Consume!

[nfotxn]

Went shopping today. I was in need of a new pair of sneakers as my old Nike ACG's were getting on two years old. The gimicky "Air" thing in the heel had popped on the left shoe causing discomfort walking to and from Westmount. So I bought a pair of Sketcher's "Hobie Cat" which can be seen here. They're pretty rad, like old school bowling shoes. I just wanted a cheap pair of Vans or something but it seems they never have a size 13 or 13½ in stock in anything under $100. Which brings me to something that really pisses me off. I'm not a huge guy. Sure, I'm pretty big but I don't stand out in a crowd or anything. It seems nearly everywhere I go that if you aren't a 38" waist and below and fit into their rather small XL sized clothing you're somehow obese and not welcome to buy clothing there. Christ, is it that much to ask that they carry an XXL or two and a 42" waist? You always see XS and XXS on the clearance racks because few people buy them. It probably works out to the economics that XL/XXL all cost more to make. Oh, Mom also bought me a columbia XXL hoodie in black with groovy silver lettering.

Thanks Mom! *hug*

Comments

[jenneferre.livejournal.com]

Happens to me, too. I hardly think I'm thin, but I do think I'm a pretty normal size. Try finding pants in a size 30 though. Stores only carry really little ones, and the big giant ones for plus-sized people. Also, I'm not particularly short. Sure, I'm not tall, but average height for a canadian woman is 5ft2" and i'm 5ft5". So how come I can't find pants that are the right length? I guess I am destined to wear baggy pants that need to be hemmed forever. Sigh.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Any company that could provide inexpensive tailored jeans would make a killing. I'd buy them!

[bingobear25.livejournal.com]

/nod

I was talking with one of the employees once at a shoe store, and they said that for each shipment of shoes they get 1 size 13. That's ridiculous.

As for clothing, I've got a store card that I'm paying off and shredding just because they don't stock anything in my size anymore... I refuse to pay 21% interest on a card that can only buy me socks and underwear (mmmm boxer-briefs). Big & Tall shops unfortunately usually charge a hefty price, simply because they can. They usually have better quiality clothes, though, that last longer.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Geezus, I don't know a single man with a foot smaller than size 10. Most of my friends are 11-12 at least.

Conspiracy!!

[brucelloyd.livejournal.com]

Try finding size 14 shoes, or finding any 3XL (4 is more roomy and comfy) shirts. I have to go to those silly Big and Tall stores, and they charge just stupid amounts for a t-shirt. Probably why I have so little shit in my wardrobe..

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain. I guess all big gay men can be glad they're spared being fashion victims. Christ, there's enough Abercrombie&Felch on Church at any given time to patch the holes in Olympic Stadium.

[bingobear25.livejournal.com]

In the states, JCPenney stores have Big & Tall sections now, so I can get the 3XLTall shirts I love... but they still don't last as long or are as good quality as stuff from a regular Big & Tall store. :-(

[sultmhoor.livejournal.com]

That's why finding a good store that carries interesting, large clothing is like finding a goldmine. There are a couple goldmines in Detroit -- the JC Penney outlet store at the Great Lakes Crossing mall has been the entire source of clothing for me the past few years. True, sometimes it takes a few trips, since their stock turns over VERY frequently, but the prices you just can't beat. I got 4 pairs of pants, (cargo, jeans, etc), 4 swank shirts (including a shimmery, black satin "body" t-shirt in ... 4xl!), half a dozen pair of socks, and a new leather coat for ... $120 total. You wouldn't think of Jacques Pennay as someplace that would carry interesting clothes, which is perhaps why the good stuff ends up at the outlet store. The other store (provided you like Big Dog stuff) I can get a pile of print t-shirts, hawaiian shirts, nice roomy shorts, etc, for $50 or so.

As for shoes, I just gave up trying to find them in the stores. Athletic shoe store droids annoy the shit out of me, and after one bad scene in a Footlocker where I was told I was too fat to wear basketball shoes, I've sworn the stores off. 'Course, that's big only coming from someone who could ostensibly be called the biggest athletic shoe queen in the midwest. Once in awhile while shopping for something else in a Dunhams or Sports Authority, I'll peruse the clearance racks, but whatever.

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Yup, there's a great chain in Canada called Mark's Work Warehouse that sells very roomy jeans, chinos and cargos even in fashionable styles up to a 48" waist. It's pretty much the only place I can buy pants now-a-days and know they'll have something I'll like and fits well.

Makes sense really, the place was originally an outfitter for construction works but has recently (last few years) gone franchise retail.

Pre-stressed plaid cut-off shirts with cut off sleeves. Yeah, I think they keeps tabs on their target demograph(s) style habbit(s).

Big Clothes Blues

[kmon.livejournal.com]

Well, I've got it easy on the shoe front: size 10.5 wide (hey, no comments from the peanut gallery). I completely agree on the clothes side. And its not like I don't see plenty of guys even bigger than me walking around...

Another problem I've had with the Big&Tall stores, besides the "large guy tax", is that most of them closest to the neighborhoods in which I live, both in Atlanta and Chicago. tend to specialize in clothes for the larger black gentleman. And it's not that I don't like lime green suits, its just that *I* don't want to wear them (oh Sinbad, what have you done?). And I don't think that I look particulary good in gangsta or r&b wear, either. So I generally find myslef treking out to the subrurbs if I want any selection at a Big&Tall shop.

I tend to scan Marshall's when I pass one. They do stock plus size clothes, although you have to be careful what you get... and of course the selction is never constant. Sometimes there's al lot of great stuff, and sometimes its only the really enourmous stuff. I also get a lot of stuff through mail order through Cabelas (http://www.cabelas.com), a hunting and fishing outfitter (I'm manly, so there), with completely reasonable prices. I find the catalogue easier to browse through than the website...

Preach on, Brother Brodie!

[ex-ikuze443.livejournal.com]

Tell me about it! Also a size 42, I've noticed that because stores around here stock "big" sizes, it would be easier for me to find jeans not only if I lost weight, but if I *gained* weight. WTF?! It's like 42 is this lost nebulous zone!

What pisses me off is that we get these reports that 25% or whatever number of all Americans are obese, yet no one stocks the bigger sizes. If the numbers are true, there's money to be made here! Someone somewhere is not paying attention.