Short Shrifted

It’s hard to know what you’ve been missing out on if you’ve never actually experienced it before. You can spend years eking out a mean existence with Budweiser, microwave nachos, and full screen DVDs before you discover handcrafted microbrews, Colston Bassett and the wonder of correct aspect ratios (OK, there’s a time and place for Bud and dipping nachos into radiated hunter’s orange sludge, but you know what I mean). Sometimes, these discoveries can knock you off your horse, Saul-on-the-road-to-Damascus style (to get all Good Book about it). You realize with dismay that you’ve been wandering in a barren wasteland for years when Shangri-La was just around the bend.

My trip to Jimmy Au’s in Beverly Hills this summer was just such an eye-opener. Until I walked through their door, I don’t think I was fully aware that I had never truly felt comfortable in a clothing store before. The entire Jimmy Au’s experience was a revelation, one that set my personal shopping standards for fit, choice, and service much higher.

It all started with the mannequins. As I walked past their display windows something odd about their mannequins caught my eye. As I squinted at them, I suddenly realized what it was: we were the same height! I don’t think I’d ever been eye to eye with a mannequin before. It could have been creepy. But it was actually kinda cool.

It was founded over 40 years ago by Jimmy Au, 5-foot-3 himself, who was working as a tailor for jockeys on various horse-racing circuits. He saw a need and worked to meet it, and now he and his son Alan Au are smack dab in the middle of downtown Beverly Hills, just off Rodeo Drive. Along with their own line, they also carry appropriate sizes in brands like Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Jack Victor. Alan pointed out to me that their overall vibe and pricing is more in line with a place like Nordstrom’s (as opposed to many other short/tall stores, many of which seem to be more JC Penney). That struck me as a good analogy.

Inside, Jimmy Au’s is a smartly appointed space, at once roomy and cozy. Their store is packed with all manner of good stuff: suits, jackets, shirts, pants, ties, belts, the works. And it’s all designed for men 5-feet-8 and under. It’s frankly thrilling to be able to walk over to any rack or shelf and know that you’re probably going to be able to find something that fits you (they also do custom). Jimmy explained to me what sets them apart from 99% of the world’s designers. The men’s clothing industry designs everything for a base model of 5-foot-10, and then resizes both up and down from there, with proportion becoming compromised the further away from the base you are. The closer a person is to the base height, the more options they’ll have and the better fit they’ll find.

Jimmy Au’s starts with a base of 5-foot-4 and works incrementally up and down from there. The smaller set runs about 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-1 and the larger sizing runs from 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8. This means that every aspect of his clothes is designed specifically for the short man, not designed for an average guy and simply-resized. It’s all about proportion. Their Web site explains it best:

“Here lies the first secret of his design; develop the right proportion for the coat and pants and their relation to each other. Jimmy reworked the proportion of the coat from head to waist and the pants from waist to foot. … The shirt is proportioned down to every detail. You won’t look like a flying squirrel in this shirt. Most shirts are too full for a shorter man. The pocket is too big and placed too low. Tucking in your shirt is uncomfortable because the shirttail is longer than your pant crotch line. On Jimmy’s model the shirts sleeves and shirttail are shorter, while the trim of the body and armhole has also been proportionately reduced. Details include a smaller pocket placed higher on the chest and a smaller placket on the arm.”

This attention to proportion is apparent when I was trying stuff on and checking out the great fit in the mirror. But what’s also nice about it is that it’s subtle in its detail. It’s not noticeable. Meaning: it doesn’t look like you’re wearing a Special Short Guy Suit or anything; you just look good, end of story.

They accomplish this in all sorts of different ways, some straightforward, some pretty ingenuous. For instance, Jimmy and Alan explained that they tend to choose vertical stripes or smaller patterns for their shirts, and they also use buttons of the same color (which I never would have thought of). Suits often have peak or narrow lapels. Pants have lower rises. Ties come in two widths, regular (which is actually about a half inch narrower than average) and skinny, and they trend at least two inches shorter than standard ties.

Best of all, the staff at Jimmy Au’s was pitch perfect: warm, friendly and knowledgeable when I needed them and low-pressure and hands-off when I just wanted to browse in peace. All in all, it was a great experience, one that really made me feel good about my size, my appearance, and shopping in general. I can’t wait to go back.

I’ve been really into sweaters lately. It’s almost become an addiction. I’m nowhere near as strung out on them as Cosby or Rogers were by the end, but I’m getting there. And the sales on the outgoing Fall line this time of year aren’t making it any easier to quit.

It’s not just the warmth factor; sweaters can be a great look for short guys. They have a lot of things going for them that tend to mitigate the usual problems short men encounter with fit.

