Man Barbie: Where Do Big & Tall Guys Shop?
In the tradition of Wedding Barbie, Pregnant Barbie, and Sexy Barbie, here’s Man Barbie! Where should BFDudes do their shopping? Jez writes in:
So, I have been trying to help my similarly-weighty fiance to find clothes and I found it even more difficult to find interesting, fashion-forward clothing options for him than I’ve ever experienced shopping for myself. I mean, there’s absolutely nothing… at least, nothing I could find with extensive searching outside of the realm of big-n-tall plain t-shirts and polos.
I thought this would be an interesting topic to discuss. When it comes to plus sized women, there are a number of outlets for our fashionista needs to be fulfilled (albeit only 4x and below and most of this shopping must be done online) but what about our male counterparts? Does anyone on the site know of any suggestions for fashionable and unique clothing options for a plus sized male in his twenties?
This is a great question, and on behalf of BFDudes everywhere, I look forward to the answers!
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My boyfriend has a little bit of trouble with this issue as well. He is 6’3 and about 270 lbs, and he has trouble finding pants that fit him in both the waist and length. We kind of store hop whenever we look for clothes for him, and our town isn’t huge so we don’t have a big selection choice of places to hit, and so we just go to all the major department stores in our city. More times than not, he’ll find something that he likes and that fits well.
Hubby shops at L.L. Bean online, as well as Kohl’s (both in-store and online). There’s an online place called King Size Direct, that I think is part of the Roaman’s family. But we’ve never ordered from there.
Here in Michigan, my BFDude and I have found Casual Male XL but there’s not too many locations. The trouble he’s found is that he tends to carry his fat in his gut/stomach area. So pants are hard as hades to find.
It is very hard! My Hubs is 6’8″ and 275lbs. He like to say that you can be short and fat or tall and skinny, but you cannot be tall and fat if you want to wear clothes. We find a lot of his stuff in Eddie Bauer, LL Bean, and JCP.com (JC Penny)
Good luck!
Usually we shop the department stores. Macys, Belk, Dillards most of them have a Big and Tall Department. Not all stores have one, but you can find some items online. If you like outlet shopping, Columbia, Nautica, and Ecko all carry Mens Big and Tall clothes.
Casual Male, JC Penney (catalog), Rochester Big and Tall (see bigandtall.com), Sears (catalog). Honeslty, we like Casual Male and JCP the best.
Casual Male is just about it for me. And I’m constantly back & forth between NY and MD. King Size used to be a welcome alternative but I believe their no longer operating on the East Coast. Imperial Wear went out of business or wen online only years ago and, if I’m not mistaken, Repp Big & Tall got swallowed by Casual Male so, yeah, not much variety there. For suits & such I can go on quest for specialty stores in Manhatten, Brooklyn, or DC that MIGHT have my size but for casual wear? Who has time for that? Cas Male XL has got limited style (Read; Boring), not a lot of selection (How many flavors of boring would you like?), and of questionable quality (I’ve bought shirts 2 sizes too big for me that popped their shoddely sewn seams in less than a week), and over priced. But whatareyagonnado? A fashion plate, I’m not. And It’s better than a bulap sac. Which brings up the question of how many OTHER fat men settle for ‘funcional’ cloths because, well, there ain’t nothin’ else out there?
Well if your guy is into rockabilly there is always Daddy-o’s they have awesome work shirts, bowling shirts and other nifty retro stuff and they go up to a 3X http://www.daddyos.com They also have female stuff by Stop Staring but they only carry their big girl sizes in store not online their 3X is a size 18 online, found out the hard way.
My husband can’t shop off the rack for those damn khaki pants every minimum wage job seems to require he have. We’ve had to resort to uniform stores for business casual pants, and even then the pants have to be special ordered. About the only way we get other clothes for his bottom half is by going ten miles out of our way to the nearest Casual Male XL. They have some very nice business casual wear, but it’s not cheap. If he needs a suit made it generally entails a trip to a locally owned business and formal wear store, where we hope that the turn around time for making the suit is short.
