Plus-size for men: Sites offer trendy looks for bigger guys

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 finally catering to the long-ignored group. The companies are making larger sizes of slimcut 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,” says Cyr. He pays $75 a month for The Winston Box, and says the 3XL shirts he receives fit better than what he finds elsewhere. He also recently bought a blazer from Asos that he wears to his standup shows.

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, Georgia, says Asos has become his go-to after he discovered its plus-size line earlier this year.