Short Shrifted

Is it just me or is nobody even remotely thinking about shopping these days? The thought of dragging large plastic shopping bags around on the hot, steamy pavement: disgusting. It’s the height of summer and if you’re not drinking ice-cold beer while lazily flipping steaks on the barbecue at the lake house while the kids are out diving off the rope swing into the water while setting off sparklers and eating ice cream, well, you’re doing something wrong. But here’s a deal that doesn’t require going anywhere or carving more than five minutes out of your summer pursuits.

Land’s End is having a Summer’s End Sale (man, that has an ominous ring to it). They’ve got a bunch of things marked down (shirts, shoes, etc.), but I chose to focus on pants. It seems to me that short men always have the toughest time with inseams.

I’ve said this before but the best thing about Land’s End is that their pants are hemmed to order (to the quarter inch) all the way down to a 26-inch inseam (unless noted otherwise below). And it’s always free.

Slim to Regular Fits

Plain Tailored Fit Summer Chino Pants: $29 (was $49); tailored fit (updated with less ease in the seat and thigh), plain front, alterable waistband. Available in waist 30-46, inseam 26 and up.

47Indigo Traditional 5-Pocket Jeans: $39 (was $49); Available in waist 30-46, inseam 26 and up.

Ringspun Original Fit Prehemmed Jeans: $16 (was $29); even though they’re pre-hemmed, inseams are available down to 29 inches. Available in waist 30-38, inseam 29 and up.

Stocky Fit
Several readers have asked for more explicit advice for short, stocky men. It’s true that a lot of my posts are more geared toward slim cuts, but there’s usually also plenty of information that applies to all short body types. Still, I know I need to do better. So here goes:

Plain Front Comfort Waist Washed Chino Pants: $29 (was $39); traditional fit (classic and roomy), concealed side bands expand waist up to 3 inches, plain front. Available in waist 32-48, inseam 26 and up.

Six-Inch Plain Front Comfort Waist Carefree Chino Shorts: $29 (was $36); traditional fit (classic and roomy), expandable stretch side bands, flat front. Available in waist 40, 44, 46, 48. They also have a 9-inch inseam in the Comfort Waist style.

What doesn’t kill you makes you a better punk rocker. Or so I thought in high school. And it was mostly true. Except when it came to my height — and freakishly small hands. It made playing the guitar difficult; my fingers just weren’t long enough to form some of the more complex chords. So I made up my own chords. And I soldiered on, writing songs, playing garages, churches, and rec rooms until I managed to put together a halfway real band in college (Listen to my band, the Franklin Mint, here).

Even though I haven’t written any songs for well over five years now, I find myself getting the itch again. (Very Kevin Shields/Scott Walker/Lee Mavers of me, no?) But this time, I’m on the lookout for a guitar that’s more ergonomically suited to my small stature: a shortscale guitar.

The foremost web authority on the subject is Shortscale.org, which explains the history of the phenomenon here:

Typically, “short scale” refers to guitars originally produced by Fender Musical Instrument Corporation during the 1960’s including: Mustangs, Duo-Sonics, Musicmasters, Jaguars, and Broncos. What set these guitars apart from other models was the reduced scales (the length from the bridge to the nut) and off-set or elongated bodies. The scales of 24″ and 22.5″ were 1.5″ and 3″ (respectively) shorter than Fender Stratocasters, Telecaster, and Jazzmasters. This made for easier speed-playing on heavier gauge strings, and these shorter instruments could be used as “Student Guitars” as the reduced length was easier for smaller and less experienced hands.

Most of the original short scale models had disappeared from Fender’s catalog by the late 1970’s. But with the resurgent influence of punk rock in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s there arose a crop of players willing to use non-traditional instruments. This primarily was due to how inexpensively one could find a Mustang, for example, at a pawn shop or local music dealer. Prices as low as $50 for instruments rarely played were not unheard of.

However, not long after teenage fans saw their favorite bands like Nirvana and Sonic Youth sporting these distinct looking instruments, they began to disappear from the very storefronts they once had flooded. Not to be left out of this rebirth, Fender Music Corporation began not only re-issuing these short scale classics, but new breeds of varying shapes, sizes, and setups began rolling off the line and continue to this day.

Cool. So shortscales are not only suited to folks with smaller hands, they’ve got plenty of rock ‘n’ roll credibility. I mean, it they’re good enough for The Pixies, Elvis Costello, Yo La Tengo, Echo & The Bunnymen, Graham Coxon, and The Beach Boys, they’re good enough for me.

