ThatIsBeyond…The Frustrations of a long-torsoed man!

There are many great qualities about the high street. And I truly believe we need to work to keep them afloat. But with the high street in this financial climate, comes cost-cutting measures that have left me as a shopper feeling cut out of the market. I have found that finding fashion is unattainable to me, not because of the price or the quality, but because the pattern doesn’t fit the person!

At six foot two I am tall, but I am not freakishly dwarfing the majority of society! I am a “normal” guy. But 9 times out of ten I find that my correct size is just a tad too short in the body. Not one for wearing a crop top, the next logical solution is to go a size up to get the extra length… But of course the measurement is exactly the same!

In fact I have found high street stores (and not the super sheep ones either) whose size medium to XXL is exactly the same length! Knowing a little about the production of such items, I realise that the is most likely to do with getting as many patterns into the least amount of fabric as possible. But really?! What’s a long torsoed guy to do?

The thing is, the way that these patterns are being cut, assumes that we all have the same measurements, but vary only in width! That is a pretty bold assumption to make and could easily be one that will stop people purchasing well-fitting items from these retailers. I may be forced to buy elsewhere simply because of skimpy cutting of the cloth.

I have to say that there are some exceptions to the rule, and they should not be tarred with the same brush, I find that NEXT have a good cut and M&S always get the sizing right, so all is not lost. But next time you are on the highstreet, take a look and see if there is any differentiation in the length, I think you might be surprised!

And it’s probably worth noting that is this is the case for me, what about those short torosed men for whom everything is too long? The high street needs to stop trying to make us with cookie cutter and offer alternatives that make us want to spend our hard earned cash with them.

TIB