being tall or stocky is difficult too, i’m 6’2″ and VERY broad shouldered, it was hell for my mother buying clothes for me when i was a child because i was so tall, i’ve been wearing adult size clothes since i was 5 and have to wear outsized clothes now. most shirts i wear are XXL at least. it doesn’t help that i’m irish and not a lot of shops here. stock that kind of size.
i’ve actually been told by a shop clerk that i can’t find clothes in my size because “we don’t stock clothes for fat people”.
I’m about 6’8″, and trust me, what you call hell is not a lot. Because it’s about the clothes, yes; but not only that. 90% of beds are too small for me, so when I sleep in hotels, my feet are out of the bed; it’s the same for most cars because there’s not enough space between the seat and the roof; et caetera.
Also I often hit my head inside houses where doors are under 2 meters tall, and the subway’s doors are too small for me.
And I can’t even fathom how horrible it must be for people who are taller than me. I’ve seen a guy in the subway once, he was like 7’4″ tall… I pity him.
i understand that, my uncle is 6’6 and has similar issues, my friend is nearly 6’10 too, i am kinda oddly proportioned so my abdomen is longer than many people’s meaning i have the EXACT same problem with cars as you, i couldn’t fit into my first car because of it. when i was commuting by bus to college last year my head was through the roof nearly. i don’t doubt that it’s hell for you though. my great aunt lives in a house built nearly 150 years ago, the doorways are a lot less than 2 metres tall.
my issue is admittedly more caused by my odd proportion and broad build than my height. it doesn’t help that a lot of things like clothes and such are made for more “average” sized people still.
It is absolutely terrible. I’m 7’1″, and I can tell you, it is not fun at all. I have given up shopping in actual stores, and just order custom-fit clothes online. Even though it’s more expensive that way, it’s likely cheaper than driving around to dozens of stores to find a single pair of pants. I have had a few problems with my back because I’ve spent so much of m life slouched over or curled up in order to fit. And the worst of all has been any sort of physical intimacy with any of my partners – my current SO is only 5’7″
I have had the exact same problem. I was never told I was too fat by a store clerk, it was from my mom. I remember going through driver’s ed. I had to sit in a tiny little car with my head touching the roof constantly. I almost hit another car because I couldn’t see it in the blind spot because the frame was in the way.
6’11” here, with a footsize of EU 50 (US 16). In the town I live in now, I have two stores I can get clothes in, and I finally found a store with more than one pair of shoes my size. Yay options! Limited options, but options none the less.
I still remember needing new shoes, and having to go through 22 stores before finding the only pair they had.. the pain! >.<
Being tall and lean is really difficult as well. I’m 6’3″. More stores are starting to stock extra-long pants, but if I want to buy a shirt that won’t give me midriff, I need to buy at least large or xl which I’m swimming in, long enough sleeves are nearly impossible, and most shirts or coats that are structured at all, the waist falls on my ribcage. I’ve been searching for a leather jacket for 5 years with no luck, at any price.
Moral of the story, unless you’re perfectly average, which no one really is, you’re going to struggle, especially if you’re on the tail ends of the bell curve either way.
Heh. I’m 5’9 and a smidge. Pretty much dead average for American men. 32×32 pants and Large t-shirts are pretty common. Where I’m screwed is my shoe size. Most places don’t stock 11½ shoes. They have all the halves up to 10½, then it just skips from 11 to 12.
Though sometimes I do have trouble with slacks or button-down shirts being too tight around the thighs or chest.
for pants and skirts (length wise anyways), the sewing machine can be your best friend. I still look like I’m wearing highwater pants with my capris. My give a damn level is even lower 😉
I’m about six feet, but with a long body and comparitively shorter legs. This means that most T-shirts don’t cover my middle. The result is that if I don’t buy extra long, I end up looking as if I’ve undergone a sudden growth spurt during the night. Spectacles are also a problem, since my optician told me I have an unusually large head, meaning that most pairs are too small for me. It can sometimes be really annoying to be out of the ordinary.
I’m 4’6″ which is actually short enough that capris fit me like regular pants. Nothing else fits though… and I’m fat which just makes everything even more difficult.
