Dress for small guys

I feel your pain man - I'm even smaller than you. Like you, I stick to boys apparel for most brands, including BB, and also the nordstrom branded shirts - they suit me just fine.

what the hell's wrong with a chest pocket?

I'd be surprised if there weren't at least one store in Chinatown (nyc at least) selling what you are looking for.

I would go bespoke if I were you. I have another problem I am 6'5 and 210 lbs so it's hard to find the right size shirts and pants.

Uniqlo?

What the guy said earlier was right: you can probably go to chinatown and get a cheap tailor. If you're looking to buy though, there are lots of stores in midtown that you should try looking around. Bonobos is actually this really cool online website that has a lot of good shit, check that out

http://www.bonobos.com

Some of it is a little expensive, but they'll definitely have what you're looking for. Keep in mind, clothes from them run a little large, so make sure to order small sizes. I myself fall somewhere in between medium-large, but their medium stuff is a little bit big on me, so FYI

I would get something custom online. Send your measurements to Indochino (Suits, Shirts), Blank Label (Shirts), or a number of other peer sites and get something custom made to your build. Prices will be in the same range as mid-level off the rack stuff and you obviously won't have to worry about after-market tailoring. Best of all if you're good about input you'll get something that's excellently cut, which is something the off-the-rack merchandise can't compete with regardless of size.

How are you only a 30 in. sleeve and 5'7"? Unless you're fudging about your height, you have abnormally short arms. IMO buy shirts that fit your neck/shoulders and get the sleeves shortened.

I'm 5'5". BB slim fit dress shirts fit me quite well off the rack including sleeves. But worst case scenario if the sleeves are too long you can pay a tailor around $5-$10 per shirt to take the sleeves down an inch or two. Slacks/suit pants will of course need to be taken down just the same.

It's actually not that bad being short compared to being very tall - my buddy is 6'3" and every shirt/jacket that fits his shoulders has sleeves that are way too short. It's very easy to shorten sleeves but it is almost impossible to lengthen sleeves - only option for guys like that are custom shirts/jackets which are very pricy for analysts.

Sometimes I really underestimate the value of being roughly average height and build....

My advice to you is either go made-to-measure or get the smallest you can and get it adjusted. Don't worry TOO much about the collar, it is the sleeves where it will be noticed. Don't go for these billowing sail shirts people sometimes wear, go for slim or extra slim fit. There is NOTHING worse than someone wearing a suit which is too big for them.

As a shorter man with an athletic build, made-to-measure is the only thing that works for me (shirts, slacks, suit jackets, blazers, etc).

I have a pretty similar build to you (5"6 and lean). America is an expensive place for us in terms of dress clothes.

36S suits (I was broke and picked up alfani, it fits pretty decent after tailoring honestly. Quality is another story). I have to taper my sleeves+get the waist suppressed always. With my pants, I need a ridiculous amount of slimming down the entire leg/shorten the rise and taper my pants down to a 7 in opening or so. a 7 in opening sounds ridiculous to normal sized people, but for people who are as short as us, a strong taper is needed to lengthen legs as long as you're slim enough for it to not look like sausage stuffing.

Shirts - H&M dress shirts for $40. Fabric quality is shit, and sleeves are a little long ($5-$10 tailor job), but they're the only ones that fit even halfway near ok in terms of chest/shoulders/neck/taper. I also needed to put in darts in the back of my shirts cause i have a pretty athletic build ($10 or so), and shirts billowed a bit when I tuck in shirts. All together, I ended up dropping around $50-60 a shirt, which is honestly a bit expensive particularly for H&M quality, but it was either that or go MTM (I didn't have enough time to look into this and get a practice shirt made, but I'm definitely going for MTM for FT. Look into moderntailor.com)

Hey guys thanks for all the great advice! My girlfriend just suggested buying the shirts from Banana Republic because BR offers XS Size: http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?vid=1&pid=674951082 They are currently having a 35% sale now so basically each shirt costs ~$50. I just ordered 3 and hope that they fit. If not I can just go to the store and return them.

I feel your pain man!

I am about the same height as you, with only 51kg.... I am based in Singapore but I still can't find any shirts/pants fit me well at any store here. So I went for made-to-measure.

Tailored shirts and pants are really amazing, since they tend to carry better fabric than massive producers. But they are just too expensive and I can only afford one or two pieces...

Suitsupply recently opened a big-ass store in Soho nyc and Chicago. They have custom shirt for around 130$. They use real proper quality fabrics and solves all your size related issues.

I'm really happy with my custom shirts, especially price/quality ratio

The comments about the chest pockets are a bit over-the-top. No one will be looking at your chest pocket; it does not make a difference. BB extra-slim may be right for you. As opposed to what someone said above, the collar and shoulder fit are more important than the sleeves. Sleeves you can shorten. Get the non-iron, it will save you time and money in the long-run.

Agreed with above. Pocket makes no difference, it's a matter of taste. Also, whoever said don't worry about collar does not know how to pick out a dress shirt. Neck & shoulder fit comes first and foremost. Should be one and only one finger fitting in between your neck and the collar. Otherwise you look silly with a tie on. Sleeves you can always get shortened or button the second cuff button.

where can you guys find cheap tailors in NYC? $5 for shortening sleeves is insanely cheap.

havent tried but if you wanted to check out bespokefitshirt dot com with coupon code TH33BLF they have promotions going on right now until May 30 (i think 30something percent off?)

Express has very slim shirts.

I would find a shirt that fits you pretty well and is relatively cheap. Then go to a tailor. They have shorten the sleeve length and either dart or open up the side and bring in the shirt. Should add maybe 20-30 to a shirt. Supposing you buy a shirt for 30 bucks and have it custom fit to you that should be $50-60 out the door total. Cheaper than custom.

Go custom. Well worth the money

I'm thin and no brand comes close -even European/Italian designers

You can get custom shirts for the retail price of brands you mentioned for the same price

It's the best investment you can make