Standing Tall

 
Bend resident Scott Leggett stands 6 feet 5 inches tall and regularly has difficulty finding clothes that fit his big-and-tall frame. Here, he wears a shirt that is short at the sleeves, like many regular-sized shirts he finds. Shopping for big-and-tall men can be difficult in Central Oregon, but some styling tips can help a fellow out.
The right fit


When Bend resident Scott Leggett was 10 years old, he stood 6 feet 1 inch tall. He remembers his mom driving him around to all the different clothing stores, trying to find appropriate children’s clothing that was long enough for his growing frame.

Now 43, Leggett has topped off at 6 feet 5 inches, and it still takes him a full weekend of store-hopping to find clothes that fit.

“There’s no big-and-tall stores here,” said Leggett, an 11-year resident of Central Oregon. “It’s actually really frustrating.”

Leggett has been to every store in town that could possibly carry larger clothes, from the Nike Factory Store (he bought some sweatpants that are too long), to REI (no luck) and Wal-Mart (he bought a nice jacket).

As someone who doesn’t care for a multi-day shopping extravaganza, he finds the process annoying and tiring, to say the least.

Only a few local retailers stock a line of big-and-tall men’s clothes, including Fred Meyer, JCPenney, Ross Dress For Less and TJ Maxx, and the selection is limited. Some stores, including JCPenney and Macy’s, have an extended selection of big-and-tall brands online, and offer more in catalogs.

But Leggett wishes those options existed in a store locally. Instead, he has to make due with what the region offers, while enviously eyeing the fashionable men’s clothing that would never fit him.

Defining big-and-tall

Mark Rosenfeld is the owner of Torre, a national independent clothing store for big-and-tall men, based in Philadelphia (www.torre bigandtall.com). Rosenfeld’s family has been in the business for 71 years, expanding on what is normally a very small segment of retail sales.

“Nobody really embraces it,” he said of big-box retailers. “In this economy, companies are cutting back on (aspects of their) business that aren’t growing, so (big-and-tall merchandise) is being neglected, in a certain regard.”

Generally, tall is considered any consumer who is 6 feet 2 inches and taller, has a chest size at least 48 inches wide, a waist at least 44 inches around, a neck size at least 18 inches around, sleeves at least 36 inches long, inseams at least 35 inches long and footwear at size 13 and up.

Rosenfeld gets a lot of entertainers and athletes who shop at his store because they know he stocks fashionable clothing in a selection of sizes they can’t find elsewhere.

Leggett wishes Central Oregon could be so lucky.

He says he is the “runt” of the family. His dad was 6 feet 8 inches tall, his uncle was 7 feet 1 inch, and his grandfather was 7 feet 3 inches.

Leggett says his dad always wore the most generic big-and-tall clothes, and his grandfather stuck to old-country favorites that included cable-knit sweaters and wool pants that a relative made.

Leggett says he knows other big-and-tall guys need more variety than that.

“I once spent a month looking for a nice, dressy shirt and just gave up,” Leggett said. “If I could just find a good pair of chinos, a white dress shirt and a vest that fit me, I would order 100.”

Shopping for a suit would be easier than finding more casual clothes, Leggett said, as higher-end stores normally tailor-fit men’s clothing.

“But if I want to buy clothes that aren’t just a striped polo shirt or Dockers, there’s no other choices,” Leggett said. “That’s why I have two pairs of jeans and one pair of slacks; the rest are shorts.”

He’s tired of big-and-tall shirts that are wide enough but the arms are too long. Or when the pants fit at the waist, but the legs are way too long. Or any other number of not-quite-right dimensions.

Until he finds another solution, Leggett will continue to roll up his too-long sleeves and mend his old jeans so they will last until he can find another pair that miraculously fit.

“I try to get as much life out of them as I can,” he said.

Big style

Joanna Van Vleck, owner of Bend-based men’s styling company The Trunk Club (www.trunkclub.com), says the problem for big-and-tall men is off-the-rack clothing options, which means clothes that can go from a generic clothing rack into your closet. These shoppers are in the minority, so clothing manufacturers don’t put a lot of resources into building brands for them.

But there are some things big-and-tall men can do to make the most of it.

“You should budget more for alterations if you’re big and tall,” Van Vleck said. “A lot of jackets can have the sleeves let out, but you can’t do that with dress shirts because there’s just no extra fabric.”

You must find a good tailor whom you trust, and whom you can have a working relationship with, she added, because you’ll be working with him or her on a regular basis.

Perhaps the biggest clothing investment for big-and-tall men is a great pair of pants, Van Vleck says, because badly fitting pants are too obvious, hard to cover up and give others the impression that the man doesn’t care about his appearance.

“There’s nothing worse than short pants,” she said. “I’d so much rather see a shirt that’s too big or small than pants that are (not) fitting.”

Her advice

From pants to neckties, Van Vleck offers some styling help for big-and-tall men:

• Measure it — When shopping for button-up shirts, Van Vleck recommends buying shirts that come in size measurements for the neck and sleeves, rather than the generic small, medium and large.

• Wear monochromatic outfits — Clothing with loud patterns or colors draws attention to that part of the body, which is why keeping a uniform, muted or neutral color palette looks better on larger bodies. That doesn’t mean just black on black, Van Vleck says, but instead men can wear other colors, like charcoal gray pants with a charcoal gray top.

• Tie it on — Van Vleck says many big-and-tall guys don’t think to buy extra-long ties. A man’s tie should hang down over his stomach and touch the top of his belt. Anything shorter, and “it looks like you are a cartoon character,” Van Vleck said.

• Roll up those sleeves — If shirt sleeves are too long, it’s OK to roll up the sleeves in a casual setting, Van Vleck says. With rolled sleeves, a man could wear a nice watch, which would be an attractive focal point of an otherwise ill-fitting outfit.

• Vested — If you aren’t very big in the middle, Van Vleck recommends wearing a vest. They come in all different weights of materials, although Van Vleck discourages a puffy vest. Instead, opt for a nice sweater vest that can add shape when worn over a too-large collared shirt.

• Darted — If a shirt is too baggy, have a tailor sew darts into the back of the shirt. Darts are cinched material sewn to give clothing shape.

• Watch those heels — Even men’s shoes have thick soles or heels that add height, so be sure to buy trim, flat-soled shoes rather than ones with chunky heels. And when trying on pants, wear the shoes you plan to pair with them, so you can make sure the pants are the right length.

• Sock it to me — If your pants are a little too short when you sit down, be sure to wear socks that match the color of the pants, which will act like an elongation of the pant leg. Ideally, pants should have a 1-inch break where the pant leg hits the shoe — you’ll see one gentle crease, not multiple creases as the material bunches up around the shoe.

When shopping for socks, make sure to buy those that are “executive length,” Van Vleck said. Those come to the top of the calf muscle (short socks will show leg hair, which is a no-no). If your socks fall down as you wear them, the elastic is old and the socks need to be replaced.

Finally, Van Vleck urges larger men to avoid drowning their large figures in loose, billowy clothing. They may think oversized clothing is hiding the fact that they are large, but it actually just makes them look even larger.

Also, give yourself a break, she says.

“As a general rule, allot yourself more time and patience,” she said, “because it’s going to be more challenging to find exactly the right piece.”