UK Men of a certain age - now that you've slimmed down, where do you buy your clothes?

35dollars
35dollars Posts: 832 Member
edited September 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
When I had a 41" waist, buying trousers was easy: everywhere catered for the "fuller figure", including delusional waist measurements with expandadable comfort panels so you never had to face up to your real waist size.

However, now I've slimmed down and there is pretty slim pickings (excuse the pun).

A couple of months ago, I was able to buy some 32" regular waist trousers which fitted great, but now even they are too baggy. Now, I really need a 30-31" waist, so out I went today to buy some - I'm looking for 30" regular fit, sitting on my waist not my hips:
  • M&S - their normal range starts at 32". They do have a very small selection in slim fit in 30", but that's no use to me
  • Next - 30" in slim fitting only, with button fly
  • John Lewis - nothing below 32"
  • River Island - ridiculous styles and nothing remotely fitting me
  • TK Maxx - have a good range of waist sizes in 1" increments, but crap styles in lengths that would only suit me if I took up stilt walking

So - to summarise: if you've come down to a 30" waist, where on earth do you get your trousers? There are plenty of trendy shops which stock clothes suitable for 7-feet tall hipsters with pipe-cleaner legs and stupid beards, but I'm a 5'10", 55 year-old, man with cyclist's legs - I can barely get slim-fit tousers over my calves never mind my thighs and *kitten*. (In any case, if I go into one of those trendy shops, they call security to eject me before the shop's clientele can post a message in Instabook about how uncool the shop has become :wink: )

Replies

  • 35dollars
    35dollars Posts: 832 Member
    Still not found an answer to this - anyone got any suggestions?

    At the moment, my only answer seems to be to buy 32" waist and get them tailored, which is far more of a faff than I want to expend on clothing
  • Duchy82
    Duchy82 Posts: 560 Member
    Have you tried online? I just looked at next and debenhams online and both do 30" regular fit trousers. I'm sure with both you could have them delivered to store for free (definitely next), you could try them there and then and exchange them if they are not right.
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    http://www.jacamo.co.uk/
    or high and mighty
  • 35dollars
    35dollars Posts: 832 Member
    Thanks guys.

    Good call on Jacamo - didn't think they would start that small, their image is generally for XL & upwards
  • ShammersPink
    ShammersPink Posts: 215 Member
    edited January 2017
    The Next where I live normally has 30" Chinos in regular fit, in different lengths (I get them for my partner - also a muscly-thighed cyclist, but a shorty). If they don't have them in stock, they will normally order them in for the next day, with the normal policy of being able to return them if they are not right.

    They have a good website, but sometimes it's better to go to the store to see what fabrics and styles you like best, then go to the till and ask them to order your size in.

    Debenhams is frustrating. They have so many different ranges, some of which go small enough, but most start at 32". I have wasted hours in there.

    I have frequently managed to get some at M&S, but it's very hit and miss. I've done better with their Outlet stores than their main stores - maybe the less common sizes end up there.

    Sainsburys Tu nominally starts at 30" in regular length only, but I rarely see them in the shops. They are cheap, and I think you could order online for delivery or "Click and Collect", and return to a local shop if not right.

    Altering trousers that are too big on the waist is beyond me, but taking up excess length is a doddle, and I have often done that if I've found nice trousers that are the right waist size but the wrong length going cheap in a sale. I tend to think that the time to take them up is less than the time I'd spend searching for the right size.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    What about trusty Levi's? House of Fraser perhaps. Burton? Do they still exist? As you can tell, I neither have a fella or shop on the high street much!

    Oh and try ASOS online, they do a huge range, might be too hipster but you never know.
  • gettingreallyfedupnow
    gettingreallyfedupnow Posts: 79 Member
    How smart do you need them to be? My other half buys his trousers from Mountain Warehouse or Trespass, but they wouldn't be office smart.
  • 35dollars
    35dollars Posts: 832 Member
    It's really office smart-ish that I'm looking for - company is 100% business casual, so they don't need to be formal trousers, but something near to that, or Chinos or equivalent (if such things still exist - a fashion follower I ain't).

    Looking in more detail at the Jacamo offering, they do start at 30", but they're all pretty casual - sweatpants mostly. I'll have a look at some of the others online, but I would really prefer somewhere I could go to try them on, if such a place actually exists
  • Tallawah_
    Tallawah_ Posts: 2,475 Member
    I accepted buying 32" and using a belt a long time ago...
  • ILoveGingerNut
    ILoveGingerNut Posts: 367 Member
    As a petite woman I buy at Banana Republic... Have you checked their man range? http://bananarepublic.gap.co.uk/
  • subakwa
    subakwa Posts: 347 Member
    TM Lewin (online) do suits down to a 28" waist.

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