Keeping a sharp eye out in the news for all things Big & Tall, I ran across this Huffington Post article reporting about a recent editorial in Fantastic Man.

With the recent, if not now-forgotten, fury over a few Plus-Size female models gracing the pages of Glamour and other magazines, this is a development that I wasn’t sure that I’d see happen.  There’s much to like here, but I’d like to know the height and weight stats on these “Plus-Size Male Models” to see just how “Plus Size” they are.

Nonetheless, some of the models and the examples they are modeling are pretty good.  I see an example here for most walks of life, but only really one “size”, which happens to be the “over-thirty everyman”.

Reading the article and seeing that big & tall men are now being portrayed in a more fashionable and positive light is nice, however the reality is that the men portrayed here are most likely barely XXL at best.  They probably have a sub-40″ waistline and are most likely able to find clothes in the average store… and maybe the occasional trip to the JC Penney’s big and tall section.

And before jumping to conclusions, not all big and tall men are grossly overweight, either.  Sometimes we are little more than the average man plus 30 or 40% in overall weight, height, shoulder measurement, inseam and just about everything else.

If you ever pick up a catalog for a big & tall retailer, they tend to go with men that are most definitely larger than the normal guy, but they are almost always athletic or at least have a somewhat defined upper-body.  Perhaps the “aging college football player look” best defines their appearance, which isn’t necessarily representative of the entire segment, just like the male models linked above.

It seems that the effort is forward progress, which is a good thing, but we’ve got a bit further to go with this to make it a little more useful.  A more realistic approach of how a big & tall man can dress would be helpful, and models who are a bit more average would probably sell the “look”, and the clothing to go with it, a lot more convincingly.  Frequently I’ll be scanning the catalog pages or big & tall retailer websites and see a look that I think would be great… but can I pull it off?  Show us someone who looks like us.  Show us we can, and we will buy.

Categories: Apparel / Clothing, Big & Tall News
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A while back, I was listening in to a tech podcast of some kind with the ever famous podcaster Leo Laporte, as well as one of my favorite characters, Chicago Sun-Times technology columnist Andy Ihnatko.

Andy, for some reason, had made a point to mention about his favorite new pants.  Sounds weird, I know, but I was intrigued.  Upon a little more investigation, it revealed some pretty interesting information as well as an observation I should have already made.  That observation is that manufacturers of tactical clothing for police and military are forced to carry a wide and varying amount of sizes to appease the needs of those government agencies.  And they also sell them to the general public.

Andy Ihnatko was specifically mentioning a company by the name of 5.11 Tactical and what he referred to as his Internet Tactical Pants.  You can take a look at their selection by clicking the following link:

5.11 Tactical Big and Tall Section

Andy Ihnatko, explaining the origin of the “Internet Tactical Pants”:

Look at all the crap he packs into those in this video!  Unreal.

Further exploration of 5.11 Tactical’s website reveals a pretty decent big and tall section, although some amount of ordering and trying things on may be necessary to figure out what your actual size is with these folks.  I haven’t ordered from them yet, but I intend to, and I plan to let you know how it goes.

A few things of note:

Pants aren’t the only thing they sell…  5.11 Tactical appears to have a selection of Polo Shirts ranging up to 5XL-Tall as well as other shirts, undergear and other big and tall items.

Some of the pants, specifically the ripstop nylon variant of the Tactical Pant, come in sizes like “XXXL” rather than standard waist inch measurements.  Your mileage will definitely vary with these, so do your research.

The 5.11 Tactical pant in most big sizes is only available with an unhemmed inseam/length.  This can be challenging for those with a “normal” inseam of 32″ or less, however this could be seen as an opportunity to get that custom fit by having them hemmed at your local tailor.

Personally, I see this as an advantage…  I ride motorcycles and pant legs tend to be too short once I’m sitting on the bike and feeling the wind hit my ankles because my pants are not long enough to reach down there once seated on the bike.

All needs aside, this looks like an excellent new source for Big & Tall clothing that fits an active lifestyle (or particular career) and I hope to be trying their products out soon.  Once I have an idea of how their sizing fits me, I hope to report back and give a review once they’ve seen some action.

Categories: Apparel / Clothing, Big & Tall Lifestyle
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With the NHL playoffs going on, I thought now would be a good time to drag an old comment out of the woodwork and highlight it for any potential web searchers or others looking to cover their backs with an NHL Jersey for their favorite team.

Our friend spoon writes:

I want to know why the NHL fails to make decent jerseys available for anyone above an XL? Ever since Reebok went with this streamlined bullshit I can’t find an XXL to save my life. I felt bad because Lushie bought me the largest and it was tight in the shoulders. I’m not even talkin fat here but shoulder width. There are guys 6ft7 and I KNOW they are broader than I am. I’ve seen the XXL, XXXL and XXXXL jerseys but they’re replicas that wear hella easy.

It looks like SportsK.com athletic clothing actually carries the larger sized NHL Jersey’s… unfortunately, i don’t think you are going to find them locally to try them on…

Take a look here: http://www.sportsk.com/newrbkprnhls.html

You can even get your own name and number customized on it if you like. Also, there are chest and length measurements that can help you determine which size you need…  With sizes available to 4XL for USD $108 and just a little more for customized sewn letters for a name on the back that’s a pretty good deal.

Hope that helps!

