Short Shrifted

Loveship blogger Michael Levy just put together a summer outfit that he’s pretty jazzed about. The foundation to his look?

Beltless. High-waisted. High-water. Cuffed. Mauve pants.

The sound you just heard was every writer who’s ever penned a ‘10 Style Rules for Short Guys’ column’s head exploding. There’s so many of them and my guess is they were all average height or probably even tall. At least now they probably qualify as potential readers, height-wise. From the neck down anyways.

But seriously. I think Michael looks great. And as he says, they’re not pink; they’re mauve. These aren’t go-to-hell pants. They’re see-you-in-hell pants.

Check out all the pix on his post Manly in Mauve.

I’d never heard of the place he got his trousers: ASOS. Apparently, it’s sort of a British Urban Outfitters. They have a strong online presence — and great shipping deals for the US and Canada: $6 for Standard (8 days) or $14 for Express (4 days). Hard to beat. And the 5-foot-5 Michael says the pants are “the closest to a perfect off-the-rack fit I’ve ever seen” — for his body type, at least.

Keep killing it, Michael.

–

PS If anyone’s interested in going sockless this summer, there was a good How-To on Art of Manliness today. Rule #1 was a total revelation to me. I wish I was kidding. And Put This On just did a round-up on no-show socks. I went with the cheapest rec: 5-pairs-for-$10 at ye olde tween identity purveyor Journeys. Tagline: It’s a Lifestyle You Can Wear! Apologies for not being able to reproduce the original font here. I think it might be called Fierce Tiger Scratch Sans. But I’ve tried on the socks and they get the job done. Why pay more for something nobody’s supposed to see?

Readers have been asking me to do a shoe-advice post forever. The thing is, I don’t like to get all Thou Shalty on this blog. And I’ve never thought too much about my own shoes as they relate to my height. But since last week’s Reader Question on where to find very small men’s shoe sizes, I’ve been mulling it. And I realized I do have a few rules for myself that I’ve figured out over the years.

They work for me. But as always: All rules can be broken — and successfully, if you do it well. But these are some good basics rules of thumb big toe, if you don’t have a clue where to begin. The main thing: Embrace your true height.

5 TIPS FOR A FLATTERING PAIR OF SHOES:

1. Forget thick soles. Over-sized soles either look orthopedic or Frankensteinian. Don’t try to make anything up through your shoes. This goes for dress shoes and sneakers.
2. Avoid high-heeled shoes. Sure, cowboy boots are perfectly acceptable men’s shoes. And the boost those heels will give you may be tempting. But they’re not as great as you might think. Either you’re in cowboy country where a lot of guys wear these, thereby canceling out any comparative height gain. Or else you’re in Boston or Ann Arbor or London or one of the many non-Wild Western places where you run the risk of looking silly and affected.
3. Pass on blunt or shoveltoed styles. This look still remains fairly popular with some younger men. The boxy toe area makes for comfy wriggle room, but it’s not a flattering look for short men. If you have wide feet and fit is a problem, seek out E sizes instead.
4. Choose gently pointed silhouettes. Whatever type of shoe I buy, I now usually try to find a classic, ever-so-slightly tapered toe shape. Not too pointy and not too rounded. Even though plenty of shoes fit this description, it can actually be a bit tough to find them in sizes smaller than an 8. I wear a 7-7.5 and, starting at about that size, those nice toe shapes sometimes start to get more rounded, less well-shaped. It depends on the shoemaker and design, but I think this is more of a case of certain makers paying less attention to how well their patterns scale down through the entire size chart. To me, this is what makes shoe-hunting hard: because you can find a look that appears great from a picture on Zappos or the floor model in a store, but when you try them on in your size, they look like shapeless kid’s shoes. You just have to keep hunting; you’ll find something.
5. Tie your shoelaces: If your laces are untied and dragging on the ground or if your style is to wear them really loose, it will visually drag you down. Keep them tied and neat. You can even choose your own signature knot. Hmm. Wonder if Whimsy knows about this…

If all else fails, console yourself with this: Shoe’s aren’t natural. And they probably aren’t that good for your feet anyway.

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

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?