At least you can always resort to children’s clothes. As a 6’4″ guy its incredibly difficult to find clothes that fit, especially pants and long sleeves. And thrift stores? Forget about it! O the cruelty!
I’m 170 cm (almost 5’8″) tall, and I used to have a problem with clothes off the rack being too short in the arm and leg. For the past ten years, however, everything seems to be the perfect length for me. Has my height has become average???
Another great strip! I love Your facial expressions, especially.
Trust me, I hate shopping for clothes, too! Clothes for teen girls these days are so small, I have to buy pants that are a size or two too big in order for them to be long enough.
And shirts? I have a hard enough time finding one that isn’t made for a stick figure and/or has a low neckline. Drives me insane.
My friend can’t wear any shoes/boots that go over her calves, because they are so muscular. She also has a problem finding flattering shirts because she has a smaller waist, but has a short torso and J or something boobs.
I have a bubble butt, so I have to get pants that are too small for my butt and cause it to fall out until the arse area stretches out enough to fit it.
It…It’s like looking into a mirror.
I’m 153cm tall and got hourglass shapes. I’ve come to terms that i have to alter all the clothes i buy no matter what.
Petite has to do with the length measurement in segments down your body, not the measurement of how big around you are. I’m 5’4″, plus-sized, and need petite pants and custom bras because I’m petite from my shoulders to the girls, then my legs are stumpy. My torso from the girls to my hips is not only regular, it’s elongated. That, and a very large rack, is why I need tunic-length shirts unless I want to show my midriff with a properly-fitting shirt…
Whoo Hoo! I just found this site and have finished reading the entire Archive of Chaos Life. Now I have to start reading Find Chaos. I liked your FB page so I can get updates. Thank You!
Feel your pain! I’m a short but stocky gal with an ample chest. Shopping for clothes is one of my least favorite things, right down there with paying taxes. The men’s section has helped a lot, especially since the styles of adult women’s clothes tend to cater to 5-year-olds.
Being 4’9″ I hear ya. At this point my 10 year old son and I wear the same size. I have to be careful when putting away clothes. Don’t want my shorts going into his pile. lol
100% sympathetic. I’m 5′ 2″ and am absolutely disgusted with shopping. Don’t like the experience at all, which is then exacerbated by height-clothing size/proportion issues. “Petite sizes” is my favorite phrase, but of course, everyone my size has already been there. *headdesk*
I’m not tall. I’m 5’5 with a very small frame and long legs and a short torso.
My problems include:
* High waisted skirts/riding breeches are only a couple of inches below my boobs.
* Boots that are supposed to be just under knee height actually stop at the fullest part of my calf
* I am too short for the tall height in tall riding boots, but too tall for regular height.
* Most skirts appear shorter on me than they do on other people a cute mid-thigh skirt can be borderline butt-check showing on me sometimes!
* Capris tend to stop at mid calf
Having a 27″ inseam, I feel your pain. Capri’s are the worst because they just make it look like you’re waiting for a flood.
ok, where’s that simpsons clip with milhouse and the flood pants? 😀 (found it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M67E9mpwBpM)
I’m also bad with clothes shopping. Seems my waist doesnt match my leg length. I figured I’m build like Gimli or something
Haha yeah pretty much!!
how short are you?
My 4’10” sister’s nice clothes all come from the kids section. She’s actually gotten pretty good at removing or covering up the cartoon characters…
Wait, you mean that capris aren’t supposed to be that long? Well that certainly explains a lot….
being tall or stocky is difficult too, i’m 6’2″ and VERY broad shouldered, it was hell for my mother buying clothes for me when i was a child because i was so tall, i’ve been wearing adult size clothes since i was 5 and have to wear outsized clothes now. most shirts i wear are XXL at least. it doesn’t help that i’m irish and not a lot of shops here. stock that kind of size.
i’ve actually been told by a shop clerk that i can’t find clothes in my size because “we don’t stock clothes for fat people”.
I’m about 6’8″, and trust me, what you call hell is not a lot. Because it’s about the clothes, yes; but not only that. 90% of beds are too small for me, so when I sleep in hotels, my feet are out of the bed; it’s the same for most cars because there’s not enough space between the seat and the roof; et caetera.
Also I often hit my head inside houses where doors are under 2 meters tall, and the subway’s doors are too small for me.
