Short Shrifted

“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.

LaRod Stephens-Howling, Arizona: RB 5-7, 180 lbs.
Garrett Wolfe, Chicago RB: 5-7, 185 lbs.
Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville RB: 5-7, 208 lbs.

Allen Rossum, Dallas DB: 5-8, 178 lbs.
Jason David, Detroit CB: 5-8, 180 lbs.
Michael Adams, Arizona DB: 5-8, 181 lbs.
Dantrell Savage, Kansas City RB: 5-8, 182 lbs.
Tim Jennings, Indianapolis CB: 5-8, 185 lbs.
Sinorice Moss, New York Giants WR: 5-8, 185 lbs.
Captain Munnerlyn, Carolina CB: 5-8, 186 lbs.
Jim Leonhard, New York Jets SS: 5-8, 186 lbs.
Ray Rice, Baltimore RB: 5-8, 210 lbs.

Earlier this year, Banana Republic threw small guys a bone: They debuted Extra Small sizes in dress shirts, polos, T-shirts, sweaters, and a few pieces of outerwear. Huzzah!

BR’s a dependable source for mid-priced office attire, so it’s great that they’ve expanded to include sizes for the shorter third of the US male population. And sort of surprising that it took them this long to tap into that market (given that Brother Gap has had XS for ages).

But… the XS sizes are only available online. Bah.

It sucks that their XS clothes aren’t carried in stores — especially because the issue of fit is all important for short men. And they don’t have the best return policy. You can return most (but not all) items in store. But if you need to ship something back to them, it’ll cost you. My feeling is that if you can only order something online, you should be able to return it for free (a la Zappos).

Bottom line for me is this: It’s nice that they’re making an effort. But there is no good reason that big chains like this can’t devote a little bit of floor space to us. Especially when you consider that every time you see a sale rack, it’s loaded down with larger sizes that they made too many of and can’t seem to move. You hardly ever see many smaller sizes on sale.

So if you’d like to see Banana Republic sell XS men’s clothing in its stores, tell them what you think. E-mail custserv@bananarepublic.com

Meanwhile…

Has anyone tried BR’s new XS size? What did you think?

Sad news from one of the only tiemakers that served the short male community. After three and a half years in business, J. Raffiani has announced they’re going out of business, citing the current economic downturn.

Short Shrifted is sorry to see them go. They were right there at the top of my PDF Guide to Necktie Lengths.

As their president, Jason Rappaport, noted in an e-mail, “we are both proud and confident in the knowledge that we have made a difference in our clients’ wardrobes, and have provided them with a long sought-after alternative to traditional neckwear.”

A small consolation is that all their ties are now marked down:

To mark our closing, we are putting on a special sale: Receive 40% off your entire order, including clearance ties. When given the opportunity at checkout to “REDEEM CLOSING COUPON”, enter jrfd-001 to receive the 40% discount in your shopping cart.

Rappaport did sound a hopeful note, though: “It is our sincere hope that we can re-open under better financial conditions in the near future.” We wish them luck.

HONG KONG TAILOR COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU?

Reader 10bs wrote in to let us know that Himark Martin Tailors will be visiting a few US cities these last few weeks of June. They’ll be taking measurements for suits and shirts.

Here’s their itinerary:

If you’re interested, get in touch to make an appointment. I don’t know anything about them. Hard to argue with their pricing, though!

Check out these three packages:

Anybody have any experience with them? Or any other traveling Hong Kong tailor?

Short Shrifted has had great reader participation recently, which makes it all worthwhile. So thanks, guys! And please keep it up (or contribute if you’ve never posted a comment before).

But I have to point out one really outstanding comment someone just made. A reader named Patrick just wrote a 1500-word dissertation on the T-shirt in response to another reader’s question: What are some T-shirt brands sized for us short guys?

Read Patrick’s comment here.

It’s epic in proportion. Staggering. And extremely detailed in terms of measurements and fit descriptions of different brands. To be fair it’s a bit more broad than just T-shirts, covering casual tops in general: T-shirts, hoodies, sweaters, etc. So thanks, Patrick! And if you really want to thank him, answer the question he poses at the very end of his comment…

Anyway, this is not to say that a comment has to be long to be good. Check out the brief, useful insights in response to other recent posts like:

And there’s surely more to say about T-shirts and everything else on this site. So again, please keep those comments coming. Especially folks who may not have weighed in before.

While we’re at it…

MY TOP 10 POSTS WITH THE MOST COMMENTS (So Far):

1. Reader Question: What are some T-shirt brands sized for us short guys?
2. Visiting NYC? Put these 10 stores on your list
3. A Tailored Suit made me a custom dress shirt (Part One & Two)
4. Short Shrifted is two years old!
5. Cuff your shorts
6. The perfect shirt: American Apparel’s Oxford?
7. Top 5 Reasons to shop for ties on eBay
8. Store review: TopMan
9. Reader questions: Any tips for short broke college kids shopping in NYC? + I’m 5′5″, 130 pounds and need a nice suit.

