Short Shrifted

Last month we received a Reader Question from a 5-foot-4 guy who’d been burned ordering a Made-to-Measure suit. He said:

I recently made the mistake of ordering an MTM suit at a major NY store. Off the rack, I wear an Extra Short. Although I had discussed the issue with the MTM director, when the suit came in, the jacket was too long because it was cut as a Short. The store is going to do the suit over from scratch, but I’m afraid that they will simply shorten the jacket. What should I look out for?

Well, he just checked in to let us know how things went:

The store got it right the second time. I now have a suit that fits just right. Thanks to everyone for their input on my original question.

Lessons he learned:

1. I would say the most important thing is that YOU must know how your suit should fit. If you’re not in Jimmy Au’s, you’re on your own.

2. Know what size you would take off the rack. If it’s an Extra Short, discuss with the salesperson whether their custom manufacturer has an actual Extra Short pattern. (It’s important to remember that MTM is not bespoke.) If you wear an Extra Short, have the salesperson include that info on the receipt.

3. Order the suit well before you need it. Leave time for a do-over.

I wanted your input on hats for short men. Are there any protocols?

It seems to me that hats can be tricky for short guys, especially portly guys or guys with no neck. In the past, I’ve been short and portly, although I’m almost out of that world as I’ve lost 100 lbs over the last few years. I’m now almost in the lean/muscular category. As I trim bodyfat, I’m expecting for there to be more definition in my neck and a more angular face/chin, which will make my neck appear longer. I also got rid of my goatee because I realized how much more it made my neck disappear.

Btw, love your blog! I happened to stumble upon it, but once I started reading I was hooked! I stayed up all night reading the entire blog from 2007-present. I will be recommending your site to all my fellow short brethren.

–D.R., 5-foot-6

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Well shucks, that’s certainly one of the nicest e-mails I’ve ever received. The guy lost precious sleep reading my blog. In my new world of daddyhood, that’s the greatest compliment I can imagine.

But onwards. Here’s what I think.

Baseball caps are so universal that they look OK on everybody — short, tall, young, old, women, men. You just have to find the right style for you: mesh trucker/hipster cap, old-school cotton ball cap, etc. I’m a low-accessories kind of guy: no hats, watches, jewelry, tattoos, etc. But occasionally even I will slap on a baseball hat. Usually on a weekend when I’ve been too lazy to take a shower and I need to go to the corner store to buy some milk.

Beyond that, I say the world is your oyster. My feeling is that (short of a stovepipe maybe) we can wear any style of hat we want. That’s a blanket statement. Of course, what would look best on any given individual is much harder to pin down… It’s mainly a question of personal style. See that short fella in the picture up there? He favored fedoras. The best advice really is: keep experimenting.

Anyone else have any advice for DR? What kind of lids you favor?

I recently made the mistake of ordering a made-to-measure suit at a major New York store. Off the rack, I wear an Extra Short. Although I had discussed the issue with the MTM director, when the suit came in the jacket was too long because it was cut as a Short.

The store is going to do the suit over from scratch, but I’m afraid that they will simply shorten the jacket. What should I look out for?

–Anonymous, 5-foot-4

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Poor guy. Going custom is a big investment. And It’s this type of horror story that puts people off taking the MTM plunge. Here’s what I’d look for when trying on the re-made jacket:

Pockets: As far as I know a tailor can’t really reposition pockets, so check to see if they look too low in relation to the new, shorter bottom hem.

Buttons: To a lesser extent, I’d think the same would apply to the front buttons.

Can anyone confirm this? What other telltale signs would there be if they got lazy and just shortened the existing jacket? And do you have any recommendations for a MTM suitmaker who’d get an Extra Short right on the first go-round?

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I am 5′2″ and mostly wear boys Brooks Brothers shirts when I go to work. However, I live in NYC and like to go out. I feel like my clothes are too formal for clubs and bars. Do you have any suggestions on where I can get some trendy dress clothes for my size?

–I.S., NYC

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Now that I’m a papa, I don’t get out to the bars, let alone the clubs, all that much. OK, I never did. But I can cut a mean rug at a wedding; ask anybody.