So, if you’re you’re in the market for a smaller-sized electric guitar, try out a shortscale. And check out Shortscale.org, which features a user forum and a comprehensive wiki. The latter contains all sorts of info on different makes and models as well as links etc. Oh, and if you have a dirt-cheap Jaguar that you want to unload…

Witness the small but mighty Jaguar in action:

Other resources:

Fender Shortscales on Myspace
Tim Pershing’s history Fender’s 3/4 Scale Guitars
Scale length and what it means for you

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!

The whole “Style Advice for Short Men” article seems to crop up in newspapers on a fairly regular basis. In the publishing biz, we call that an “Evergreen” piece. It’s perennial, timeless — always good on a slow news day. The “Short Man” version usually imparts some variation of the same basic stylist commandments: Stand Up Straight, Wear Stripes, Don’t Cuff Your Trousers. I’m not saying these stories are without merit; the advice is sound. And if you’re short and aren’t already aware of some of the basic advice out there, these summaries can be a good starting point to building a better-looking wardrobe.

But for me, I’m always looking for something more. Something that goes beyond the basics. The most recent example of this evergreen story popped up this week in Canada. The Vancouver Sun published a story by J.J. Lee called “Sartorial Survival Tips for Short Men.” It covers a lot of the usual bases, but I did think this was an interesting point:

Menswear has traditionally been conceived for the average male who stands at 5′10.” While all designs are “graded” (that’s a fashion industry term for scaling clothes to fit various sizes), grading does not guarantee clothes will actually look good on smaller men. Often something is lost in the translation.

Then there’s the problem finding small or extra small items on the racks. Blame the scarcity on the trend towards tighter and shorter garb. Many hipsters, sized medium and large, have been horning in on tinier togs, leaving short guys to pick through the dregs.

So the same fashion-industry trend that’s responsible for the current rise in smaller cuts is also responsible for those sizes being less available. Drat.

I am not an advocate of so-called “short shorts” on men. The kind of barely-there, so-high-you-can-glimpse-a-bit-of-cheek mere scraps of fabric that Magnum PI favored circa 1985. But I do think that shorts have gotten way too long (and baggy in a lot of cases). I’ve posted previously about how shorts that fall somewhere above the knee and below or at mid-thigh are more flattering to men of our stature (I also received lots of great reader recommendations).

As a follow-up, looks like Time Out New York just did a round-up of so-called short shorts. Check out the slideshow.

Of their picks, standouts for me are:

Spread collars are a big trend these days. But that got one Short Shrifted reader wondering just what kind of a collar is most flattering to a short man’s physique?:

I just discovered your site and really appreciate all the great articles and advice. As a 5′ 3″ slim guy, I’m always looking for all the advice I can get about how to look my best given my short stature (or, at the very least, not to look bad). I’m looking to buy a few new dress shirts and was wondering if you had any thoughts on whether an Ainsley (4″ spread) or forward point (3″ spread) collar is best for a lean, short guy.

–Jay, Boston

I don’t know that I have a clearcut answer for Jay here.

My guess is that more important than height in this case is the size/shape of your head/neck. Everything I’ve read about collars (and ties) talks about how this area is the focal point of your entire outfit and works to draw attention to — underscore, if you will — your face. So it’s probably a good idea to match your collar to that handsome mug of yours. Here’s one custom shirtmaker’s take.

As far as height factors into it, another site suggests for “Short & Stocky” types… “the traditional straight point collar is the shirt of choice, as it provides an excellent counterpoint to the natural build.” But this tailor goes on to suggest the following for the “Short & Slim” types: “When considering mens’ suits, the jacket cut should pick up where the body leaves off, moving the dimensions towards a more triangular appearance: broader at the shoulders and narrower at the waist.” Although this is advice for choosing a suit jacket, as a short and slim guy, the whole inverted-triangle thing has always resonated with me. And I guess it’s why I’ve always been attracted to collars with a substantial (though not extreme) spread.

For me, I want lines pointing up (peak lapels on jackets) and out (spread collars on shirts) near the top part of my body. I think they help lengthen my body or, at the very least, broaden my chest and shoulders. Although point collars do offer more of a “vertical” line, I can’t help but see them as something that “points” — as the name suggests. And where they seem to point is down. Not a direction a short man wants to emphasize.

That’s my take on it. But my advice on this one is hardly definitive (whether you choose spread or point, there are many variations of each). I’d love to hear what other people think.

What advice would you give Jay? What kind of collars do you wear and why? And how does head/neck/build play into the decision?