matter (trad/ivy league/American clothing) which I’m honestly, but only casually, interested in. It’s his overall tone, turn of phrase, life experience — the stories. I always come away feeling like I read about something truly idiosyncratic and cool. That I gleaned something of real value, something lasting and true that transcended whatever he was overtly talking about. You’d think that would regularly happen with ye olde internette, awash in blogs as it is, but it so rarely does. Hugely influential, he’s finally started getting his due, recently featured in places like the NY Times, Esquire, the New Yorker, and Vanity Fair. Check out the guest post he did for Short Shrifted here.

TWEED IN THE CITY (Matt, 5′4″)
His Bio: Classic tailored clothing is rarely worn with pleasure today–almost never with elegance. However, it’s not all bad news. Now that the old rules and standards have lapsed, there’s more opportunity than ever to exploit the rich language of classic style. Tweed in the City is dedicated to exploring the vocabulary of that language and adapting it to modern living.
My Take: This blog went dark back in January. So I was happily startled when his RSS feed bolded up out of the blue one day this August with a new post. On cigarillos… And he hasn’t let up since. Matt’s back — with a vengeance (on Twitter, too). The man exists on a higher plane of menswear than most of us. Stratospheric. Kind of like the blog A Suitable Wardrobe, except not even remotely so joyless, prescriptive, terse, and ungenerous. In short, a pleasure to read. Even if I don’t have clue how — or the pocketbook — to emulate him. Welcome back, Matt.

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.

So, happy holidays! May you have hours of surfing and reading pleasure. My gift to you: 197 Links for the Sharply Dressed Short Man.

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.

Join my Delish Network:

There’s a new short kid on the block: ShortMenStyle.com. You should already be familiar with the essential Men’s Clothing for Short & Small Guys subpage of Hudson’s FTM Guide (discussed here previously). Well, Hudson (who is 5-foot-5) has basically taken all of his clothing tips and spun them off in their own dedicated website.

An updated, expanded, and easier-to-navigate version of the information found on [ftmguide.org], www.shortmenstyle.com is a new project devoted to more frequent updates and detailed postings on clothing for short men.

I’m not sure how frequent the updates will be or what form they’ll take, but I’ll be tuning in for sure.

Like the old page, the new site features:

lists of retailers and specialty stores that offer men’s clothing in small and extra-small sizes (including sizes for short, heavyset men)

lists of shirts, jackets, jeans, pants, shorts, suits, work wear, and accessories in small and extra-small sizes

lists of shoe retailers that offer small sizes in men’s footwear

pointers on measurements and fit, as well as style tips for shorter men

–

Whoa there, pardner. Mind how you type that there url into your browser. Too quick on the draw and you might add a stray “of” by mistake and end up a might piece further down the virtual highway from where you reckoned you’d be. But that wouldn’t be so bad, either.

The typographically similar website Short Men of Style (discussed here previously) recently published the winners of their Short Man of Style Contest 2008. So which diminutive dandies were deemed to tower over the rest of us this year? Vincent Massaro (5-foot-7), a 23-year-old web programmer from Woodbridge, CT, took the grand prize. And Houak Namburi (5-foot-7), from Auburn, AL, was the runner up. A Short Shrifted reader, Houak said: “For a while, I never shopped for clothes because nothing seemed to fit me right. Finally, I started altering clothes myself to make it fit perfect and add my own flair. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but now I make pants that seem like they are made just for me.”

Congrats on the win, Vincent and Houak!

Off the Cuff is a DC-based men’s style blog written by Chris Hogan. My favorite posts by Chris can be found in his Style Guide section. In each, he tackles a particular topic — zip-front sweaters, suits, dressed-up jeans, classic vs. preppy, icons of classic style, canvas tote bags — and explores it at length. Mixing historical research, current trends, personal insight and loads of helpful info, each of these guides is a great starting place for your own exploration of the subject.

