Where do you find awesome shirts that fit tall people?

Posted by
Here, Megan's husband demonstrates why tall people have trouble with t-shirts.
Here, Megan’s husband demonstrates why tall people have trouble with some t-shirts.
I have a great love for fun t-shirts. Family Guy, Marvel superheroes, cats with top hats, etc. My husband is the same way, but he faces one hell of challenge:

He’s 6’2″. Regular-sized t-shirts make him look like a midriff-hinting high school cheerleader, and the only t-shirts I’ve found that fit tall people are plain and boring!

Where can tall people find interesting t-shirts to wear? A crowd like this must have some secret sources! -Alanna

Any tall Homies in the house? Do you have any go-to brands or stores for shirts that make sure your tummies are covered when you want them to be?

Comments on Where do you find awesome shirts that fit tall people?

  1. I have no suggestions, but I can commiserate. I’m 6’1″ tall and I do a lot of layering with tank tops under t-shirts that are too short. More and more online sites are carrying tall lines for women as well.

  2. My hubs is 6’4″ and luckily he is also bigger than average (was 3XLT at one point, now 2XLT aiming for just XLT) so Casual Male and Destination XL have stuff for him, and they have lots of fun tees with Marvel and “trendy-for-guys” deco (I’m thinking of his Johnny Cash tee). He has ordered XLT shirts from King Size catalog before, but they are more of the plain with a few more fun (though many are just plain weird as it is with many plus size catalogs for men and women). I warn you that shirts from there are really XLT and sometimes come too long where they’ve been made for basketball players 6’7″ and up! Old Navy online sometimes has tall-with-flavor, if you will, and you can’t beat $5 for a tall tank. Kolhs (online) is hit or miss, but more trendy than the rest.

  3. my husband has the same problem at 6’3″ and wears just XL shirts and 36×34 pants. We scour local stores looking for tall clothing, but usually it has to be anything ‘big and tall’ which unfortunalty he is not. Everything is either mmid-riff or WAY too big. I feel your pain. The only way we have been able to help his style is finding funny boxers!

  4. My husband is 6’2″ and heavier, so this is a problem for him sometimes. I haven’t found any place to get longer shirts sadly or at least ones that a hip 30 year old would want. As he also favors his band shirts I’m stuck. I doubt I could find a Big n tall Periphery, Metallica, or Anberlin shirt. I do wash all of our clothes in cold water and turn the dryer to medium heat so that they don’t shrink up too much. I know his mom would hang dry his and his brothers’ shirts to prevent upward shrinking as well.

    I do this for myself though sometimes: I’m 5’10” so not a giant, but still tall. I occasionally will get a shirt that is one size too big and take in the sides on my sewing machine, which makes it fit me, but it’s still got some length.

    • I was going to suggest taking in bigger shirts on the sewing machine too! If you have a bit of sewing know-how it’s only a five minute job. I’ve done this a lot for my guy, who has the opposite problem – he is so unbelievably skinny and kinda short that it’s a challenge finding adult clothes for him! We have found a few stores that cater for his size, so I just take in his band shirts and geek shirts that don’t come in XXXS 🙂

  5. Girl- I 100% understand your issue. My boyfriend is 6’7″ and the world just isn’t made in his size. The BEST place that I have found to take him shopping is The Foundry. It’s absolutely fantastic. The shop is geared toward “Big and Tall” but they have lots of t-shirts in LT. Their online shop doesn’t have as many items- the store front is much better. This isn’t what you were asking for but they also have a lot of good button down/date night shirts as well as work clothes (did someone say long sleeve shirt arms that are actually an appropriate length for tall men?). The best part? Your man wont look like he’s pushing 60 with a permanent table at Margaritaville (which is what the casual clothes at most B&T stores tend to look like).

    Since this is a tall person clothing post- anyone know where I can get short, white sport socks for a size 16-17 shoe? I’ve been all over the interwebs and all I can really find are the tall socks!

  6. My husband is 6’4″ and thin, so here are our tricks:

    For t-shirts and shirts, I line up both the M and L. Sometimes the L is only wider, and not any longer, so I go with the M. But sometimes the L is a several inches longer and only an inch or 2 wider, so then I go with the L. He finds a lot of graphic tees at Eastern Mountain Sports, if you like the nature-y stuff. The graphic tees from Sears weren’t long enough.

    For jeans, Sears often has 32 or 34 inch waist and 34 length for not that much. They have the boot cut and more modern styles, not just your Dad’s jeans.

