Tiny guys and shirt shopping

[D0LL]

I see a lot of guys here seem to be pretty skinny, as well as pretty short sometimes. As a shorter, skinny guy myself, I have absolutely no idea where to buy shirts that fit. My torso is slimmer than a cis male's, and it's also a little short because of my scoliosis, so even guy's small sizes are HUGE on me.

I've tried countless times shirt shopping, and always get discouraged, dysphoric, and go home with nothing. Extra smalls seem to be rare as hell, and because of my wide shoulders, kid's XL's are too small on my shoulders and too big everywhere else. :/ Even guy's small sizes are sometimes too small on my shoulders (winter clothes shopping is going to be awful, I already know it).

So I just wanna know: where the hell do I find something that fits???
I'm so sick of being stuck with my couple of band shirts and countless girl shirts.

[Jack_M]

You don't have to be skinny, guys shirts are made for male bodies and it's hard to find anything that works. I  tend to find anything I can find that can button up ends up looking too big on me, but any smaller and it wouldn't fit my shoulders and hips.

Until T helps me get a straighter shape and the top surgery is done, I've resigned myself to knowing that button shirts are rarely going to work too well. I own only one shirt that I button up that doesn't get tucked in my pants. that's how difficult I find it.

[Crow]

I shop in the teenage boys' section. Size XL in boys or 16/18 generally fits me pretty much perfectly.

I also pretty much always wear a vest, which tends to conceal both improperly fitting clothes and the fact that I never actually bind my chest (if I wear anything more binding than a tight sports bra, I end up in almost debilitating pain by the end of the day).

[D0LL]

You don't have to be skinny, guys shirts are made for male bodies and it's hard to find anything that works. I  tend to find anything I can find that can button up ends up looking too big on me, but any smaller and it wouldn't fit my shoulders and hips.

Until T helps me get a straighter shape and the top surgery is done, I've resigned myself to knowing that button shirts are rarely going to work too well. I own only one shirt that I button up that doesn't get tucked in my pants. that's how difficult I find it.

I just feel like larger guys will have an easier time filling out shirts.
Button-ups are the worst for me as well. I only own one men's button-up, and while it's a little big on me, it basically fits the same it would a cis guy. It was just luck that I happened to find it. Nothing else even comes close to fitting the way it does.

I have trouble with plain t's as well. I've bought a few small band shirt from Hot Topic, because they're men's shirts but are made smaller to also fit women. So far these are all that work for me. Although even these hang down pretty low, and the shoulders are a little tight already. So I feel like once I bulk up with more muscle the shoulders will suddenly be too small and the rest of the shirt will still be too big. I also worry about how these already large clothes are going to fit after I get top surgery and have even less to fill shirts out with.

[Jack_M]

If you bulk up your shoulders you'll also bulk up your chest. Males tend to have a bigger chest circumference than females. My brother is a skinny little thing and has a bigger chest circumference than me, even though I'm unfortunately "large" chested.

T will help you fill out a shirt. I'm not skinny, just average and I can't fill out a shirt. I tend to have to go for medium shirts for shoulders and hips but in the chest it's too big, a small might even be too big! I'm 5'8" and 155 lbs. I found skinny fit would sometimes work but problem with them now is adding in growing biceps and I don't think skinny fit like that so much .

[Soren]

If you're okay with plain tee shirts, you can always go to a craft store like Micheals. You should be able to find any size shirt, fitted or not, in a huge range of colors. They're usually about $4, but on sale I've gotten some as cheap as $2

[JesseO]

Don't really love their stuff but have you ever tried Aeropostale? Back in the day I used to go there because they do carry XS - usually a lot of it. Express also carries XS dress shirts....though I would suggest never buying anything there without a coupon/when it's on sale as they have coupons all the time and you can combine coupons with sales (shirts buy one get one 40% off, plus you can use a $15 off $30 coupon). Also, some Forever 21 stores (if you have them there) have a men's section. It kind of sucks cause 90% of the store is women's clothes, but they also carry men's XS. In fact, I wear a medium and there was a shirt I wanted to order BUT they only have XS left .

[androgynoid]

kid's XL's are too small on my shoulders and too big everywhere else. :/ Even guy's small sizes are sometimes too small on my shoulders (winter clothes shopping is going to be awful, I already know it)

Kids' sizes are really wonky on me too. A kid's 18-20 fits in the shoulders, is baggy and too short, and the sleeves are too short but the wrists are huge. I don't even know.

