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Comment by blahedo | Hacker News Reader

This is why it keeps getting harder for me to find a pair of pants that fits me. I have a 28-1/2" waist (and I'm a guy), and most stores' listed sizes only go down to 30.

The good news is, since few people wear their pants at their waists anymore (even "conservative" non-saggy styles usually put the waistband halfway between true waist and hip), the size of a waistband really should be a couple inches larger than your actual waist measurement. Just not six inches. (At least, not on most men. Women on average have much more differential between their waist and hip measurement, but the popular fit is also all different, so I'm going to sidestep that for now.)

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I have the same problem - unusually skinny, baggy clothes make it look worse. Levis fortunately fit me, and European brands like H&M are fairly reliable.

Protip #1: try clothes in store, buy online via Gilt or one of those discount shopping websites. When they have something you want, the discounts are often amazing, though you have to make quick decisions because small sizes often sell out fast. Most of these sites are very good on reporting the sizes correctly or helping you convert US-EU.

Protip #2: you can't wear jeans and a nice-fitting black top your whole life unless you're Steve Jobs. And designer menswear can get very pricey...but a good tailor can make an something with an average fit look absolutely perfect. Buy sizes that fit comfortably where you're largest (eg my neck wants a 38 shirt even though my shoulders and chest aren't) and then pay a few $ extra to have the garment altered. This might add $30 or $40 to the price of a shirt, but suddenly you'll have access to a world of things that don't exist in your size, and it will actually be worth looking at what's on sale.

the discounts will easily pay for the alterations, and after a while you have a bunch of stuff in your closet that fits well, whether casual or business. Dressing actually becomes enjoyable instead of a chore.

try clothes in store, buy online

I'm sure you must mean buy online from an internet cafe with free WiFi without buying anything from the cafe.

I've got the same 28.5" waist size, but I've got it even worse as my ideal inseam is 35"!

You're absolutely right about not actually wearing them at your waist — most of my good pants measure 2" bigger than the nominal size and are worn 2" lower.

I'm usually lucky if I can get a 28x34, and that's generally only from high-end fashion places that sell only one length and expect almost all of their customers to to hem them (sometimes they come unhemmed and 35-37" long). The recent trend for rolled cuffs has been kind to me.

There is another option though: wear lower-rise women's pants as capris or hemmed way back into shorts. The sizing goes all over the place though, I have some from Size 1 to Size 5 that all fit nearly the same, even from the same brand.

Gotta move to Europe. It's shopping paradise for tall skinny dudes.

Living in Spain, I could walk into a store and buy a suit off the rack. That's physically impossible for a tall man in America, where Large means Fat. There are no fat people in Spain, so Large means "long arms".

I have a shirt labeled XL that doesn't look like you draped a sheet over my head. I defy you to find an XL shirt in the states that puts the buttons within 12 inches of your torso.

It's all good here. Book a flight!

Yeah, nobody here makes suits in 36L or 38L, and most of them bundle the pants with waists that are way huge, though at least they usually come unhemmed. Sleeves are always a problem, especially with the ridiculous way they often measure from the neck or mid-back instead of where the goddamn sleeve starts at the shoulder seam. Then the trend for shrunken suits goes and kicks my ass!

Dress shirts are even worse, sized from the neck of all things, and even the smallest ones are maternity-sized tents. "Slim fit" is generally only enough to make it possible to tuck in to my pants without giving me a diaper made of shirttails.

I've had some success importing stuff from South Korea from fashion sellers I found via eBay. Since they're aping the high end (often in unfortunate polyester), even the tiniest pants usually come with 34" or 35" inseams. Sleeves are still a problem though.

Ah the woes of being thin. I'm in the same boat (must be a rowing shell?) and while there are certainly worse problems to have, usually the only places I can find pants are H&M and Banana Republic. I've never been able to find 30" pants at a US department store. Sadly, now even H&M seems to be moving away from "European" cut clothes, and I don't have the means to go up market.

It's so exasperating trying to find a properly fitted shirt that I taught myself how to do some basic machine sewing. Highly recommended if you're tired of feeling like you're wearing a tent.

I've had a lot of luck at American Eagle, which is the only store I've ever found adult-sized clothing that was too small for me (their shirts sometimes go down to XXS, their pants and shorts to 26", though not every item comes that small).

Consider yourself lucky. My waist size is 26. There are only a couple of pants that are wearable without a belt (I hate belts). I have found the stores sizes to be pretty consistent and accurate. Here's a tip: try on the kids pants. They are often a bit too short, but the waist size is much better. The worse thing is t-shirts. They often fit like dresses as opposed to t-shirts.

I'm in a similar situation to you. I'm skinny and also short. This might explain why I noticed that shirts I found at The Gap seemed to fit better (were smaller) than ones I found at Old Navy.

Serious question, have you tried looking in the teen/young adult section? I think the biggest size there is around a 28".

I also have this problem, but I'm too tall for that. I'd end up with 6-8 inches of ankle showing if I did that.

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