<p>When my boys were young but not tall yet so needed shorter inseams we had the best luck with JC Penney and Land’s End. Ralph Lauren Boys size 20 worked well also and the styling is “adult.” My SIL has a son reaching that tween size also and complaining mightily how hard it is to find pants that fit. Somebody should capture this market they would make a fortune. There is a definite “gap” between boy sizes and man sizes. I hated that 28 waist, shorter inseam period.</p>
<p>The Gap has some pants available online in a 28x28. Keep checking back on the BR website. They will often carry sizes not available in the store.</p>
<p>[Shop</a> clothes for women, men, maternity, baby, and kids | Gap](<a href=“Gap”>Gap)
[Shop</a> clothes for women, men, maternity, baby, and kids | Gap](<a href=“Gap”>Gap)</p>
<p>We also had good luck with Boys size 18-20 when son was not quite big enough for men’s pants. </p>
<p>The Kohl’s salesperson told me they don’t carry past size 16… but they do! Just not in all of the styles.</p>
<p>HIMom – Most chains only carry what ‘corporate’ wants them to carry; corporate wants every store to have the same things for ease of inventory purposes. Drives managers bananas. One lady I was talking to said she can’t order enough size six which always sells out immediately. She could sell a hundred skirts in six; but they only send her half a dozen because <em>every</em> store gets half a dozen in every size no matter what they’ve sold or where they are. So she winds up with 30 size 12’s and no sixes. This is also why you can buy winter-rated coats in the Keys in August and swim-suits in Michigan in December. But just try to find swimsuits in the Keys in August and winter coats in Michigan in December. </p>
<p>Full disclosure: I am far from a six…but I shop for my daughter.</p>
<p>HImom- ours is tall and thin (6" 4" 160 lb when lifting and soaking wet), so needed length. Is this your son’s situation, too? If not, I will stand back!</p>
<p>My apologies-this is a bit long as well as a bit of a rant:
I feel as though my son needs a personal shopper (and I don’t want to be that person). He will be graduating in the spring, but has a paying job with the University at least through the summer. He doesn’t have to “dress” for that job on a daily basis, but does need business attire for travel and conferences as well as any professional job beyond his current one. He hates shopping and being fussed over by me and has gotten along so far with several pairs of khakis and one suit dating from high school. He did ask for dress shirts for Christmas because it seemed the sleeves on his old dress shirts “must have shrunk in the wash” (?some final growth spurt?). I sent him a link to a website with directions for taking his dress shirt measurements-he is thin, of average height with long legs and, apparently, long arms. Predictably, he hasn’t had the time or inclination to follow up on that so I’ve had to guess when buying him the dress shirts. Reading this thread makes me think he needs to go to Nordstrom’s or another major retailer in Minneapolis and put himself into the hands of a professional. The likelihood of him doing that-close to nil!</p>
<p>farfellena, our son has determined that the extra slim shirts from…Brooks Brothers…fit well. :eek: They come in neck and sleeve sizes. I did find a sale and ordered 2 online for Christmas.</p>
<p>[Custom</a> Suits & Mens Suits | Indochino](<a href=“http://www.indochino.com/]Custom”>http://www.indochino.com/)</p>
<p>Not cheap, but comparable to the suggested above brands, and “guaranteed to fit”. They had a groupon recently, and my hard-to-please son ordered a shirt from them (hasn’t gotten it yet, so I can’t tell if it does fit as promised…)</p>
<p>I just looked at those extra slim shirts from BBrothers…very nice… but the shortest sleeve length is 32…which is “regular” length, not short.</p>
<p>—I didn’t retain the inseam mentioned by the OP. which would indicate that the young man, though slim, has different challenges from our taller son.</p>
<p>Novelisto, I don’t know if you have one of these stores near you or if your daughter would be interested in anything like this… (Not sure how old she is or what her style is)… But have you heard of the store called 5, 7, 9? It gets its name from the most popular sizes that they stock… so it’s usually a great place to find the clothes that quickly sell out everywhere else. We had one at a mall at my college and I remember getting quite a few cute outfits there.</p>
<p>also, HI, I had an ex whom was very very slim. We got him a bunch of dress shirts at a Van Heusen outlet. They have a slim line.</p>
