Blank Label

Best Places to Buy Clothes for Short Men

This is a collection of all of the best places to find clothes for short(er) men. I keep it updated with new companies, whether they’re actual stores or online shops. I’ve personally tried most of these places, although there are a couple that I still need to test out. Enjoy!

If you’ve read my post about Blank Label’s custom dress shirts, you know how much I love this company. I order all of my button down shirts from Blank Label now. If you are sick of billowy shirts with sleeves that are way too long, it’s time to go custom with Blank Label.

Banana Republic is one of my favorite stores. Their clothes are a little pricey, but you get what you pay for. All of their stuff is high quality and won’t fall apart of you. I like their Emerson chinos so much that I wrote a post about them.

I haven’t ordered a suit from Indochino yet, but I have bought their Essential Grey Blazer.

DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse) is the best place to buy shoes. If you go to one of the bigger stores, they will definitely have your size for most shoes. They even put brightly colored labels on extra small and large sizes. Plus, their prices are great, and the discount rack is always stocked.

I hadn’t been inside a PacSun store since middle school, when all they had were ridiculously baggy JNCO jeans and skater apparel. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they now carry a very cool, modern selection of pants, shirts and accessories. I bought a couple pairs of denim pants that are slim, but not skinny, and very comfortable. Definitely give PacSun a visit (or check out their online store).

Step Up Your Style With Custom Shirts from Blank Label

Today, I want to share with you a service that I’ve been using for a few months now called Blank Label. It’s a custom menswear company that only makes dress shirts (for now at least).

And they are very good at it. You can get a custom made dress shirt, assembled from your choice of premium fabric, for around half of what your traditional clothier charges.

For example, before I found BlankLabel.com, I went to a guy in DC who charges a minimum of $150 per shirt (price goes up depending on what material you choose). Don’t get me wrong, his shirts are amazing. But it’s still a lot of money for a dress shirt.

Alternatively, Blank Label dress shirts start around $70 and go up from there. Even their most expensive ones are less than $150, which is a great price for custom made shirts.

Truly Custom

The other cool thing about this company is their “customize your own” online tool. You can literally choose every aspect of your shirt – the color, weight, collar type, style (cuffs, shoulders, buttons, etc.) and, most importantly, size. Not just small, medium large. Every single measurement (see below for more on measurements).

You can also have your sleeves and/or collars embroidered for no extra charge. Want a white shirt with pink contrast on the cuff and a collar that says “Kickass” on the inside? Done.

Of course, you don’t have to build your own shirts. You can simply pick from Blank Label’s regularly updated collection of dress shirts. You can’t go wrong with these, and they will still be custom made for your size and body type.

Finding Your Size

Figuring out your measurements can be a daunting task, but Blank Label makes it easy. There are six measurements needed to create the perfect shirt – collar, chest, sleeve, shoulder, midsection and length.

To find these measurements, you can:

Measure your best fitting shirt (assuming you have one shirt that fits well)
Send BL your best fitting shirt (they will mail it back to you for free)
Take a survey so their tailors can estimate your measurements (they’re experts at this)

I chose to measure my favorite shirt. I don’t own one of those soft measuring tapes that tailors use, so I just used a regular old measuring tape, and it worked fine. Blank Label even has a video series on their website that shows you exactly how to measure each part of the shirt, which takes all of the guess work out of the process.

If you don’t have a dress shirt that fits well, you can always buy one from a local tailor. It will cost you, but you can use this as your base model for new shirts.

Get Started Today

If you’re not yet convinced, go to BlankLabel.com and play around with the customization tool. If nothing else, you can see what the possibilities are. Then, when you’re ready for a new dress shirt (or three), definitely give BL a try.