It seems like garment makers are willing to accommodate big men, or tall men, but not big and tall men. The problem is only going to get worse as he ages, and more of his weight migrates to his midsection. I’m thankful that for weekend wear we only have to wander through Wal-Mart and pick a floral print rayon shirt off the rack, I hope they don’t discontinue the 2x and 3x sizes.
I’ve found the selection of big clothing for men to be terrible. You wind up either looking preppy or hip hop. Even when an article of clothing fits, it doesn’t fit well.
I’ve decided to own very little clothing, but what I do own tends to be custom made. Anything else tends to have shoulders that sit on my elbows, short sleeve shirts that come to my forearm. Torso lengths that are far too short or too long. And giant arm holes. And the quality of CM stuff is dreadful.
For tee shirts, polos and button downs, I used to shop at eddie bauer, Casual Male, and Rochester, but now I only order from Colossal Clothing. I find their stuff to be far better fitting, especially in the shoulder and arms. (Their stuff is actually made in the American Apparel factory)
O have found finding a tailor that has enough skill to improvise is critical. My belly needs a 5X or 6X for comfort, but my neck is a 3X. I have a tailor that takes in the collar for me which makes the huge difference from looking frumpy to feeling comfortable. It is not cheap, but I do it when I can because it makes me feel good. Try to think beyond just the length of the legs or sleeves. Think about adding suspenders buttons to wear a pair of pants that might not be an option with a belt. Sometimes I wear a thin suspender underneath my outer shirts which I find more comfortable than a belt. Again, sometimes you need to train you tailor to help you fit the clothes the way you want. sometime that means changing the way a shoulder rests by taking up a sleeve at the shoulder instead of at the wrist. more expensive but when you find a shirt you like, it makes a big difference when you fine tune it with some tailoring.
Another thing to consider is the amount of time you spend shopping. By popping in the places just to check if there is something you might like, even when you dont have anything on your list that you need. On the net, buying to check stuff out and returning the stuff you do not like, does cost more in terms of return shiping, but over time makes sense.
Another thing that I think is key…. DOn’t buy anything that you don’t really like. A lot of time as a big guy, I felt like I have to settle, It is definatly tough to shop, but getting clear on a look you like and watching for ways to get those looks over time makes sense,
Is you have cash to burn, then Rochester Big and Tall is best place to shop. The level of customer service is without a rival. Some of the pricing is ridiculous, but if you are strategic, it is worth the time.
Also, you have to spend a ton of time to find good stuff. Gotta be willing to buy the same thing in two sizes and return the one that doesn’t fit well. You are going to spend extra money of shipping but you have to bite the bullet and accept it if you want to find stuff that you like and makes you feel good when you wear it. I like the henly collar on my casual shirts. I like vest or a very light weight unconstructed sport coat. when I find a material or a cut i like, using the tailor to fine tune it makes a big difference.
One place that I have had success at is the Burlington Coat Factory. some of the non outerwear is very Hip Hoppy, but you can find stuff there,and usually at a decent price.
Another place is KMART online. Again, this is another haystack that you need to sift through and ya gotta be willing to pay a few bucks on return shipping for the peices you do not like. One thing here is if I find something I like, I will maybe buy two or three of them because the quality (and the price) is low, but I like the look, So I but the extra pieces anticipating they will wear out too quickly, but since I like the look I deal with it by buying them in duplicates with that in mind,
Okay that’s all I got right now.
Mike R Has it about right about the selection. You either end up looking like something from a bad ’80’s Fratboy movie or it’s Gansta’ Down. Those are your choices. Choose wisely.
Now, the Rochester’s I’ve been to usually catered to the higher end (better quality, less/no kids stuff, REAL suits+tailoring) but the last time I saw one was on Wall St. in Manhattan (And I mean ON Wall St. Across from the Trump building). Haven’t seen them anywhere else but online.