So admittedly not being a huge nightclubber, these are the things that popped into my head: Zara, TopMan, A/X Armani Exchange, and H&M. Not every item at each of those stores, but I thought they might each have some stuff that might be up his alley.

I.S. got back to me on my suggestions and said: “I’ve never tried Zara or TopMan, but I’m not a huge fan of AX or H&M. AX shirts don’t wear me right and I find H&M shirts of poor quality.”

So with all that in mind, can you help this guy out? Where do you get your after-dark gear?

Any thoughts on where to find stylish shoes for guys with small feet? I mean small. I can wear a kids’ size 4, men’s 4 or women’s 6.

By ’stylish’ I mean well-crafted and elegantly shaped at minimum: I have, for example, a pair of kids’ Topsiders that fit great but have a really blunt kids-shoe-style toe on them that don’t fit that bill. I’ve had good luck with Fluevog but am on the lookout for other options.

–Oli, 5-foot-2

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Hmmm…. I don’t have any personal experience to offer here. I think he should try plugging in his size(s) to Zappos, ShoeBuy etc. ShortMenStyle has a fairly comprehensive list of online shoe stores here. And I advised him to check out the children’s lines of hipper and probably more expensive adult brands.

Anyone out there with a similar shoe size? Or know of some good shoe brands that Oli should try out?

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I’m having serious difficulty finding a simple, lightweight & light-colored, smaller-sized raincoat that’s appropriate for spring weather and to be worn with a suit. My suit measurements are about a 36″ Chest/29″ Length Extra-Short, or 16-18 Boys size. Men’s Extra Small would need to be tailored down a bit.

What I’ve found so far: This Brooks Brothers “Gregory Trench” doesn’t work. If they name it after me, couldn’t they at least make it in my size? — or better: in a car coat style without the fancy epaulets or the wrist safety-belts. BB does have a “boys trench” but I prefer not to wear clothes with button-nipples (and it’s currently only available in super-tiny). I thought I’d found something at Banana Republic, a cotton khaki trench, but it’s got bad reviews — and looks pretty ridiculous, actually.

I’ve got a emails out to various specialty stores. And of course, the parade of search terms… outerwear, overcoat, rain coat, etc. I’ve spent countless hours searching online, no luck. Amazed that finding a raincoat would be so difficult. It’s not like this is a search for a coat made out of solid-gold mink fur. Any ideas? Thanks much!

–Jack Gregory, 5-foot-1

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Does anyone have any leads for Jack? He’d love to hear from you. Sounds like he’s going for a mac with little-to-no ornamentation or other foofaraw. Personally, I’ve never worn this style of raincoat, but a few suggestions spring to mind:

(1) Uniqlo. Go to their site and search Men + Outer. They’ve got a bunch of lightweight rain/trench/overcoats that might be up your alley. Size XS might do the trick, or, as Jack’s just a tad over 5 feet, he might have to tailor it just a bit. Unfortunately, Uniqlo doesn’t have a shopping cart/checkout feature. But theoretically you can order by telephone at (877) 4-UNIQLO (toll-free) or email at: customer.orders@uniqlo-usa.com (I’m curious; has anyone actually ever done this?).

(2) Have one custom made for you. Both A Tailored Suit and Indochino offer MTM outerwear (though the Indochino example looks to have too many bells and whistles for this guy’s taste).

That’s what comes immediately to mind. Can anyone else help Jack out?

And while we’re on the subject: What other raingear works for short guys?

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“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

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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.

1. When I interviewed the 5-foot-6 Anthony Valente in my review of a haircut at Xac Anthony Salon, he offered a few leads:

   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.”

2. 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?

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I really struggle to find things that fit, even when they’re taken up (as I appear to be even shorter than the guys on here). I’m 4ft-11 and weigh only 91 lbs. I have a 13-inch neck, 32-inch chest, and 26/28-inch waist. I seem to be just under all the shortest-sizes radar.

I wear a lot of kids clothes (Ages 10-12) as they seem to fit the best, but they don’t carry the styles, trends, and quality that I want.

