A Quest for Non-Depressing Tall Men’s Clothing

48 Replies

I am hoping to access our hive mind. I have a child who is 6’4″, male, wears a medium or large in tops but it HAS TO BE Tall sizing, absolutely HAS TO BE. And he says all his clothes depress him, and he is expressing interest in things such as lilac sweaters with daisies on them, and colorblocked pastel hoodies like from the ’90s, and Keith Haring dancing-guy shirts, and rainbow-striped sweaters, and sweaters like this one:

(image from vibeheat.com)

But I am having trouble finding these things in his size. Elizabeth has a friend who wears things of this style and she asked him where he shops, and so I got this:

(image from asos.com)

But only a certain number of their items are available in Tall sizes. And every other path I’ve gone down the last hour looking for Keith Haring hoodies/tees has led to frustration. We found a GREAT site with TONS of good stuff, including that shades-of-green sweater—but it said it had “Asian sizing,” and I know that is not going to fit a 6’4″ medium/large man.

48 thoughts on “A Quest for Non-Depressing Tall Men’s Clothing”

  1. Melanie

    I don’t know if there’s anything very interesting, but American Eagle has tall sizes and the material is very soft.

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  2. Suzanne

    I have a Tall family member, and I always find pleasing things from L L Bean. And okay, on a quick look many of their offerings seem… subdued. But sometimes! they have fun things. Maybe this: https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/125990?page=mens-llbean-1912-sweatshirt-crewneck-colorblock-mens-regular&bc=12-26-813&feat=813-GN1&csp=f&pos=36

    Or maybe this: https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/124765?page=mens-llbean-hi-pile-fleece-hooded-pullover-print-mens-regular&bc=12-26-813&feat=813-GN1&csp=f&pos=108

    Or possibly this: https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/126708?page=mens-llbean-1912-sweatshirt-button-mock-colorblock-mens-tall&bc=12-26-813&feat=813-GN1&csp=f&pos=114

    Some of their flannel can be a little cheerier/more unexpected! Maybe none of this is as whimsical as you want, but… an idea.

    And in my gift-giving experience, the quality is great as well as the customer service. And they do have good deals/sales/coupons.

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  3. Suzanne

    My comment seems to have disappeared, but my rec for Tall People is LL Bean. They have some surprisingly cheerful options.

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    1. Gail

      I can vouch for site. We buy for for a big and tall guy. It never occured to me that they had things for only tall.

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  5. Diana

    I don’t know if they have tall, but old navy has a pretty big gender neutral section? I imagine you’ve looked there already though.

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  7. Kerri

    My comment disappeared too. I found a site called King size dot com (I’ve never used it), they had a nice pullover Hoodie in “cool blue marble” that was fun.
    And your son is right, there are depressingly few colorful options for men.

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  8. Squirrel Bait

    I have nothing helpful to add. I only want to say that I know that I am officially old now because I do not understand the fashion trends of The Youth.

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  9. Bethany

    My husband is 6’’4 and a medium tall.
    About 185.

    He is almost 40 and wears biting colors.
    It’s easy to find MT at old navy, kohls, landsend, llbean, Levi’s, carhartt… all are boring and mostly solid color!!

    We just have to buy adult large in some sizes and hope for the best – which means not short in the arm and not billowy body.

    I wonder if you can buy medium tall Keith H stuff custom on Etsy?

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    2. Bethany

      Oh yeah, jcrew, gap, banana republic is good fit tall thin men who like solids and stars are wash jeans… which is my spouse exactly. I guess lucky gir him he’s not young and fashionable!

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  12. Kristen

    My husband isn’t tall, so this is not from experience, just from driving past it a bunch. There is a DXL store near me, so I checked their website. I enjoyed the “Psycho Bunny” brand offerings, but I suppose pirate skull bunny isn’t really Keith Haring style. (And holy crap, their t-shirts are crazy expensive!). I also would call the the Robert Graham brand “not depressing”! (but also expensive).

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  13. Auntie G

    I am not ignoring the “has to be TALL” part which you very clearly wrote. But mayyyyybe check out Uniqlo? They have some pastels for men and they have pix of models with specs and sizes, so…maybe??? All my European sites of whimsy are surprisingly subdued for men’s spring, so perhaps they age
    out of whimsy when they reach the end of the boys’ sizing. Sigh.

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  14. LeafyNell

    Sounds like he might like Cotopaxi for the wacky color blocking. But they don’t call out tall sizes on their website. Columbia does a good job with tall sizing. They do have some colorful things (decent color blocked fleece) – but patterned shirt stuff I associate more with ‘gentlemen fishers’ than trendy.

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  15. Angela

    This might be a longshot….but is sewing a hoodie from a pattern an option for him? My brother learned to sew because he is an unusual size and wanted to tailer his shirts. There are lots of youtube tutorials for learning the basics of sewing and using a pattern. If he learned to make a hoodie, he could make infinite fun hoodies for himself in any color/print fabric he wanted. If he is concerned about waste and recycling, repurposing thrift shop items might also something he could learn. He could even take cool graphics from old/thrift store clothes and applique them onto plain colored big/tall t-shirts.