Hope to hear from you soon…

Had a big weekend, clothing-wise. I’ll give you a quick rundown now — with the promise of a few more detailed posts to follow in the coming weeks.

Met my friend Corey at Freemans for a boozy breakfast. We’ve had a shared interest in clothes since high school and our tastes still mostly overlap. So I lent him a copy of a book I just finished: The Way We Wore: A Life in Threads. It’s BBC presenter Robert Elms’ breezy cultural history of London from the 1960s to the ’90s, told through the lens of men’s clothing, pop music, and dance clubs (in that order). Lots of great stories if you’re into (mod/ska/glam/punk/new romanticism/acid).

After an incident involving a tray of drinks, a waiter, an errant elbow, and a mop, we headed out to the shops.

First stop: Duncan Quinn, the mod-ish British haberdasher in NoLita where I almost bought my wedding suit a few years ago. The guys here have great patter and it’s always enjoyable to stop in (do bring a fat wallet, though). Mentioned my blog to the lads who run the place and they assured me that they could make a suit for the shortest guy out there. In fact, they trotted out a tasty whistle (OK, I picked up some slang from the Elms) from the back room to illustrate their point. They’d just finished making this beautiful gray wool suit with slant pockets and a ticket pocket for a client who is apparently on the extreme end of the bell curve. I’m a 36S/XS and this jacket looked waaay too small for me (sleeves and chest). Very cool.

Next, we checked out TopMan, the menswear line at UK high-streeter-turned-SoHo-phenom TopShop. They definitely have options for short men. I’ll do a full review soon. For now, check out the link to their US online shop if you don’t live in NYC.

A block up the street we passed Uniqlo, so we had to stop in, naturally. I already posted the following on the Twitter account I’m experimenting with, but: I spotted a whole shelf of their Extra-Fine Merino Wool V-Neck sweaters for $9.99. All of them were size XS! Most were black or navy but they had a few in brown and dark gray. There were probably about 50 on Saturday afternoon when I was there. I have no idea if there are any left now (I snapped up 4), but if you go: they’re in the back near the windows where all the sale stuff usually is…

I also spotted a couple new summer things at American Apparel. But stay tuned: I’ll do a full post on that later this week.

All in all, it was a validating mercantile tour for a 5-foot-5 guy.

Also this weekend, I interviewed Robert Rufino, the editor-at-large at House Beautiful. Mr. Ruffino is 5-foot-7 and immaculately attired. It’ll take me a little while to transcribe the interview, but look for it in the coming weeks.

The Kentucky Derby might be known for the speed of its horses and the sartorial pomp of its spectators, but watching it on TV this year (all 2 minutes of it), I couldn’t help but think that, really, it’s all about the jockeys. Their athleticism, their cunning — and their flashy wardrobes. Ranging from a lean 110 to 120 pounds and from about 4′10″ to 5′6″ (with most in the middle of the pack), these small men in their brightly colored racing silks easily outshone all the well-coiffed gents and be-hatted ladies swilling juleps in the stands. Apparently, Animal Planet has a whole doculity? realimentary? on the subject.

Tove, author of the Thread for Thought blog, recently posted a mini academic treatise on jockey attire. She delves into the historical development of jockey silks, their portrayal in pop culture, and purpose as a class signifier. Whew boy! Good readin’.

Bob Dylan: once upon a time he dressed so fine… according to a new item on Short Memo (blog of the online short-men’s specialty store FortheFit.com). Consuelo goes on to tell you how you can put together a similar look with some of their merchandise. Hard to argue with Dylan as a short style icon (though some periods were better than others).

One of my new favorite blogs, The Trad, reveals the secret behind making those baggy chinos look like a million bucks. Something to do with a $20 bill and a good tailor. Sounds pretty easy. Bonus: he namechecks his NYC tailor.

And down in D.C., Off the Cuff has a two-parter on going custom.

Yes — this is topical (sort of). Way back in the 1990s, my friend belonged to an indie-rock mailing list. Or maybe it was a usenet group (ha!). All I know is it was some sort of archaic but semi-exclusive form of electronic communication. I remember vividly him telling me about this (via Pitchfork):

Back in July of 1999, Sonic Youth were victims of a robbery when a ton of gear — guitars, amps, the works — was stolen from a Ramada Inn parking lot in Orange County, California. At the time, Lee Ranaldo wrote an open letter to fans, giving them a heads up: “Our guitars are all mostly older and either very modified and/or fucked up/beat up. They are unmistakably ours.” One of the lifted items was Ranaldo’s Fender Mustang — you might recognize it from the band’s “Macbeth” and “Mary Christ” videos.

