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I'm a tall guy. Always have been. (One of my favorite performance reviews described me as "defiantly tall.") I chalk it up to my Dutch genes.
Therefore, once I was able to afford to do so, I began shopping at "big and tall" men's clothing shops. I've shopped at many, but as is typical of our time, the market has mostly consolidated around DXL, and the often ghetto-like "Big Man" sections at Kohl's and Macy's.
I recently needed a new pair of dressy-ish pants to wear to Chicago's fantastic restaurant The Hand and The Eye. I mistakenly thought DXL would have a good selection with my slightly-above-average waist, and apparently gigantic inseam.
Big mistake. The salesperson informed me that they only carry pants finished to a 32-inch inseam. (I wear at least a 34, and occasionally a 36, depending on the rise.)
Frankly, I thought she was pulling my leg. (Yes, that's right, I said it.) She was dead serious. The only way to get a longer inseam was to have the pants altered by a tailor. Since they don't have an in-house tailor, I was told it would take about three days to get that done.
Not only did I not have that kind of time (my reservation was two days in the future), I was flabbergasted that a store catering to tall men would have only average-height pants in stock. (And it's not that they didn't have my waist-inseam combo — we never got around to discussing waist size — they simply don't offer pants in longer lengths.)
I left the store, feeling both indignant and disappointed, and walked three doors down the street to Nordstrom Rack. Where I found several acceptable dress pants in my waist size with 34-inch and 36-inch inseams.
Care to guess if I'll ever bother shopping at DXL again?