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Petit menswear


Eilean

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I was just wondering whether anyone has any tips on where to buy XS menswear?

 

I'm trans-masculine, and don't usually experience too many difficulties presenting as a man (or rather, as a boy - most people think I'm a teenager, when in fact, I'm in my thirties!). Trouble is, I really struggle to find menswear to fit me - hell, I'm so short, even most womenswear is too big! I sometimes strike it lucky in the kids' department, but I tend to find that childrenswear isn't proportioned correctly for me and often it just looks a bit... well... childish. I've also tried East Asian brands, as I love Japanese and Korean fashion and their sizing tends to be smaller, but the men's stuff is still too big.

 

I'm about 5' (152cm) tall, with a slim build. Any recommendations?

 

Thanks!

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I'm 5'3" and 108lbs, and I often have to get creative with finding clothes small enough.

 

Sometimes, I can make children's clothes work, but I feel you on them just not being proportioned right for an adult. Honestly, my children's suit jacket was 1/4 the price of an adult jacket though, so there's at least that silver lining. That said, I've gotten groupons for adult Braverman suits, and their smallest sizes actually fit quite nicely so long as you don't plan on wearing the pants that come with the suit. (My advice: buy their tuxedos, as those pants typically have elastic in the waist.)

 

For casual clothes that aren't children's sizes, you're often better off going to stores that appeal to teenagers. American Eagle is often good to me, as I can get away with XS shirts for everything but their long-sleeve shirts, and they have XXS sizes online that make even those shirts an option. Their pants get as small as 26" waist too, and you can get 26x30 online. I sometimes wear 26, sometimes 28, so it works out pretty well.

 

For some of my T-shirts, I will actually cut the bottom so the shirt is the appropriate length for my height, and I think that makes a big difference too. (That said, my family has a special set of scissors designed to cut fabric without unraveling any thread, so I don't know how well regular scissors function for that.)

 

The most expensive option is to get custom-tailored clothes, but that racks up quite quickly. If you were into making your own clothes, that'd be an option too, but I know that I don't have the time or patience for something like that.

 

I hope you have better luck finding clothes that suit you!

 

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Hi! Thanks for the replies, guys! (I'm sorry for my late response: I thought I had it set to notify me when anyone replied, but obviously not!) I'll have to check out Braverman and American Eagle, thanks: I'm not familiar with either (I presume they are American brands, but hopefully they ship to the UK). 

 

Yeah, pants are the biggest challenge! Men's trousers are invariably too long (although sometimes it's possible to turn them up) and kids sizes generally don't fit over my bum/hips, although waist and leg are usually the right size.

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14 hours ago, Eilean said:

Hi! Thanks for the replies, guys! (I'm sorry for my late response: I thought I had it set to notify me when anyone replied, but obviously not!) I'll have to check out Braverman and American Eagle, thanks: I'm not familiar with either (I presume they are American brands, but hopefully they ship to the UK). 

 

Yeah, pants are the biggest challenge! Men's trousers are invariably too long (although sometimes it's possible to turn them up) and kids sizes generally don't fit over my bum/hips, although waist and leg are usually the right size.

American Eagle is definitely American, not sure about Braverman, but I've only really bought clothes in the US. Tried looking while I was in Cuba, and even then, only children's sizes would have worked, and I think they jacked up the price for tourists anyways. Perhaps there's similar brands in the UK? Often, if you can tell that a store is designed to appeal to teenagers, they'll be friendlier to smaller sizes and shorter heights.

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