You know I am starting to really bug out about Waist size. I go to what are considered outdoor/athletic stores, and the smallest waist size is usually a 34. There are tons of 38 and 40 waist sizes in the racks, yet no 30s to be seen. What is up with that? I mean who is their target audience? I thought it would be athletic people, yet it seems more and more cloths are geared towards the over weight.
Last night I was talking to a friend who is around 6’2" with a 34 inseam and a 34 waist. He also cannot find pants to wear. I mean when you have tons of waist sizes going past 40 in the racks and yet still only have inseams in the 30 or 32 range, something really seems to be wrong.
There is a catalog out there for women called Athleta, I wish there was something as good for athletic men.
I full understand what you are talking about. You have to understand outdoors shops typically need sales to ensure a profit. The people who buy lots of outdoors clothing (which happens to be trendy right now) tend to be the people who sit at a desk all day and grow (wider). If they were to stock only size 30" waist for me, the guy who wears the same two pairs of cycling shorts and three cool max tee shirts every day, they would make no money. Sorry, the odds are against us.
Or
They could be out of our size because we buy them out, and the 40" waist stays on the rack because large people typically don’t exercise, hence why they are large to begin with
It’s all about money (isn’t everything); a couple years back I sat on a plane next to a woman who turned out to be a designer for Ralph Lauren. I mentioned to her that I’ve never found their clothes to be a good fit. She laughed and said they’re not meant to fit guys like me (5’8", 155, 33 inch waist). The demographics of their sales and pricing are such that mostly middle aged men buy their stuff and so everything is designed around the average, middle aged America body (i.e., plus sized). My strong guess is that it’s the same deal with outdoor clothing. Patagucci, North Face, Mountain Hardware, all of that stuff is at least as pricey as Ralph Lauren and the clearly the folks out there who can afford the BMW X-5, the Thule rack and the P3 are not all young fit guys.
At the end of the day it’s the same reason you always see bald fat guys in Ferraris. With few exceptions no one can afford one until they’ve been wildly successful for a really long time, ergo, they are now bald and fat.
No kiddin.
I was just recently searching for dress pants, and dang. Of all the different stores I went to I only foun three pairs that even came close to fitting (32 length, 30-31 waist) My major rant, though, is so many companies that say they are makeing their clothes for “triathletes” and they have a huge waist and no ass. Am I the only triathlete with a decent posterior? Ive found buying “euro” designed stuff seems to fit the best. Not the stuff designed for Americans mind you, but the stuff they try and sell in their own country.
The rodent with a nice rear(if I do say so myself)
Thanks IAG for making my point a little more clear, and need I say stated a little more intelligently.
My problem in buying pants isn’t so much the posterior, but the fact that i have a 30" waist and big thighs. If i buy 30" waist jeans, i can’t even get my hands in my pockets. I end up buying 32 inch waist pants and cranking them down with a belt and then the pants get all crunched up under the belt and it gets muchos uncomfortable…
You have to buy the baggy loose fit jeans. Then when you have bigger thighs they fit about right. My wife made me buy new pants because the waist was bunching up too much.
Of course I now have a different problem. I am 6’1" and about 180 lbs. I used to wear a 33 W and 34 L but since getting serious about the nutrition aspect of racing I have dropped 15 lbs since the beginning of the year. Now I need a 30" or 31" W but guess what, most places don’t even make a 31W x 34L. The smallest waist they have that length in is 32". So if I want pants to fit I need to gain some gut.
I feel your pain… my waist has shrunk from a 32" to 31" and finally to 30"… I’ve always been rather skinny, but now, I’m borderline freak looking. I don’t have problems finding 30" waisted pants, but the thighs are always too tight. My thighs tend to be the equivalent of 2 waist sizes bigger… this tends to be universally consistent for all pants.
Then there’s the running shorts issue… I’m a medium with Segoi and Adidas… and a small with everyone else. Only cycling shorts that really fit my skinny ass well are Pearl Izumi mediums. I like the Castelli pad the best, but fit somewhere between their small and medium.
I’ve noticed the same problem. I tried to buy some dockers recently, plenty of sizes in the upper 30’s and 40’s. One pair of 32x32 that I have to wear with the waist band bunched up under my belt. And what is with the huge waist, tiny thighs built into these clothes? I’m looking for shorts, pants and boxers with a 30-32" waist and the thigh size that is built into the 36" clothes.
My wife has been complaining that department stores only carry down to size 4 - some of them only carry down to size 6!! Since she wears size 2 this causes no end of aggravation. She has figured out that the resale shops have lots of size 2 - it seems that everyone gets rid of the nice clothes they can’t wear anymore as they get fatter.
Dude! I feel your fashion pain! I am 5’8" and have a 26" waist. Stores always send me to the kid section, but then the pants are floods. A real hassle was the tux I had to rent last fall for a wedding. I have a 39" chest, so men’s jacket and kids pants. I looked like a circus clown…