-Tim

I know It’s been quite a while since my last post…  Things got a bit busy around here, and they still are, but I”ll continue posting as often as I can!  Stick around!

Categories: Apparel / Clothing
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For years, the funny tshirts at tshirthell.com come up as an occasional, if not redundant, source of humor.  Every once in a while, someone will send me a link to a funny shirt on their site.  Most of the time, I spend about 10 minutes on the site laughing profusely at the obnoxious t-shirts and move on with life.

Recently, I noticed a shirt I actually wouldn’t mind having for once.  So, in my normal skeptical fashion, I dig through the sizes…  and wow!  They carry big and tall sizes!  And wow, they do it in a big way!

Beefy Tee to 5X, Vintage Tee up to 4X, Jersey 3/4 Sleeve up to 4XL, Men’s Hoodies to 3XL, and most importantly for the truly Big & Tall…  Tall Tees up to 5XL-Tall!  Check out their sizing chart for a full list of sizes.

Also, they have an affiliates program, so I’ve signed up as a click-through affiliate and a little money will go towards the website if you click through from here and buy a shirt.

Categories: Apparel / Clothing
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Ryan Sims was interviewed in a recent article in The Saint Petersburg Times where he briefly discussed being Big & Tall and shopping for clothes that fit.  After reading the article, I felt it necessary to share a few excerpts.

Ryan Sims

He starts out by saying something that I’ve always believed, but “sloppy” is a pretty broad term.

This is a weekly question: What Web site do you think you visit most?

Anything that has to do with movies and shopping. That’s my thing. I like to see what movies are new and about to come out. And with shopping, I like to say I’m the fliest guy over 300 (pounds) in the league. I have to represent for the big guys. We’re not all big and sloppy.

One person’s “sloppy” is another person’s “acceptable”.  A guy in a suit might think a guy in a hoodie and jeans is “sloppy”, even if he was a clean cut and well groomed man.  Every man’s dress and style are different, and differentiating big and sloppy from clean cut is completely a matter of perspective.  A perfect example of this is Comedian Drew Hastings.  Hastings is not a big guy, but at six foot five he certainly fits the tall category and would be damn hard to find a suit for in a normal shop.

Drew Hastings

This guy dresses in very classic, well cut suits and does a great job of accessorizing with classic British and American menswear styling.  Occasionally he goes overboard with the ascot or some other piece of flair, but more or less he’s a style icon and should be respected as so.  Except guess what…  he’s sloppy.  He’s tall, probably slouches a lot (as I always do) and is generally sloppy looking.  His hair makes him sloppy, but he still looks good.  Big and sloppy?  In the eye of the beholder.  Back to the interview.

Okay, as for your stylish side, how would you describe your style?

Well, I think my swagger level is up there on the same level as Diddy or James Bond. I try to keep it fresh. I see what the little guys are wearing and see if I can get it in my size.

I don’t know about the swagger comment, so I’m just going to leave that alone.  It’s a word I’ve been hearing a lot lately, and it’s the branding used on a new line of pimp-daddy wannabe Old Spice deodorant products.  The commercials are amusing for a half-second, after which they become annoying and redundant.

Anyhow, the second part of his comment is key.  He takes a look at what the “little guys” are wearing and goes on the hunt to see if he can find an equivalent in his size.  I’m not the most fashionable person in the world, but if I see a style or look that I like in a magazine, I’ve been known to attempt to duplicate it using what I can find in my own wardrobe or at the big and tall store.  This is something a lot of big and tall guys tend to forget…  there are options.  Perhaps they’re not always easy (or cheap), but you can and will find good clothes in your size if you try.  Sometimes jeans and a sweatshirt is just fine.  Sometimes you need to dress better than that, and you can if you just look around a little.

Speaking of looking around a little…

So, how hard is it for big guys to shop?

It’s real tough. The big-and-tall store is really for like the 45-year-old white guy. You just have to search. A lot of stuff I wear, other big guys will ask me, “Yo, where did you get that?” It’s just from doing a lot of work searching on the Internet. Luckily, my feet are kind of small. I can wear a 13. So, I can get me a pair of Guccis or Louis (Vuittons).

The image that the big and tall store is really for the “45-year-old white guy” is an image that Casual Male XL (and other stores that cater to our size) has noticeably been trying to break for a number of years.  Although there are days when I’d like to slap the person making marketing and purchasing decisions over there sometimes, they appear to be trying.

The latest collection of printed t shirts on Casual Male XL site are pretty decent. They’ve been offering limited run shirts of decent bands, beers and other pop culture type things for some time now.

There are a lot of new places that are expanding their maximum sizes and knowing where to look is where most people get lost.  Recently I’ve discovered a few new places to buy big & tall clothing which we’ll discuss in the next week or so in an upcoming article.  My plan is to bring each new discovery of sources of big & tall clothes to you on this site, so stay tuned.

As a twenty-something big and tall guy looking for decent clothes, shoes, etc. I can see where Sims is coming from…  but the big and tall stores aren’t all bad (or good for that matter).  He might be a little off base on the whole Gucci and Louis Vuitton shoes thing for the average guy, but he is right on one thing:  You’ve got to work a lot harder to find what you want as a big guy, no matter what you are buying.  Making that just a little bit easier is why I created this site.

Comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome…  send us an email at tim@sizeoflife.com or drop us a line in the comments section.

Categories: Apparel / Clothing, Big & Tall News
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