    Here’s one youtube tutorial about making a hoodie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q9jrJA81yE&ab_channel=MellySews
    but there are lots out there!

    Men’s clothes are pretty straightforward as long as you’re not going into tailoring/suits, and sewing is a very useful life skill! You just have to keep in mind that humans are three-dimensional.

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    1. Trudee

      I came here to say something similar: what about dyeing clothing? I’m into cross stitching, and overdyed floss and fabrics are very popular. I think you could do some amazing things will overdyeing fabrics. And RIT dyes are very available. Maybe check out some dyeing videos on YouTube?

      Reply ↓
  21. Ari

    Ah yes, the eternal quest. My husband is 6’ 5” and shops exclusively online. He has some lovely things from American Eagle, LL Bean and Gap (although the sleeves can sometimes be short on the latter).

    Best of luck to your tall kiddo, my 18yo BIL is 6’ 7” and getting appropriate shoes is a nightmare.

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  22. Lee

    I love all these links, you guys are good! And I had to ask my male kid if he thinks he needs more colorful clothes in his life – I had actually never thought about it. (He laughed, said he does not. He likes his clothes – olives and greys and brick reds – just fine… I am quite disappointed.)

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    1. Slim

      How old is he? My 21YO is a recent arrival to thinking about His Look. Christmas shopping was really fun this year.

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  23. Erin

    My brothers are 6′ 5″ and 6′ 3″. If your son has any fandom interests, I have bought things for them from BoxLunch and HerUniverse, including hoodies. The tops aren’t labeled talls, but they fit the tall men in my life.

    I’ve also found talls sizes randomly on Zulily, but it’s very hit or miss there. Kohls, Old Navy, and Eddie Bauer have more staples that come in tall sizes.

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  24. Andrea

    I don’t have specific recs (all of the men in my life are like 5’8″) but a search term recommendation: Searching for “streetwear” might help yield results that are more fun/colorful/youthful.

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  25. JMV

    I just googled “where does Dan Levy shop” and found a rabbit hole of $600+ men’s shirts and several more reasons why I likely won’t be helpful with my kids’ fashion in the future. I’ll help them learn to bedazzle and see on patches like a champ tho.

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  28. MC

    No suggestions from me but kudos to you for helping your kid find their unique look! Why is men’s clothing in typical stores so boring color-wise and style wise!?! My teenager is exploring different clothing styles (non-traditional) and I can see how important it is to them to feel good about their clothing (‘though definitely not stuff I would pick out).

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  30. Ann

    My son is 6’-2” and 140lb; I’ve been buying tall/mediums for him from prana, llbean, lands end. Especially in shirts, we ALWAYS order the talls because he hates to have a shirt reveal his stomach.

    That said, my German mother-in-law bought him shirts from Guess (remember them from the 80s/90s?!?) and, lo and behold, they fit!!! They are NOT talls and they still fit! Amazing. Maybe it’s a European sizing thing?

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  31. Carrie

    I follow an influencer who dresses in that same colorful/fun style. He even has the daisy sweater you have linked above. The majority of his clothes seem to come from ASOS – which you obviously already know about. I know your son says it MUST be tall sizing, but I have heard ASOS has a great free return policy so it could be a low stakes experiment just to order a bunch of items and see if maybe he lucks out and finds a brand on ASOS that has styles he likes that also cuts the clothes oversized and works for him.

    Also my sympathies on the challenges of finding clothes for tall people. My husband is 6’ 2” and a bigger guy. He is just on the cusp of being able to buy in regular sizes but they never have his size in all the colors/varieties available in the store. This is usually okay because he is a typical boring male dresser – wearing a shirt in the color maroon is his wildest fashion choice. However I definitely get frustrated at times with the limited choices. I can only imagine how hard it would be if he was 2 inches taller AND trying to find a unique style. Keeping my fingers crossed that you find the magic unicorn of clothing for your son.

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  32. Heidi J

    If he has very long arms, then LL Bean and Lands End tall sizes may be too small. They were for the tall guy in my life. Eddie Bauer tall sizes were one of the few companies that had shirts that were long enough. There’s also a newer company, American Tall.
    https://americantall.com/
    https://www.eddiebauer.com/

    Also, if you buy anything from King Size you will get regular catalogs from them for forever.

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  33. Alice

    Would he be willing to do the very late 80s/early 90s think of wearing a long sweater with a short sleeved shirt over it? Society6 doesn’t offer tall sizing, but their whole thing is that they print artists’ work on different things, including clothing. You could probably find a variety of fun options there.

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  34. B

    A blogger cross reference, Wardrobe oxygen ‘s husband is verrry tall and has some wonderful style, maybe do a search of her posts for his pics or just ask where he gets his things. I second asos, can be a gold mine for those with atypical sizes.

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  35. Christina

    I know it’s been mentioned, but I will echo Eddie Bauer. I used to work there in college and when you mentioned your son’s love of color I ran to check their site to see what they offer twenty years after I worked there! They still are producing pastels and vibrant colors in men’s tall. Hoodies and sweatshirts and polos. They aren’t cheap, but the quality is good and the styling is classic.

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