Web sites put clothes in the mail for the bigger male
NEW YORK — Chris Cyr doesn’t like much about the big and tall clothes he finds in stores: They’re “not very adventurous,” he says, and the fit can be too baggy. And then there’s the array of odd prints: “A lot of Hawaiian shirts with sailboats and golf balls tend to pop in.”
But the standup comic from St. Louis says he is finding more fashionable threads for bigger guys online, as a crop of internet retailers are catering to the long-ignored group. The companies are making larger sizes of slim-cut jeans, bomber jackets and other trendy clothes that shoppers say are hard to find elsewhere.
Bigger-sized models are used when designing the clothes, which the companies say helps make sure the proportions are right. Rather than just making a pair of jeans larger, for example, they also adjust the back pockets and other details.
Asos, the hip online clothing seller, launched a line for plus-sized men late last year. MVP Collections, founded a year ago, sells velour hoodies in sizes up to 6XL and motorcycle jeans that go up to a size 54. And The Winston Box, which calls itself a clothing subscription service “for guys with some junk in the trunk,” sends up to four items a month to members.
“There’s a lot more options,” Cyr says. He pays $75 a month for The Winston Box, and says the 3XL shirts he receives fit better than what he finds elsewhere.
Men have long had bigand-tall shops to turn to, but young shoppers say they don’t find the trendy clothes they crave there.
Kyle Gammon, a college fashion student who lives near Savannah, Ga., says Asos has become his go-to place after he discovered its plus-size line earlier this year.
“They have a really good variety,” says Gammon, “which I’m not used to getting.”
Former baseball player Mo Vaughn, who cofounded MVP Collections, says he could find T-shirts and suits in his size in stores, but nothing in between. Now his company sells items such as gray sport jackets and deconstructed jeans made with a bit of spandex for stretch.
“Why can’t we be fly like everybody else?” Vaughn says.
Actor Daniel Franzese, who starred in “Mean Girls,” joined The Winston Box as creative director earlier this year after seeing an ad for the company on Facebook. He says stylists often had trouble finding clothes for him to wear for TV roles or for red carpet events.
“Fashion forgets about the bigger male,” Franzese says.
At Asos, it was the positive feedback from its women’s plus-size line, launched about eight years ago, that pushed the company to create one for men, says head designer Nick Eley. About 30 brands, such as Puma and Tommy Hilfiger, also make big and tall sizes for the site.
“I honestly don’t know why it’s been a forgotten market for so long,” Eley says.