    For dress shirts, JCPenny sometimes carries shirts with sleeves that are 36-37 inches long but in smaller sizes. Most of the time, the “athletic” cut is best since it is tapered, but the shoulders are still wide. The “slim” fit has narrower shoulders.

    • My husband is the exact same size as your husband, and we get all of his dress shirts from JCPenney. Stafford fitted shirts with 36-37 sleeves fit him well without any tailoring. It took us awhile to find them but I’m glad we did. Pants are another issue. 😉

      • He found some nice dress pants at the GAP. I think he tried on a style and then ordered it in a different color. I think the shipping was free.

  7. No advice but plenty of empathy. I wear guys t-shirts because they are longer. It amazes me that women’s designers don’t consider how much XL boobs will shorten the hemline of a t-shirt.

  8. Oooo my favorite subject shopping for my husband! My husband is 6’7″ 240# with a 34″ waist. So Big and Tall stores do not fit him. He has a very long torso but built upper body from all the swimming he does. So t-shirts/collared has been from Costco (Kirkland brand), H&M, and Eddie Bauer. He used to shop at Old Navy and the Gap as well, but I don’t really care for those stores (I have a big booty so they’re not made for me at all). Workout shirts from Adidas, Nike and Reebok fit him as well.

    Also check out Reddit – https://www.reddit.com/r/tallfashionadvice/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/tall/

    r/tallfashionadvice has a side bar full of stuff:

    Where to Shop

    Stores which carry tall sizes:

    Altus (online only)
    American Eagle
    Banana Republic
    Buckle
    Eddie Bauer
    Express (online only)
    Gap
    High & Mighty (UK)
    J. Crew
    Land’s End
    Levi’s
    L.L. Bean
    Macy’s
    Nautica
    Old Navy
    Uniqlo
    Carhartt
    Nordstroms/Nordstrom Rack
    Alloy
    JC Penney
    Dillards

    Stores which carry slim sizes but not tall sizes:
    Brooks Brothers

    Stores with regular sizing but are known to run long or slim:
    American Apparel
    H&M
    Merona by Target (Tees only)
    Zara

  9. My guy is big and my dad is big and tall. They live in plain t-shirts. Duluth trading company has the best shirts for all sizes, high quality, and guaranteed for life. For cool shirts it’s becoming more common to have larger sizes, my husband rides a Harley and we have no problem finding him big Harley shirts, and surprisingly Hot Topic carries bigger sizes too when he sees a band or comic shirt he likes.

    • I’d be careful with Hot Topic shirts, though — I’ve gotten several hand-me-town tees from my husband that shrank lengthwise in the wash. Although that could be more of an issue with his laundry skills than with the Hot Topic shirts.

  10. At 6’5″ and 6’1″, my husband & I both do all our shopping online: Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, Eddie Bauer are out favorites. My husband like Ames Bros t-shirts the best. They don’t come in talls but they are still longer and super soft.

    • I’m also a fan of Ames Bros t-shirts. They’re longer than most normal shirts and their heather colors, like you said, are very soft. With that said, they can be hard to find. Unless you live in a big city/town you won’t find them in retail stores. I usually purchase them from Project Shirt as they have a larger selection of Ames Bros than most other sites and their prices are decent.

  11. My husband is 6’4″ and thin with a LONG torso, so he has even more issues with t-shirts being too short. He has to wear a medium, or else he’d be swimming in a large. I’ve had some good luck with Teefury t-shirts being pretty long (sadly, threadless and Woot t-shirts are ALWAYS too short). And lots of Old Navy shirts come in tall sizes online.

    • Definitely seconding Teefury’s shirts running a little on the long side! My hubby isn’t quite as tall as some others mentioned here (5’11”) but he’s certainly long-waisted, so Teefury’s shirts fit him great. Our family is a huge fan of their GrabBag deals, because it’s hard to beat $9 for a geeky shirt, shipped. So far we’ve had good luck getting designs we like so it’s never been an issue with not liking the shirt we got.
      We’ve also had good luck with the Athletic cut shirts in Large from Target, and surprisingly enough WeLoveFine’s shirts in XL fit him REALLY well, and there’s a LOT of different options for “cool shirts” from them. Just be prepared to wait a few weeks for most shirts from WLF, because they typically don’t print the design until you order it.