You might also recognize the Fender Mustang from when I did that post on shortscale guitars. (They’re essential gear if you happen to have small hands/short arms.)

For Sonic Youth, a theft like this was detrimental to the band’s ability to recreate their sound in a live setting. Ranaldo wrote at the time:

“This is really serious — all the gear we’ve used to write our last few LPs worth of stuff, instruments used for songs old and new which if truly lost will mean those songs will be lost forever.”

But Pitchfork reported good news this week:

And then, almost exactly a decade later, the orange/red ax was apparently found by a dude from the Netherlands who goes by the name Sauerkraut. According to a now-massive thread on the Offset Guitars message board entitled “The OH MY GOD! I BOUGHT ONE OF SONIC YOUTH’S STOLEN GUITARS”, a user named Sauerkraut realized he bought Ranaldo’s old guitar on eBay after finding a picture of it on Sonic Youth’s intense online instrument archive. And he wanted to give it back. As long as the Mustang can make it through Dutch customs, it seems like a happy reunion with its rightful owner is all but assured.”

I dunno. I just thought this was cool. It’s pretty gratifying to see a partial resolution to this story that I’ve been following for 10 years. And it’s a reminder of how unique and special these shortscale guitars can be.

I’ve been bookmarking short-guy-fashion-related forum threads for a long time and thought it’d be nice to weave them all together into one big post. So here goes. There’s some real worthwhile info buried in some of these. And you can also potentially help someone out by answering their query and dropping some knowledge on them (login generally required to post replies). OK, a few of these threads are getting a bit long in the tooth, but all the info is still valid. And after you check these out, remember to come back and build the conversation right here on Short Shrifted by adding your comments on my posts, asking questions, and offering advice, stories, etc. Enjoy:

Where Can I Find a Tux that Fits?: “I’m a short guy who weighs 110lbs and has a 34″ chest. Where can I find a decent tuxedo that fits at a decent price? I’ve been to the local tux rental places – no one has anything to fit me. Nordstroms Rack put me in two Abboud 36S tuxes (one black label, one “Joe”) and both were too large in every measurement. The tailor said he would have to take several inches out of the shoulders and if he *just* did the shoulders, forgetting about the length (too long) of the jacket as well as the sleeves and buttons, it would add $80 to the $350 tux. Or should I just pay $50 for a way-too-big tux on ebay and then spend the other $200 getting it altered?” [MetaFilter]

Help Incorporating Blazers into Wardrobe for Work: “My biggest fit challenges: 99% of sportcoats are too big in the shoulders and baggy in the sleeves. I am a 36s, which I have trouble finding many of while I’m out shopping.” [Ask Andy About Clothes]

Clothes for the Short Guy – Stores, Brands/Lines, Websites: “A thread dedicated to stores/brands and websites that cater to the short guy (under 5′7 applies?) – I’m only 5′5. Anyone else tired of going to stores and spending more time looking for what’s available in your size and then if you like it, rather then clothes you like and then picking out your size? The slim fit thread and others have been pretty helpful but for mainstream stores i still find this a problem.” [Styleforum]

Clothes for the Short Blokes: “Guys, I am one of those short arses that can never find jeans or trousers that will fit off the peg leg length wise. Waist sizes are no problem but I can never find trousers/jeans that I can wear without having to have the leg length taken up and yes, I do mean those ones that are actually made for short guys. I think that my inside leg measurement is somewhere in the region of 28″. Does anyone know where I can get trousers/jeans that are slightly shorter than the standard short, if that makes sense?” [Men's Health UK]

Finding Suits for Short Portly Men is Hell I tell You Pure Hell: “Okay, for whatever reason, I cannot find this information to save my life: In men’s suits, what is the typical length for a “short” (as in not regular or long) suit jacket? For a regular jacket? Is there a range of typical lengths? I know, by the way, that some suits are made custom, but there are also plenty of suits that are bought off-the-rack, and that’s really what I’m interested in. Bonus points: Send me to a resource that has a veritable cornucopia of this information — arm length to jacket length to chest width . . . and I will send you cookies.” (Short Shrifted cannot verify the sunset date of the cookie offer) [MetaFilter]

Can a Short Man Wear a Double-Breasted Suit?: “I tend to think that anyone can wear a double-breasted suit, even the shorter of us, so long as you’ve got the right build. It seems that leaner is better in that regard. But how lean is lean enough? I’m not skinny, but far from fat, too. To be precise: 5′4″, 135 lbs, 38-inch chest, 18-inch shoulders, 29-inch waist, gigantic head. Too stocky, too short, plain unimaginable?” [Styleforum]