And I can’t even fathom how horrible it must be for people who are taller than me. I’ve seen a guy in the subway once, he was like 7’4″ tall… I pity him.
i understand that, my uncle is 6’6 and has similar issues, my friend is nearly 6’10 too, i am kinda oddly proportioned so my abdomen is longer than many people’s meaning i have the EXACT same problem with cars as you, i couldn’t fit into my first car because of it. when i was commuting by bus to college last year my head was through the roof nearly. i don’t doubt that it’s hell for you though. my great aunt lives in a house built nearly 150 years ago, the doorways are a lot less than 2 metres tall.
my issue is admittedly more caused by my odd proportion and broad build than my height. it doesn’t help that a lot of things like clothes and such are made for more “average” sized people still.
* in ireland sorry.
It is absolutely terrible. I’m 7’1″, and I can tell you, it is not fun at all. I have given up shopping in actual stores, and just order custom-fit clothes online. Even though it’s more expensive that way, it’s likely cheaper than driving around to dozens of stores to find a single pair of pants. I have had a few problems with my back because I’ve spent so much of m life slouched over or curled up in order to fit. And the worst of all has been any sort of physical intimacy with any of my partners – my current SO is only 5’7″
I have had the exact same problem. I was never told I was too fat by a store clerk, it was from my mom. I remember going through driver’s ed. I had to sit in a tiny little car with my head touching the roof constantly. I almost hit another car because I couldn’t see it in the blind spot because the frame was in the way.
6’11” here, with a footsize of EU 50 (US 16). In the town I live in now, I have two stores I can get clothes in, and I finally found a store with more than one pair of shoes my size. Yay options! Limited options, but options none the less.
I still remember needing new shoes, and having to go through 22 stores before finding the only pair they had.. the pain! >.<
Being tall and lean is really difficult as well. I’m 6’3″. More stores are starting to stock extra-long pants, but if I want to buy a shirt that won’t give me midriff, I need to buy at least large or xl which I’m swimming in, long enough sleeves are nearly impossible, and most shirts or coats that are structured at all, the waist falls on my ribcage. I’ve been searching for a leather jacket for 5 years with no luck, at any price.
Moral of the story, unless you’re perfectly average, which no one really is, you’re going to struggle, especially if you’re on the tail ends of the bell curve either way.
You and me both! (5’4″ here).
Heh. I’m 5’9 and a smidge. Pretty much dead average for American men. 32×32 pants and Large t-shirts are pretty common. Where I’m screwed is my shoe size. Most places don’t stock 11½ shoes. They have all the halves up to 10½, then it just skips from 11 to 12.
Though sometimes I do have trouble with slacks or button-down shirts being too tight around the thighs or chest.
for pants and skirts (length wise anyways), the sewing machine can be your best friend. I still look like I’m wearing highwater pants with my capris. My give a damn level is even lower 😉
I’m about six feet, but with a long body and comparitively shorter legs. This means that most T-shirts don’t cover my middle. The result is that if I don’t buy extra long, I end up looking as if I’ve undergone a sudden growth spurt during the night. Spectacles are also a problem, since my optician told me I have an unusually large head, meaning that most pairs are too small for me. It can sometimes be really annoying to be out of the ordinary.
I’m 4’6″ which is actually short enough that capris fit me like regular pants. Nothing else fits though… and I’m fat which just makes everything even more difficult.
My God, I know. I’m 5’2″ and hate clothes shopping.
I absolutely know the feeling. They never make anything for short people…
Wow… Here I am all this time thinkin’ that K was kinda tall…
At least you can always resort to children’s clothes. As a 6’4″ guy its incredibly difficult to find clothes that fit, especially pants and long sleeves. And thrift stores? Forget about it! O the cruelty!
‘the hell is a capris?
Named for the isle of Capri, where the style supposedly originated, Capris or Capri pants, are pants of such a length that the bottom hem should hit at mid-calf, not the ankle as shown above.
http://images.brandretailers.com/moddeals/assets/products/131584/large/bottoms-pants-capri-pants-with-tassel-belt-black-shop-moddeals-1.jpg
ouch.
rrrrrrrrrreeeeeeaaaaaaalllllyyyyy good comic! will be happy to see more!! =D
I’m 170 cm (almost 5’8″) tall, and I used to have a problem with clothes off the rack being too short in the arm and leg. For the past ten years, however, everything seems to be the perfect length for me. Has my height has become average???
