Best NYC clothes stores for larger guys? Goal: step up from jeans & tees

May 14, 2014 5:52 PM

Which clothing stores in NYC have good casual/business casual clothes for larger men? My boyfriend and I are going clothes shopping this coming Saturday to prepare for an upcoming trip. He has a suit, but other than that, all his clothes are jeans and tees. For this trip, we are looking for: casual button down shirts (oxfords or plaids), non-jeans/non-khaki trousers, a sport coat or blazer, and some shoes that fall in between the New Balance sneakers he usually wears and the nice black shoes he wears with his suit. Sizes and price range below the cut.

Sizes of clothes he already has:
jeans: 42 waist 30 length
t-shirt: XL
shoes: 10.5 wide

Price range: We've got a pretty tight budget. We know that these clothes might not last forever, but we're looking for department store prices or lower.

posted by ocherdraco to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (9 answers total)

The best luck I had for this has been the new JC Penney in Herald Square. Reasonable prices and the sizes you're looking for. You could check out the Casual Male XL on 22nd and 3rd ave also, but IME they are more expensive and the quality tends not to be any better.
posted by matcha action at 8:21 PM on May 14, 2014

The problem is, NYC + Clothes = Great. NYC + Large Guy Fashion = OK. NYC + Cheap anything = No way. So this doesn't exist. There are some fancy boutique stores for bigger guys and TJ Maxx, and then everyone else just shops on Jackthreads and Ebay.

That said I've had some luck shopping between St. Mark's place and the Bowery at the vintage stores there. They cater to tourists but still have some OK boots and flannels and things.

You could check out Brooklyn Flea, especially for cheaper used shoes (try them on though! They might be broken).

And Williamsburg has a few vintage stores that might have only slightly insanely overpriced stuff.

There are better vintage and thrift stores in: Every other place on earth.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:51 AM on May 15, 2014

Personally, I just go to Uniqlo.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:53 AM on May 15, 2014

Does Uniqlo carry the sizes we're looking for?
posted by ocherdraco at 6:10 AM on May 15, 2014

They do in shirts and jeans, but at least according to their online store your dress pants options will be limited-to-non-existent in a 42 waist. Still probably worth a visit, especially because (in my experience) their clearance section is almost exclusively larger sizes, and hot damn are there some deals to be found there.
posted by saladin at 7:49 AM on May 15, 2014

Thanks, that's super helpful.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:08 AM on May 15, 2014

Bonobo's has good– hell, great!– pants in a variety of sizes. But they aren't cheap.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 10:58 AM on May 15, 2014

Looks like they don't go up to a 42 waist, unfortunately.
posted by ocherdraco at 11:45 AM on May 15, 2014

Lands end has stuff in these sizes. They're owned by sears; I'm not sure if the closest ones still have a LE section.
posted by brujita at 2:11 PM on May 17, 2014