An Interesting Article from Today’s NY Times Styles Section: “Quote: ….shoulders tend to be scaled to linebacker dimensions on suits whose labels say 38 Small, where blazers have armholes the size of kiddie pools, where shirt pockets float just above the waistband and where belts often wrap around one’s waist like a lariat. ….shirttails hang so ridiculously long that short men are sometimes forced to tuck them beneath the crotch in the manner of onesies. Zippers on jeans are so long that waistbands ride above the navel, geek style. Inseams droop so that they leave a wearer with little choice but to roll and cuff like Howdy Doody or else to hack at the hems with the manic vigor of Edward Scissorhands. “Basically it has driven me into the whole bespoke category, as expensive as that may be,” said Robert Burke, the fashion director for Bergdorf Goodman, who stands 5-foot-6 and is given to wearing double-vent suits luxuriantly molded to his trim frame. In the industry Mr. Burke is known as a particularly natty dresser. He should be, considering that much of his wardrobe, shoes included, is custom made.” Is it my imagination that even the regular sizes are getting longer and longer?” [Styleforum]

Where Can I Find Details of the Latest UK “High-Street” Fashion for Men?: “I’m having trouble finding websites showing what’s hot in the high-street fashion world for “normal” men – not those 6′4″, emaciated, androgynous models designers always hire to make their clothes look good. I’m 5′8″, 85Kg, have fair skin, and a bit of a tummy. I know what kind of things to wear to make myself look slimmer but I don’t know what the current trend is. I know it was layers last year, but that’s about as much as I know. Are there any websites/blogs that follow the trends which I can bookmark/subscribe to and keep my style up-to-date?” [MetaFilter]

Remember my PDF guide to short neckties? Well, J. Raffiani specializes in crafting neckties for the shorter man. And though this isn’t exactly a forum, it’s interactive. Jason Rappoport, Raffiani’s honcho, is currently conducting a market-research poll on his LinkedIn page (registration required) that poses the following question: What would you pay for a handmade Italian silk tie just for shorter men?.

Our Man in the Pine Barrens reports on some new MTM dress shirts that just arrived from his “favorite” shirtmaker Simone Abbarchi of Florence. Apparently, Abbarchi aces the short/stocky fit. Whimsy says: “Simone’s shirts have a close, European fit. As a short mesomorph (I’m rudely built: lots of bumps, humps and lumps), such a close fit makes all the difference in my profile. They’ve truly spoiled me: My other made to measure shirts can feel loose and blousey in comparison, and off the rack shirts tend to make me feel like I’m wearing a pirate shirt that once belonged to John Goodman.” [Affected Provincial's Almanack]

Loden Dager checked in with yours truly this week to let me know about their sample sale (I missed it today; but you can still catch it tomorrow). Way back in the summer, I was intrigued by the “bumfreezer” they did for Uniqlo, but was ultimately disappointed that Uniqlo didn’t size it in XS. Apparently it’s Uniqlo’s policy (not Loden Dager’s) to only run designer-label collabs in S/M/L. Still, once bitten…

So for this sale, I asked if they had good short-guy stuff on hand, and they assured me that “you’ll find our fits and sizing to be flattering to various statures.” Hmm. Racked suggests otherwise, claiming the sale “should only be considered if you are above a size medium and/or a fan of seersucker jackets” and “Extra large and large were the dominant sizes in button-down shirts and jackets. Similarly, most pants and shorts ranged from size 34-36, but there were a few smaller sizes scattered about.” (Sigh. You’d think that manufacturers would look at their sale racks — perennially overburdened with Ls and XLs with nary an XS in sight — and think: ‘Ya know, maybe we should ratchet up the Smalls and Extra Smalls a bit, tone down on those XXLs.’ What am I missing?). However, Racked did say “if you’re in the market for a parka, the selection was pretty good.” I dunno. Sounds kinda meh. The deets: Loden Dager menswear Fall 2008 sample sale Wednesday and Thursday, 12-7pm. Blazers, dress shirts, vests, trousers, cashmere sweaters, deluxe sea island cotton tees, and warm coats. 147 West 29th Street, Fifth Floor, New York, NY 10001. [Racked]

Finally, it’s football weather out there. So, though it may be a bit of a stretch, according to this newspaper article, there’s a rising trend of “short” QBs in the NFL. Like pint-size New Orleans QB Drew Brees, “who tops out at 6-foot tall and weighs only 209 pounds. ‘Ever since I came out of high school I always heard, ‘He’s too short, not enough arm,’ all those things.’” [Topeka Capital-Journal]