<p>Another vote here for Nordstroms, Brooks Bros. & Banana Republic. Nordstroms carries a slim line of men’s dress shirts, Brooks Bros. has slim pants - though I don’t recall their smallest waist size, I know that I have bought pants for my sons there that fit short slim physiques (5’5" -5’7" range & waists 29-30) & Brooks Bros. tailoring is excellent, & Banana Republic has the small waist sizes online for khakis in short length sizes too (occasionally one or two will find their way into the store) Brooks Bros. boys shirts size 20 will also possibly work, too. Banana Republic runs periodic sales (also check for their discount coupons online) & their men’s slim shirts size small are very nice (but pricey if not on sale). For small waisted & short jeans that aren’t too baggy, try Lucky (but they do tend to stretch a bit) - can get them on sale &/or with discount coupon at Lord & Taylor’s; & if price is not an issue, Mavi jeans (Matt style) are slim & come in small/short sizes as well (& can be ordered online).</p>
<p>Thanks Fendergirl. I’ve seen 5-7-9 but not around here. </p>
<p>You may wonder why, if I have a daughter, I jumped on here. Well, it’s my husband. He lost a ton of weight and is now a small…though not quite a 28 inch waist. More like a 30. Trying to find shirts that aren’t hanging on him is difficult. When the young men went for the humongous oversized clothes a few years ago, even the ‘small’ shirts hung to mid-thigh and the shoulder seam wasn’t even close. And all the pants, except jeans, are either peg-leg or baggy. I am appalled that even dress pants are baggy around the knees and either super-tight or flowy around the ankles. </p>
<p>He’s not 22 – he’s in his late fifties and doesn’t want to dress like a hip-hop star or a member of Glee! So I was hoping for a few clues.</p>
<p>I bought several pairs of khakis and cords at J.Crew in a 28 waist/30 length for my son. </p>
<p>J.Crew has several slim cut options, and their pants are styled for a younger physique - cut closer in the seat and legs.</p>
<p>Novel–Again, I recommend Nordstrum’s. We got 2 Hugo Boss dress shirts, cut slim. I had to pay $20 to have sleeves shortened, but the blue shirt is S’s favorite for dressy occasions.</p>
<p>The first suit son bought at Men’s Warehouse was tailored in awful way (waist way too small), and I doubt he’s worn it since he got the Hugo Boss suit from Norstrum’s. He brought it back once to MW. Had it been me, I would have demanded my money back. At Nordstrums, the gorgeous Brazilian tailor came and measured everything, explained options re: pant lengths, and did exactly as promised.</p>
<p>I’ve been hosting an athlete for past week, and took him shopping today. Even with all the Macy’s coupons, we did better at GAP, and had excellent service. He got jeans cut exactly right, and tops at 30% off. The 2 shirts he got needed no tailoring.</p>
<p>Thanks, Bookworm. But we don’t even have a Macy’s, let alone a Nordstrom’s. The fanciest store is Dillard’s and I can never find anything there I want to buy. Funny how some stores are like that. </p>
<p>I haved found out that Belks’ still does alterations…and if you have one of their premium cards, it’s free.</p>
<p>The nice thing about Lands End is that you can try ordering things (use a free shipping offer code) and then if they don’t work, return them to the nearest Sears store - you don’t have to pack them up to ship them back. Their “Tailored Fit” is a slim cut for men, but I think it starts at a 30.</p>
<p>If Lands End boys dept pants work, they are inexpensive. The “18 slims” are a 27 waist 30 inseam and the “20 slims” are a 28 waist 31 inseam. The “18 regulars” are a 29 waist 30 inseam and the “20 regulars” are a 30 waist 31 inseam.</p>
<p>I haven’t read the whole thread, but, for my short and slim son, the only dressy things we could get was tailored stuff. We would buy the two for one deals at S&K or Men’s Wearhouse. Bannana Republic has slim sizes that will often work, especially XS slim dress shirts.</p>
<p>This thread is a treasure trove. S has the same problems. He has always hated baggy pants, so he’s figured out different jeans styles that he likes and buys them online. He’s had good luck at Macy’s for dress pants. Joseph A. Bank and Sym’s have worked well for suits. We finally have a Nordstrom Rack nearby, so I’m sending him there over winter break. He has the patience to look and try stuff on, which I don’t. Summer will either mean study abroad or a significant internship–different wardrobe needs for each one.</p>
<p>The other thing that is worth it’s weight in gold to a slim, short person…a good tailor. We have a great one here…you really only find out about them by word of mouth. She has done some great work on DS’s clothes…hemming shirt sleeves, tailoring suit jackets. She is fabulous.</p>
<p>Re: Lands End…my two slim guys find their clothes, even the slim stuff, are much too wide. Both used to get European cut clothes which are not very plentiful here anymore. EVERYTHING (even the slims) seem to have “supersized”.</p>