Ivan? Agreed; tailoring is pretty much the only option if you want / can afford cloths that are gonna fit. Unfortunately you run into the conundrum of FINDING the RIGHT tailor. I understand duels were fought in England over the relationships one had with ones tailor. Of the two pro-tailored suits I own, one is pretty much trashed from wear and the other needs a bit more tailoring if it’s gonna work (1st tailor was smart enough to leave room for expansion).
But this brings up another point; I’ve always tried to donate my old cloths to charity. Destitute Fat Folk often have a MUCH tougher time finding cloths because cloths for fat folks in general are MUCH more expensive. Those of us who CAN afford to buy cloths usually end up wearing them until their practically worn out. My old suit could do with some repair but isn’t COMPLETELY useless. The wife and I will do what we can to get it fixed up and then take it over to Good Will. I guarantee you it won’t be there for more than a few days and, hopefully, it might help somebody look presentable for a job interview.
Just something to consider when it comes time to make room in the closet.
I used to shop for my abusive ex online or through catalogs, kingsize I think it was called. Some cute things there and oddly enough it is easier to find a 3x in mens in a lot of stores than in a womens….one of the reasons I tend to dress like a boy!
:D
Hey ladies!
I stumbled across this posting this morning and thought I should tell you all about this site – http://www.bigandtall.on.ca. It’s website for an independent big and tall men’s clothing store in Ontario, Canada. The selection is great online, and if you call the 1-800 number you can talk to the store owner about upcoming stock, etc. The store does free alterations, and since it’s in Canada, you can often get a lot for your buck.
My fiancee is quite tall so I like to get his dress shirts here. I would encourage you to check it out!
Pre-WLS, my pastor used to buy a lot of his clothing at Big Dogs. They left our outlet center, though, so I don’t know if the company still exists.
It’s interesting that most people are saying that they can find short-and-fat or tall-and-thin, but not tall-and-fat. In the UK, the men of my experience have had almost the opposite problem.
My dad is a big man and buys almost all his clothes at Marks and Spencers, because he knows they’ll fit him. This maybe isn’t hugely helpful (he’s not very adventurous, clothes-wise).
My husband on the other hand is tall and thin, and cannot find trousers to fit him unless he goes to higher-end shops. We’ve spent ages flicking through racks only to find that the longer lengths only come in bigger waist sizes. Which seems logical enough… how many six-foot-plus men have waists under 30″?
For what it’s worth, the Gap seem to have a better selection of men’s sizes than women’s, and the outlying sizes often seem to be on the sale racks.
We have Casual Male XL here, which proudly proclaims on their window that they go up to some size much larger than any women’s plus size store goes to, but that I cannot for the life of me recall the exact size of.
I guess it’s easy for the plus size guy to think they have no options, but at least in my experience, they have options and in fact those options come in a wider range of sizes than the women’s stores. I suppose it does depend on where you live, but still, most stores will have a wider selection of guy sizes than girls any day- you just have to look for them.
Im in need of donated big and tall clothing for men and women.Can somebody please help direct me in this need my contact # is 303-321-2533 ext.228
Thank you
Bronwyn said, “I guess it’s easy for the plus size guy to think they have no options, but at least in my experience, they have options and in fact those options come in a wider range of sizes than the women’s stores.”
I think Bronwyn’s mostly right and that we guys are just not used to looking. I just end up going to Casual Male and until recently didn’t even look at the brands I was buying. Eventually I realized that (gasp) it makes a difference. The brand Synrgy is a waste of money and Island Passport isn’t much better, they come apart after only a couple of (cold water, line dry) washings. I’ve had better luck with Harbor Bay and 626 Blue.
Also if you have more than one CM-XL within driving distance, it’s worth checking them all out. They stock a lot of the same stuff, it’s true, but the good stuff that sold out fast at one location will often still be at another.
There don’t seem to be any other brick & mortar stores where I can shop, but I’m afraid that if I mail-order something and it doesn’t fit, I won’t send it back. I think I really need to just get over that fear.
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