Recently, Off the Cuff added a new style guide on Fashion for the Shorter Gentlemen. It covers all the bases of how short men can dress professionally and look great. His main points are:

• Stripes — Choose stripes of a thinner variety like beaded or pinstripes. Choose stripes where the width between stripes best balances your frame. ¼” to ¾” should be sufficient. The wider your frame, the wider the stripe option, however, any wider than ¾” and you’ll begin to look squat.
• Suits — When trying on a suit, stand close to the mirror and take a good to see if it flatters you. Then, stand back about 5 to 10 feet from the mirror to get a visual sense of how others will see you in a typical day to day situation.
• Ties — For the short man, it’s best to go narrow. Not because it’s trendy, but because it’s more proportioned for a shorter frame. A ties that is 2 ½” to 3 ¼” at its widest point should be enough.
• Shirts — Choose a more trim European inspired fit with higher armholes and a slimmer body. These trimmer cuts can easily be shortened to fit your body and arms.
• Pants — Some designers are showing pleated, full cut dress pants again. Avoid this look at all costs. Stick to more traditional cuts, preferably with a flat front and short rise. If you prefer a pleated pant because you have thick thighs or wide hips, stick to shallower pleats.
• Alterations — The number one rule, no matter what the current fashion trend, is to have your clothes altered by a good tailor. This rule applies to men of all heights, but is particularly important to us short guys.

Last but not least, he gave a nod to Short Shrifted, saying “It’s a great site that covers clothing, brands and style in general. The site has great content and a lot of useful resources for short men.”

A quick note this weekend to let you know that Hudson’s Guide to Men’s Clothing for Short & Small Guys was just updated this March (last updated in September 2007). Weighing in at a bantam-like 4,400 words, it still packs a considerable punch. Concise and to the point, this static page provides info on all the basics: figuring out your measurements and listing scads of stores and websites that carry small and extra-small sizes. There’s also a round-up of short specialty stores.

The Work Gear section seems particularly useful for anyone frustrated with oversized heavy-duty workwear. A sample:

Sears carries a line of rugged work clothing called “WorkWear,” which is available in-store and on their web site (www.searsworkwear.com). Their men’s plain front work pants run as small as 28×26, and they have a full range of small sizes in a variety of colors. They also carry long- and short-sleeved work shirts in small sizes in a variety of colors. The Sears WorkWear line is quite affordable, and varied in its styles and selection.

Check out the companion page, too: Men’s Shoes in Small Sizes.

Officially, the parent website, Hudson’s FTM Guide, “is intended to provide information on topics of interest to female-to-male, trans men, and their friends and loved ones.” But as the author points out, “Non-trans men have also found the pages on men’s grooming and clothing to be helpful. Transsexual, non-transsexual, intersex, transgender, genderqueer, questioning, and “just plain folks” are all welcome.” So whatever your category, if you self-identify as “short,” Hudson’s Men’s Clothing page is an essential reference.

Peak lapels on a jacket are a great choice for short men. So goes the common wisdom. Those dynamic, powerful lines draw the eye forcefully up the body. But short men need to exercise caution (especially if you have a petite frame). Peak lapels can be way too wide and end up completely out of proportion to your size. (Super-wide peaks can even look bad on tall dudes; have you ever really looked at Charlie Rose’s suits? Crazy.).

A few days ago, I chanced upon this photo of a short gentleman rocking peak lapels with such panache I had to share it with you. This diminutive dandy’s nom de plume is Lord Whimsy. He’s an author/blogger, naturalist, and “deeply committed dilettante, provincial ponce, and middle-aged weirdo,” according to his official bio. Along with more images of the suit, he elucidates the collar conundrum further in his post:

This is my first suit with peak lapels, but they are so modest, slender and pert that they are a rather nice detail, and not the short man’s bane as they can sometimes be. The trousers are slim and the 60’s style pockets do not bulge out at the hips–something I cannot stand in off-the-rack suits.

The suit was made for him by Duchess Clothiers of Portland, OR. Judging by their site, they appear to be along the lines of NYC’s Duncan Quinn and Lord Willy’s — but with way more period offerings and stylistic options. Fun. Incurable Anglophilic, Victorian-novel-reading, history-loving tea-sipper that I am, I love this kind of stuff. But it’s not for everyone. As Lord Whimsy disclaims elsewhere on his blog:

I love this mode of dress, but In some ways I’m also poking a bit of fun at myself with it; It’s best to transcend one’s shortcomings rather than deny them, don’t you think? In some ways I’m blessed, because I think having leading man looks would be very confining and tedious. Of course, this is another way of saying that what I wear may not translate well to others, so take care if you should decide to emulate. This sort of thing is best left to odd ducks: after all, we’re not vying for the corner office, nor are we running for senate.