You say that smalls are sometimes too small in the shoulders, but not narrow enough elsewhere? My dad has a similar problem; he has an XL neck and shoulders, a medium waist, and short arms. I believe he wears Calvin Klein dress shirts from Macy's. They're sized by neck and arm measurements, so you can get a medium neck/shoulders and short arms (the torso will probably be shorter too if the arms are short) in an extra-slim cut. Any shirt that's sized by neck/arm rather than S/M/L should be a better, more 'custom' fit, especially if it comes in slim and/or extra-slim sizes. 

A small neck is 14-14 1/2", a medium is 15-15 1/2". I think a short sleeve is 31-32" and a medium is 33-34", but I'm not positive on sleeve length. So for you I'd look for a 15-15 1/2" x 31-32" in a slim fit. It might be slightly obscure and a little hard to find, but if my dad can find a 17-17 1/2" x 31-32" it's definitely possible.

For what it's worth, I'm average men's height (5'10") with a short torso for my height (my height is entirely legs), and I have a couple small dress shirts from H&M that fit just about perfect in the shoulders while bordering on too short (both sleeves and torso), so H&M might be worth a shot. They're sized S/M/L so the fit might not be perfect, but if you can get into a store and try them on it's worth a shot. They'll also be cheaper than anything you can find at Macy's.

Target also has an 'athletic fit' that's on the slim side, but they're not very short. The standard fit (I forget what it's called)
is pretty billowy on me; I shouldn't have bought that one without trying it on.

Express is more expensive, but I've found that a small extra-slim fit fits me pretty much like a glove. Fits in the shoulders, sleeve length is spot-on, not overly baggy around my hourglass waist.

At this point I'm going through all the brands of shirts I have in my closet. Old Navy smalls are pretty long and boxy, so is Ruff Hewn. I have one by French Connection that's an XS and fits like a dream, but I got it from a thrift shop and have never looked up where I can get more or how much they might cost. edit: I just googled French Connection and apparently it's an $80 shirt. Score!

All in all, your best bet is probably a department store. You can get dress shirts during sales at fairly reasonable prices; I know my mom waits until the huge sales to shop for my dad.

Wow, sorry for the novel of a post. I hope something in here is useful.

[Lyric]

There are plenty of genetic males with the same situation and they manage. You just have to keep trying things on until you find something that suits you. I've always been very slender and practically all men's shirts fit super loose on me. It's just a look I came to accept. I have also bought a lot of things in the boy's department. You can buy fabrics that shrink substantially, but the arms had better be extra long.

In the later years of my menswear shopping I came to like shopping for shirts at thrift stores. Everything is pre-shrunk and pre-faded there-- and the variety is often pretty huge. Of course, the prices are a lot better there, too, but I would shop at Goodwill regardless just because I like to.

~ Lyric ~

[Alex308]

I am too small to buy anything from the men's department but find buying from the children's scetion embarrassing and many of the clothes look childish. Because of that a long time ago I started buying all my clothes from American Eagle and the stuff fits perfectly. I find that stores geared to teens like that have smaller clothes that actually fit and because it's not from the kids section the quality is better. Also, added benefit when stuff goes on clearance it's always the really small stuff and the really large stuff that is leftover. So since I'm XS I do all my shopping from the clearance section online at American Eagle and save a lot of money.

[AdamMLP]

I don't know if you have H&M in America, but that's supposed to be really good for trans guys over here.  I'm pretty lazy and rarely go clothe shopping, most of my shopping is done online because I don't have transport, and the nearest place with a decent variety of shops is an hour drive away, longer on public transport.  From the sounds of it you guys seem to have a better variety of cheap-ish places to go.

[DriftingCrow]

I don't know if you have H&M in America, but that's supposed to be really good for trans guys over here. 

We do have H&M in America, and that's where I've gotten my best-fitting male shirts. They also have a lot of size XSs there. I'd also suggest Express Men's because there shirts come in XS and they fit me (I'm 5'2" and 34" chest if that helps you compare sizes), and if you get their Rewards Card and on their mailing list, there's great deals. Urban Outfitters is also pretty good.

[tvc15]

If this helps any, I used to buy boys' clothing, either L or XL, but now those don't fit me and I went all the way to a men's medium. I actually brought a bunch of my shirts to a tailor to make them shorter, because while I fill out the shoulders, the length is usually too long. If you have the money to do that, or know someone who can sew (or heck, maybe you can even do it yourself) you might want to look into that. I have to wear M because of my shoulders and hips. S will sometimes fit but can be just way too form-fitting for comfort.

Different brands can have HUGELY different sizing. I recommend checking out thrift stores and perusing their boys and men's sections. I found an adult-sized medium shirt that fit me very well AND was only about 23 inches long, which happens to be perfect for a shorty like me.