  12. My husband is big, but not super tall. However he has a LONG torso and stubby little legs (like only a 30 inseam and he’s around 6’1). Kind of freakish. My ex husband was quite tall, and for both of them, the problem, more than t shirts (though that is an issue sometimes) is finding shoes for their really wide feet!! It’s so frustrating!

  13. I come from a family of bean-poles and the midriff top is a problem in our house. At 5’8″ tall I am a head and shoulder shorter then anyone else in my family. No of my long torsod relatives have figured out the cool t-shirt issue. You can find plan long t-shirts at a few major stores (gap, old navy, etc). But nerdy fun shirts are much harder to find. Occasionally if I am feeling energetic I will buy my brother (at 6’5″ tall) a cool shirt in XL and then take in the sides to reflect his thin build.

  14. Not so helpful on the men’s front – but for us tall women (I’m only a hair under 6’0) there are several brands that make men’s t-shirts super slim fit, but keep the length. Calvin Klein is my go-to – anything from a similarly ‘modern cut’ men’s brand is usually fitted closer to womens’ proportions, with a narrower waist-to-shoulder ratio and narrower collars.You need a little stretch in the material to accomodate boob/hip curve, but that’s not too hard to find.

    Also, while I’m skeeved out a bit by American Apparel, their tee shirts are the ones I use for club/event shirts or anything else that I need to print myself – there are a couple of self-design companies that let you use them. They’re a good bit longer than the usual printable tees, and their sizes actually expand in length as well as width as they go up. I think they also have some unisex shirts and tees on their site that are super long and still pretty slim cut.

    People always try to get me awesome nerdy tees in that ubiquitous ‘baby doll’ cut … ergh. SO much too short. One of these days I will make them all into pillows.

  15. you could simply find/create a design you like, a plain t-shirt and get the design printed on the t-shirt. or get a design t-shirt you like cut it and sew it on a plain t-shirt. My bf is average size and he baught tshirts that liiked like this so why no make them? The men in my family are really tall but also so skinny that they don’t look healthy in a tshirt they only wear them under shirts.

  16. You could have an awesome t-shirt wardrobe by ordering custom tees from CafePress.com. Many of the printed tees that are printed on “basic” mens tees come in tall sizes. A lot of the talls at Cafe Press are only XL+, but I know you can get large talls through other t-shirt printing companies. This was always the trouble in my hometown whenever people wanted to order event tees, because many of the men are quite tall and need “tall” sizes.
    You could even buy the basic blah t-shirts in bulk, and bring them to a custom printer to make them more exciting.

  17. I don’t know about for men, but I am tall with a long torso and find that fitted (versus the floaty style) maternity T’s are perfect. They’re cut much longer and have stretch to them as well.

  18. Threadless.com! I’m a tall gal (pushing 6 feet) and I have a long torso so lots of t’s end up being close to belly shirts on me, too. But, I noticed with the shirts I’ve ordered off of that site that they tend to be longer (sometimes down to my crotch). They also have lots of really rad designs and great sales.

  19. If anyone has a sewing machine, it’s an option to buy LARGE shirts, and then quickly take in the sides. I’ve done this with a few event shirts (where they always buy Mens XL shirts for everyone, regardless of who’s volunteering), to take them from giant boxy shirts to sexy girl shirts.

  20. I have no suggestions for the men but in response to the ladies who commented that they too are having problems with t-shirt length and fit, I want to let them know that I am working on solving this ill-fitting t-shirt issue! I am starting a plus size t-shirt business!

  21. Ugh, I feel this. I’m about 6’0.” My partner is actually ever so slightly shorter than I, at 5’11” and change, so he doesn’t have too many problems finding clothes that are long enough. We are both definitely narrow individuals though, so that can certainly present a challenge. My go-to places for women’s clothes are The Limited, Express, and Target. For my partner, we shop at Target a lot, and are currently kind of stumped about where to find nicer things that fit him and that he also likes. Sorry that’s kind of unhelpful. :/

    ETA: Potentially helpful thing: UnderArmor is like the ONLY athletic wear company that makes things long and narrow enough for me (screw you and your short boxy everything, Nike), so both me and my partner’s athletic wardrobe is almost exclusively from UA. Expensive, but my local sports shops have reasonable sales, and I get a lot of coupons in the mail, so it works out.

  22. I’m just going to throw this out there, TallSlim Tees are the best fitting shirts out there for tall, slim guys. Seriously. If you or your husband/boyfriend are tall and lean, TallSlim Tees are the shirts you want, hands down.

Read more comments

Join the Conversation