Love it or loathe it, it’s refreshing and empowering to see a short guy looking so sharp, well-fitted and confident in his clothes. Hats off to you, Whimsy.

Prior to starting my blog, when I was scouring the Internet for information on short men’s clothing, Short Persons Support was one of only a handful of useful resources I found. And certainly the most rewarding. It is by far the largest collection of information related to shortness online: scientific research, essays, media criticism, health issues, helpful links, reading lists and — of most interest to me — a men’s clothing section. There, you’ll find a comprehensive list of short men’s specialty stores and online retailers (with user ratings), reader recommendations of chain stores with decent sizing (even if they don’t cater to short men), links to shoe stores and shoe lift purveyors, and fashion advice.

Steve Goldsmith founded the site in 2000 when he realized there were more sites about red hair than there were about short stature. Recently, I talked to Steve about Short Persons Support:

What was the genesis of your site?

“I was participating in a Usenet discussion group related to height issues. Most of the posts were garbage, there were a lot of flames. But in between all the flames and all the garbage there were some really good bits of information about clothing, statistics, books people could read. But all of that information was going to be lost. So first I spent about a month looking for a site because I didn’t want to duplicate information. There were just a few sites. And the one with most depth was maybe six or seven pages. So I decided to create Short Support.”

How has it grown over the years?

“There are two aspects. The site itself and the community. I get about 10 to 15 e-mails a week. People with questions or just wanting to talk. I kind of consider it more of a support mechanism. As I was growing up, if I ever said anything to anybody about being short they’d just say height doesn’t mean anything. That made me feel like I wanted to be there to validate people. Their problems are not all in their head. And there are ways around them.”

What have you learned through working on your site?

“There are more people concerned about their height than I thought. I knew going into it that there was more than just me. I’ve had e-mail from more than 2,000 people. When I started, there was almost no research, but since then there’s been more research about the sociological aspects of being short.”

It says in your clothing section: “As hard as we tried, we could not find many articles on clothes for the short man.” That’s basically the reason why I created my blog. Why do you think there is such a dearth of information?

“One of the things we discussed initially on the bulletin boards was the disconnect between how tall people and short people see themselves. In this country there are about 100 clubs and about 500 stores for tall people. There is only one organization for short people and a few dozen stores. But human height follows the bell curve, so there are just as many short people as tall people. I think tall people are more comfortable with themselves and being tall. And short people often aren’t. They don’t demand equal treatment and representation.”

Can you tell me about any problems you’ve personally encountered trying to find clothes that fit? Are there any solutions or tips that work for you?

“I’m 5-foot-2, so it has been a constant struggle. Now I buy most of my clothes online. Especially pants. I think the most frustrating times are when I have to find a business suit. I’ll go into a store and they will actually have a few things in my size. Like maybe three. And they’ll be green! The choices are so limited. I used to get my shirts custom made. Everything I buy I get hemmed or modified.”

The Men’s Clothing section on your site is really comprehensive. You’ve got links to all the major specialty stores and online retailers. To me, the most interesting aspect is the user rankings. Are those still active and changing based on user input?

“Yes. It all comes from other people generally; I don’t contribute much to that part of it. It’s not real scientific or anything because there aren’t that many votes. I think the comments there are the most useful.”

Well, thanks for making your Web site, Steve!

Thank you.

As I said yesterday, I got the tip-off on Short Man Brown’s from Shorty Stories, a comprehensive clothing resource for short, petite women. It’s a blog written by Cynthia C, a self-described writer/petite activist from Toronto, Ontario. She pens store reviews, links to all manner of helpful sites, and posts her own videos.

She also runs a lot of reader surveys, which can be interesting. Most helpful to petite women, perhaps, she seems to really have her finger on the pulse of the ebb and flow in petite sizes from certain designers and chains (short guys, you know all too well how annoying it is when the shirts you’ve been buying for years from the same place suddenly start getting bigger or longer, etc.).

So guys, if you know any women shorter than you are, send them over to Shorty Stories.