Archive for December, 2008
Obnoxiously Big & Tall – Novelty shirts for the Big Guy.
December 29, 2008 2:22 pm
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.
Happy Holidays!
December 24, 2008 1:08 pmNFL tackle Ryan Sims on shopping Big & Tall
December 11, 2008 10:46 amTampa 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.
Of all the things I do to prepare for a trip, by far the most stressful (to me) is actually researching my route and purchasing the ticket. The reason I have so many issues with this portion of the process is attempting to route flights to and from my destination through a halfway decent layover point (if necessary) on planes I’m comfortable riding in. This can prove challenging at best, but a few key websites can be really helpful in this area.
Researching and booking flights
Two of my go-to websites that are very helpful are Kayak and SeatGuru.
Kayak is a travel site that lets you select destinations, dates, times and a myriad of other options to help you plan your route. It is less traditional than most travel sites because it even draws information from other larger travel booking services. Kayak does not have it’s own travel booking service, it’s simply a search engine for the best price on travel and has some really great features to help you nail down the perfect travel schedule for the big and tall guy.
I’ll try to be brief, but a few of the great things about Kayak are it’s ability to show you pretty much up-front (after hitting the details button) on your flight search what kind of plane you will be riding on (so you can beware of the dreaded CRJ Regional Jet or the much hated D95 Narrow-body Jet). Also, it allows you to modify and narrow your focus on departure and arrival times, layover time and location, as well as many other great things.
A site I use that is always open in another browser tab or window is SeatGuru. If you are unfamiliar with your plane or flight, SeatGuru is an absolute must to help you plan and prepare for your trip. SeatGuru has seating layouts and information on most major airlines and their floor plans for each type of airplane (example pictured below). This can be particularly helpful during the booking or check-in process when selecting your seats. Some of the great little details of SeatGuru is the lengths they go to detail seat comfort. From “lacking legroom” for whatever reason to “next to a commonly drafty window in this type of plane, don’t sit here if you get cold easily”, SeatGuru never fails to provide me with the knowledge I need to book my flight with confidence.
A huge part of the hassle and annoyance of travel is just making it through security and getting to my departure gate. The travel experience can be a real downer if things don’t move along quickly and efficiently. While doing some business travel for a company I used to work for and searching for tips on efficient travel, I discovered the TravelCommons Podcast. Although I don’t travel for business much these days, I do like to travel for leisure. Finding ways to reduce stress and hassle at the is a huge help, as flying is generally an uncomfortable experience for the big & tall. The TravelCommons Podcast discusses a wide range of topics relating to frequent travel, it’s perils, technology that travels well and how to overcome tough situations on the road. If you’re a frequent traveler, or even an occasional traveler looking for tips on how to make your next travel experience less painful, give the TravelCommons Podcast a try.
In defense of layovers…
When researching and booking my trip, I use the sites mentioned above to get myself the best big guy-friendly seating and planes. Unfortunately, your destination requires a few bad planes along the way and there is no avoiding it. If such an occasion arises, take a layover to stretch your legs (and you may get a bit of a discount on the flight, too). Layovers really don’t bother me, as I’ve already convinced myself that the day is lost to travel. Once I accept that a two hour layover isn’t really going to make much of a difference, I take advantage of that time to stretch my legs and relax in the large seats at the gate. I usually enjoy this time, mostly on longer 2-3 hour layovers as it gives me a chance to get some “real” food as well as use the restroom without worrying about people waiting or having to fold myself in half just to fit in the tiny bathroom.
On the other hand, I do appreciate direct flights within the continental U.S. if they are held to around 4 or 5 hours… but only if I’ve got a decent seat on one of my “preferred” planes, as referenced in Part 1 of this series “Choosing your plane wisely.”
In Part 3 of this series, we’ll talk about seating and boarding. Have any travel tips, stories or experiences for your fellow Big & Tall man? Drop us a line in the comments section or at email us at tim@sizeoflife.com.