[Tadpole]

Guys shirts in a medium or large work quite well for me. I'm 5'2. But I'm not skinny or terribly fat either. I have a lot more trouble finding men's tank tops that would work for me. They hang down far too long and just otherwise tend to fit me wrong. Pants are also a problem because of my height, and shoes because of my foot size being a women's 7 meaning with guys shoes I would want to go no higher than a men's 6 and sometimes these smaller sizes are hard to find.

[patrick]

I'm about 5'5, 8 stone so really small and get all my clothes from Topman, you can buy stuff from there online if you're in the US, the shipping might be a lot but I would definitely recommend it. Some of the shirts are too tight fitting but the plain t shirts they do are a great fit, they do a size xxs which is tiny, I wear size xs and s from Topman and find it's perfect fit for how small I am, baggy enough to hide hips yet tight enough fit for your shoulders and chest.

[EliNewGuy]

Two suggestions, at almost opposite ends of the price range:  Patagonia and Uniqlo.  Patagonia clothes are bomber - made to last and to me worth every penny, and they sell men's XS in many of their garments (though not all, to my occasional consternation).  I love their button-down shirts and those make up half my short-sleeve button-down wardrobe.  I pass well when wearing those shirts, in part because they are patterned and textured and so they break up chest-area curves well.

At the cheaper end, Uniqlo now has online shopping (that just started last year) so you can finally get the clothes without going to NYC!  For the price, the clothes have so far held up well, and the other half of my button-down short sleeves and 2/3 of my long-sleeves are from there.  They sell XS in men's for most of their product. 

I have a few V-neck T-shirts from American Eagle in XS that I like, but generally I confine myself to the two above when I feel like going on a shopping "spree."  The good thing about Uniqlo is that I can walk out of there with a giant bag of stuff for just over $100.  I'm lucky to get 2-3 items at "Patagucci" for that price. 

[Reese]

I've compiled a list of stores that sell Men's XS and XXS

American Apparel: XXS, XS
Topman: XXS, XS
H&M: XS
Express: XS
Aeropostale: XS
Uniqulo: XS
Amercan Eagle: XS
Hollister: I've seen XS very rarely on eBay or at Plato's Closet
Hot Topic: XS
Gap: XS

A lot of those brands can run a lot of $$$, but I highly recommend going on eBay to find XS.  Even if you're uncomfortable wearing used clothes, I've found a lot of clothes new with tags!  I got some Express shirts in XS for $30 brand new   Also, American Apparel is great because they run pretty small.  I can even get away with wearing a small there a large part of the time since their clothes shrink a lot.

[Cas]

I don't know if you have H&M in America, but that's supposed to be really good for trans guys over here.  I'm pretty lazy and rarely go clothe shopping, most of my shopping is done online because I don't have transport, and the nearest place with a decent variety of shops is an hour drive away, longer on public transport.  From the sounds of it you guys seem to have a better variety of cheap-ish places to go.

I find menswear at H&M really good as well (I'm really short too - 5'2). Next has some smaller sizes and Topman is good although I tend to find their stuff makes me look really young (I don't need any help in that department x.x 27 and mostly look about 14.)

[DriftingCrow]

While we're on the topic of shirts. . .

Do measurements for men (like where you measure) different than for women?

I was thinking of ordering a shirt on-line and looked at the female measurements for the female shirts and they give the bust measurement, while the men's gives a "chest" measurement. Though, what is confusing for me is that the female bust sizes for their shirts are bigger than the mens. (Like, I am a 34" bust, so I'd be a medium in their female clothes, while the men's chest measurements are medium: 23.5" chest, large 24.5" chest, and extra-large is 25.5" chest). It doesn't make any sense to me that an extra-large in men's would be about ten inches too small for me.

Unfortunately, the site doesn't give one of those illustrations on where you're supposed to measure.

[androgynoid]

While we're on the topic of shirts. . .

Do measurements for men (like where you measure) different than for women?

I was thinking of ordering a shirt on-line and looked at the female measurements for the female shirts and they give the bust measurement, while the men's gives a "chest" measurement. Though, what is confusing for me is that the female bust sizes for their shirts are bigger than the mens. (Like, I am a 34" bust, so I'd be a medium in their female clothes, while the men's chest measurements are medium: 23.5" chest, large 24.5" chest, and extra-large is 25.5" chest). It doesn't make any sense to me that an extra-large in men's would be about ten inches too small for me.

Unfortunately, the site doesn't give one of those illustrations on where you're supposed to measure.

It sounds like those measurements are taken across the shirt when laid flat. So a medium would be 47" of fabric around the chest, which on top of that doesn't correspond exactly to your body measurement (otherwise it would be skin-tight). So take a shirt you have that fits you well, lay it out flat, and measure across the chest.