Another great strip! I love Your facial expressions, especially.
“Has my height has…” what??? I guess I didn’t proofread that.
According to the dictionary of numbers addon…yes. XD
Every Turtle Neck turns you into a Ninja!
YES.
Trust me, I hate shopping for clothes, too! Clothes for teen girls these days are so small, I have to buy pants that are a size or two too big in order for them to be long enough.
And shirts? I have a hard enough time finding one that isn’t made for a stick figure and/or has a low neckline. Drives me insane.
My friend can’t wear any shoes/boots that go over her calves, because they are so muscular. She also has a problem finding flattering shirts because she has a smaller waist, but has a short torso and J or something boobs.
I have a bubble butt, so I have to get pants that are too small for my butt and cause it to fall out until the arse area stretches out enough to fit it.
I share your friends problem with large calves. onestopplus(dot)come has extended calf sizes in boots 🙂
Did you both travel through DFW airport a few months back? Because I swear I saw a couple that reminded me of you two.
It…It’s like looking into a mirror.
I’m 153cm tall and got hourglass shapes. I’ve come to terms that i have to alter all the clothes i buy no matter what.
Oh my god, this is my life. Now I’ve just resorted to mangling all of my clothes with the sewing machine
I’m 4′ 11″ and i can NEVER find any clothes so i can really feel this feel.
Finally, someone understands my pain!
Apparently I’m Petite because I’m 5’2″. I’m a Plus size Petite!
Petite has to do with the length measurement in segments down your body, not the measurement of how big around you are. I’m 5’4″, plus-sized, and need petite pants and custom bras because I’m petite from my shoulders to the girls, then my legs are stumpy. My torso from the girls to my hips is not only regular, it’s elongated. That, and a very large rack, is why I need tunic-length shirts unless I want to show my midriff with a properly-fitting shirt…
Whoo Hoo! I just found this site and have finished reading the entire Archive of Chaos Life. Now I have to start reading Find Chaos. I liked your FB page so I can get updates. Thank You!
Feel your pain! I’m a short but stocky gal with an ample chest. Shopping for clothes is one of my least favorite things, right down there with paying taxes. The men’s section has helped a lot, especially since the styles of adult women’s clothes tend to cater to 5-year-olds.
I do look forward to your observation on the DOMA ruling.
I completely feel your pain. I’m 4’7 and I hate shopping for clothes.
Being 4’9″ I hear ya. At this point my 10 year old son and I wear the same size. I have to be careful when putting away clothes. Don’t want my shorts going into his pile. lol
100% sympathetic. I’m 5′ 2″ and am absolutely disgusted with shopping. Don’t like the experience at all, which is then exacerbated by height-clothing size/proportion issues. “Petite sizes” is my favorite phrase, but of course, everyone my size has already been there. *headdesk*
I’m not tall. I’m 5’5 with a very small frame and long legs and a short torso.
My problems include:
* High waisted skirts/riding breeches are only a couple of inches below my boobs.
* Boots that are supposed to be just under knee height actually stop at the fullest part of my calf
* I am too short for the tall height in tall riding boots, but too tall for regular height.
* Most skirts appear shorter on me than they do on other people a cute mid-thigh skirt can be borderline butt-check showing on me sometimes!
* Capris tend to stop at mid calf
It’s a curse.
I feel this pain, I’m 5’1 and I got the hourglass shape
they barely have any clothes for that that aren’t tube tops or short shorts
Shopping tall is just as bad. All pants look like capris look on you and capris look like awkward shorts…I wear dresses a lot…
Turtlenecks scare me. I call them noose-shirts.
Oh my goodness, it’s so true. I learned to sew so I could just hem/make my own clothing.
I’m 5’8″ and every thing that’s a dress on someone your height is a shirt on me.
Unless you’re average, you’re getting the short end on clothes.
-_- Average pants.. waaay too long. Petites… too long. Capris… just barely too short.
As someone who is 4’10 and busty, you don’t know the half of it >.<