I have recently been shopping in River Island and Topman in the UK for tops. But trousers are a total nightmare as even if I get the waist right, the crotch just hangs between my knees. I’ve tried some skinny styles with elastane in them which fit around the hips (that’s my main problem, no hips to hold them up), but they don’t look very smart tapered around the ankle. I have no problem having hemlines and sleeves taken up — it’s just finding any clothes that fit around my main body, hips, and legs.

I’d really like to wear some smarter styles — jackets, trousers, shirts — without looking too businessy, but not at the expense of being swathed in extra fabric. Any suggestions?

–Anonymous, UK

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Does anyone have any ideas for this guy? He could really use our help. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to be that much further out on the bell curve. He’s based in the UK, but I think any and all store/brand/alteration options should be explored, so please weigh in.

I think there are probably few if any true off-the-rack menswear options available for someone of his size. So he may need to keep thinking outside the box: children’s, women’s, and unisex clothes, alterations, and custom-made stuff. I have a few suggestions:

Read my Q&A with Joel Thibodeau. The 5′3″ singer of Death Vessel has a 27-inch waist, and he mentioned a few of his go-to garments in my interview.

Check out American Apparel online. Many of their clothes are “unisex”, so they cut them down to a very tiny XXS (29/31-inch chest, 27/29-inch waist). The brand’s aesthetic is pretty skinny to begin with, so that’s another plus. In my experience, their T-shirts are too long, but their long-and short-sleeve button-downs are shorter, and outerwear (jackets, hoodies) is probably best of all. (see my button-down reviews here: long-sleeve + short-sleeve). Links to the US store and the UK store.

Check out boy’s lines of major brands. It’s great that he’s comfortable shopping in the kid’s department. Because these days, it seems like every menswear label has a boy’s line: Ralph Lauren, J.Crew, Hickey Freeman, Brooks Brothers, Marc Jacob, Burberry, American Apparel, Dolce & Gabbana, H&M, Zara, Diesel to name just a few. I found a pretty good About.com entry on the phenomenon and an LA Times story via the Googs.

When you find something that works for you, stick with it. Robert Rufino made this point several times in my recent Q&A with him. Buy 5 pairs — because you may never see it again. And set up an eBay alert for that item.

That’s all I got. What other options does someone his size have?

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“I was wondering if you had any advice about men’s tailors in NYC. I’m a law student about to start work at a law firm and I have all of my business clothes from when I got out of college (read: purchased by my 60-year-old father) but I need to get a lot of the pants tapered and fitted, as well as some work on a blazer that is bespoke but cut like a suit jacket rather than a blazer. Everywhere that has been recommended to me (Alex Tailor Shop & Village Tailors) have endless terrible reviews online so I’m open to any suggestions.

“That being said, I’ve also got a recommendation for you: Victor and Son’s Tailors, 205 Mott St. Will fit button-down dress shirts to you for $24 a piece. No more giant ballooning shirts (although the Uniqlo XS solved that problem too). I don’t know that I trust them with more substantial work, so I’m looking for other options. Let me know if you have any leads.

–Ben, 5-foot-4, 140 lbs

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First of all, Ben, thanks for the lead on Victor and Son’s. Secondly, great question. I’ve been wondering the same thing for a long time. And I’ve been hampered by the same problem: highly recommended places seem to have an inordinate amount of bad reviews on places like Yelp and CitySearch etc. Maybe this is just peculiar to the tailoring profession? But it makes me nervous.

At my neighborhood tailor in Astoria I’ve only ever had pants hemmed. They do a fine job, but I’m not sure they’re up to bigger jobs. The thing is: I have a suit that I bought at the APC sample sale a year or two ago that I STILL haven’t worn because it needs the sleeves taken up and the trousers hemmed. It’s time to take the plunge and finally get this thing ready to wear.

So where should Ben and I go? What’s the best tailor in NYC? Specifically, is there anyone that really “gets” the fit problems that short men face? And if you live somewhere besides NYC, please feel free to comment, too, with the name of your tailor/city so you can help out your short neighbors.