Slim pickings in a weighty world -- Lean find fewer choices in pants as waists expand

[tjl]

An old article, but probably something some people here have encountered, particularly when shopping for dressy business clothes and the like:

"There are no 'small and short' stores," Courtemanche noted as he brushed his hand across a row of 38-inch waist dress pants on a recent afternoon. "This is now the average. . . . It's kind of sad. A 34 is considered small."

The Hanover Men's Wearhouse is typical of the chain's 509 stores in the United States. It stocks 1,200 pairs of pants, the majority of them in the 36- to 44-inch range, Courtemanche said. Only about 50 are size 31 or under, he said, and most of those are sold to men who are "vertically challenged," not workout fanatics.

[...]

Stores that cater to younger customers tend to offer a wider range of narrower waists, but often sell only casual clothes. At the Harvard Square Abercrombie & Fitch, where abdominal muscles are practically corporate logos, "32-34 is the average," said clerk Dawn Harris. "We go up to 36, with the occasional 38. Most college guys around here are in shape; as they get older they get wider."

Older also means more established careers, and trim men -- not just those built like armored vehicles -- find the thinnest selection of clothes on the racks of stores specializing in business attire. Success may not go to a man's head, but it probably will show in his midsection, retailers say. There is not much demand for pants with 30-inch waists and 32-inch inseams in America's board rooms.

According to a recently released study by [TC]2 (pronounced TC-squared), a North Carolina company that helps develop technology for the apparel industry, waist sizes for men age 36 to 65 average 38.7 inches for whites, 38.2 for Hispanics, and 37.1 for blacks. The company used a three-dimensional scanner to measure the bodies of 3,691 men.

It is worth noting that the standard cut suit has a 6 inch drop (drop = chest minus waist). There are also athletic cut suits with 8 inch drop and portly cut suits with 4 inch drop. See . It would not be surprising of many of the regulars here have a drop of 10 or more inches.

Yes, suit jackets can be altered, but tend not to look too good if a large amount of alteration (more than a few inches) is needed.

Of course, a similar phenomenon can also be observed in dress shirts -- even supposedly athletic fit dress shirts can be rather roomy in the abdomen area.