• First, you’re not under the same sort of fit requirements as you are with, say, dress shirts. Sweaters are meant to hang a little loose and casual (just look at this dude in the picture).
• Second, a lot of times the cuffs look better (on anyone short or tall) folded back halfway, so you get rid of some excess length and improve the overall proportion.
• Third, a lot of sweaters have ribbed trim at the cuffs and hem. This is the best part. The ribbing should be snug and somewhat elastic so it can help keep a sleeve or a hem that’s slightly too long in position where it should be.
• Lastly, my love affair at the moment is specifically with V-necks, a classic no-brainer for short men: vertical lines.

Of course, not every brand has sizing that’s going to work for you, but with all the sales going on right now, you should be able to find something cool. Bluefly has an assortment of Small V-necks on sale. Prada, Inhabit, Joseph Abboud, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Hickey, and Marc by Marc Jacobs are anywhere from 35 to 60% off. You can search by Extra Small, too, but it’s a paltry offering.

The J. Crew site has Cotton-Cashmere V-necks, dropped from $59.50 to $39.99 (XS & S). Or grab a Geelong Lambswool V-neck from Uniqlo, recently knocked from $39.50 to $29.50 (XS & S). Both fit me great in the XS.

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Off topic: Uniqlo is a great example of how a store can totally shift styles from season to season and temporarily alienate some of their customers. I didn’t recognize the place when I was in there last week. Cheesy, fleecy, gross patterns — very Old Navy ‘98. Sigh. Oh well. They’ve got these great sweaters on sale and they still have smart-looking XS dress shirts that fit well. That’ll have to carry me through to the next season.

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.

Sorting through the junk in my inbox this morning, I came across news of a custom-shirt sale at CEGO, courtesy of Thrillist.

Gear: Custom Shirts Sale
Thru Sat at 174 5th Ave #301, at 22nd; 212.620.4512
Up to 60% off pre-stocked premium cotton button-downs, plus 10% off custom shirts, which are tailored to your “unique physique”, a breezily assonant euphemism for your heinous fatness.

Or heinous shortness.

I called CEGO and they gave me the basics. Their custom shirts normally cost anywhere between $95 and $375 a pop (Carl told me they have many fabrics in the $100 to $200 range). You get measured and go back in for a fitting or two as needed. When you’re happy with the fit, they make four more copies in whatever other fabrics you’ve chosen. Yeah, there’s a five-shirt minimum. And yeah, that adds up. So 10% off is a good place to start.

That is, if you haven’t already blown all your money on Xmas gifts for your loved ones or something equally silly. In hindsight, the knowledge that I finally had a few perfectly fitting dress shirts in my wardrobe would have probably been the best gift I could have given them. Peace of mind. Never underestimate peace of mind.

All the hype surrounding the arrival of Japanese design emporium Muji to the U.S. (455 Broadway, NYC) last month got me thinking. I’d already checked out Muji a bunch when I lived in London for a summer in the late ’90s, and had never been particularly captivated by its minimalist design aesthetic. But tastes mature and besides, I’d heard they had a clothing line. Japanese + clothes = small clothes. Right? I read a report online by a guy who said the clothes seemed smaller than usual and then a friend e-mailed me to say the same thing. It all sounded so promising.

Sigh. I’m sad to report that Muji doesn’t deliver on that promise. Their coats seemed a pretty average fit to me (i.e. too big), as well as most of their button-down dress shirts. Besides, most of the clothes seemed oddly expensive for what they were. The one item I did find was this slightly more casual long-sleeve (Small; $52.50; pictured). The hem and sleeves were actually pretty decent, and the bottom button was positioned unusually high — good for casual untucked wear. But one kinda OK shirt wasn’t worth braving the line or navigating through the crush of people inside.

The one thing I’m still curious about (didn’t see any while I was there) was a cut-to-fit raincoat an interviewee in the NYT profile gushed about:

Ms. Russell is already a Muji addict, she said, rustling around her desk for something to measure her blue Muji sticky notes, which she proclaimed “the perfect color and the perfect size.” (“And don’t get me started,” she said, “on the raincoat which all my friends are sick of hearing about that comes in plastic and you just cut the bottom to fit your height.”)

Sounds like a cool idea, anyway. Maybe it’ll become a trend. Imagine: cut-to-fit suits, tuxes, leather jackets. A pair of scissors and you’re good to go.

The lack of small/short sizes was confirmed by Men.Style, and sounds like an intentional re-sizing for an American audience on Muji’s part:

[T]he Japanese brand open[ed] a highly anticipated 3,200-square-foot location, its first in the States. It will stock more than 2,000 products, including aluminum pens, streamlined sofas, and even monochrome sweaters, which will be produced in larger sizes than the ones you’ll find back East. (We’re not sure whether to laugh or cry about that last bit.)

(Not sure whether to laugh or cry about that last bit. No, seriously. I don’t get the joke. Should we be insulted? Oh, GQ.)

Even though I still can’t get excited by their vaguely-cool-but-mostly-just-bland design sense, I’ll probably check back in with Muji at some point before I give up. But the tentative verdict is in: Muji doesn’t have muchi for short men.