Welcome to Answerland, the place where Chubstr answers your burning questions about everything. Questions about clothing, style, grooming, food & drink, entertainment, art, or anything in between – if you have questions, we’ll do our best to help you out. Click here to ask us a question, or leave it in the comments below.
It’s the evening edition of Answerland, and we’ve got some good questions this week – let’s get right to it.
The Earth Monkey asks: How should the older man (43) dress for style without looking like he can’t let go of his youth?
Thanks for the question. What I’ll tell you is the same thing I’d tell a gent of any age – start refining your style and putting together a look that fits you. You probably don’t want to rock the running shorts and the AC/DC t-shirt with those thongs you picked up at Old Navy. You want to create looks that have more thought put into them, that fit well, and that consist of quality pieces. Get your items tailored – it makes you look more put together no matter what your age. I’m not saying throw out all your jeans and tees, just make sure the ones you keep fit you well.
As far as where to shop, look at Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Nordstrom, and Macy’s – they all have clothing in extended sizes that might fit the bill. If you’re looking for style inspiration, I find some of the most amazing looks on older gents you find on street style sites like The Sartorialist. I basically want everything the men on that site are wearing. Ultimately, you want to wear things that fit your body and make you feel good. What’s the use if you don’t like what you’re wearing?
Adam asks: I love all your advice but most of it is centred around where to buy clothes in the US. Do you have any advice for British guys? It seems a lot harder to find good, plus-size clothes here than it does in the US.
When I started Chubstr, I always thought the exact opposite. There are some good places to shop for plus size clothing in the UK, especially if you’re okay with ordering online. Our friends at Jacamo have just about anything you could be looking for. Shoes, shirts, jeans, hats, outerwear, accessories – you name it, they’ve got it to in sizes to 5XL or 6XL depending upon the item. High & Mighty is a sister company to Jacamo, with a more refined and probably older target audience. They also carry sizes to 5XL. BigTallOrder is another site with big men’s clothing for gents in the UK, with sizes to 6XL.
Just because you’re in another country doesn’t mean that you can’t purchase from any U.S. shops. Ralph Lauren has a big & tall UK site, as does Rochester/Casual Male. Many stores ship internationally, so if you see something that stands out from an article we’ve written, check the site to learn more about their shipping policies. You may have inspired a future article – we’ll see what else we can round up for the big and tall british gent.
Feature photo by Bill Comstock & Underground photo by _dChris at flickr.
