Fashion
Why Aren’t There More Size-Inclusive Clothes for Men?
While some designers have embraced broader size ranges, men’s wear often remains loyal to old forms. Our critic explains the lag and offers tips for suiting up with a bigger body.
I am not a kid anymore and am looking for a stylish sport coat, slacks, sweater and shirt. I am a fairly conservative dresser, but I wear a 50 XL. I don’t want to shop in big-and-tall stores, nor do I have the money for a personal tailor. Women’s designers seem to have embraced size inclusivity in a way men’s designers have not. Why, and where can I go to find what I need? — Chris, Boston
You are correct in observing that we don’t talk enough about size inclusivity when it comes to men’s wear, or demand that it even exists — which is just plain old silly.
I think it goes back to old-fashioned gender stereotypes and the idea that it isn’t manly, somehow, to dwell too much on your body (other than perhaps when you are working out), even though that is patently untrue. There is also a misperception that suits cover all sins; as Anne Hollander postulated in her … umm … seminal book “Sex and Suits,” the male suit as we know it was created to smooth any body into the shape of a Greek ideal.
Part of the problem, said Corbin Chamberlin, a journalist who covers the issue, is that despite the recent trend toward oversize looks on the runways, much of “men’s fashion is still clinging to the outdated ideal of the slim, controlled silhouette.”
Case in point: Years ago, when Hedi Slimane was still at YSL, my average-sized husband went to try to buy a suit, and could barely raise his arms in the jacket, the sleeves were so tight, and the armholes so small. When he raised an eyebrow at the salesman, the guy looked abashed, and started talking about how they could let out a seam here, another one there. He had clearly had a lot of practice with the issue.
Compounding the issue, Mr. Chamberlin said, is the fact that as with women’s wear, you rarely see a larger body in an ad campaign, and “when larger bodies are left out of campaigns, runways and store displays, they’re not just underserved — they’re erased.”
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Still, in 2016, IMG Models established their “brawn” division (it’s the male equivalent of the “curve” division for women, a linguistic effort to move away from the ick term “plus-size”). And there are designers whose sizing extends to the larger at all price points. Ralph Lauren has a big-and-tall line. So do Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, J. Crew and Old Navy. Prada goes up to XXXL, and Gucci to a U.S. size 50.
