Viewpoints

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

Stantt Pop-Up on 501 Lexington Avenue New York NY 10017

Rafael Poleo has a problem. Every morning as he gets dressed for work, he has trouble finding a well-fitting shirt that he can wear with a tie.

“Big neck, big neck,” he said.

Poleo hoped the Stantt pop-up store on Lexington Avenue in Midtown would offer him a solution. The online men’s dress shirt company was founded based on the belief that men come in more then the traditional sizes 15 through 18, or small medium, and large, which is why they created 75 different dress shirt sizes.

75 different sizes

Company co-founder Kirk Keel explained how Stantt uses their own customized sizing scale, each named after streets in New York. For instance, a Stantt customer isn’t a small, but maybe is a Barclay’s or an Essex. The Stantt shirts that are available off the rack, are called “semi-custom” and customers are measured by their chest, waist, and neck, and then receive a recommendation of a shirt size that should fit.

“I was a medium,” said founder Keel, “but even a medium, depending on the brand, didn’t look great on me.”

Keel and his partner Matt Hornbuckle researched America’s standard sizing and learned that America’s tradition of small, medium and large sizes began during the Civil War when millions of soldiers needed uniforms, and today, America still uses this sizing system. So they conducted 3D body scans of over 2,000 men and concluded that American shirt sizing only fits 15 percent of men, while the remaining 85 percent have to wear sizes that don’t fit properly.

“A choice [of sizes] would be good because clothes for me are expensive,” said Donald Stanley, while shopping for a shirt. “I pay at least $200 for a shirt to get it tailored.”

Keel says that fashion trends come and go and thinks men now wear dress shirts in both casual and formal settings. “A big part of a guy feeling confident is what they wear,” he said. “When a guy puts on a perfectly fitted suit he feels amazing. He feels more confident. He has that feeling like I can take on the world.”

Stantt available shirt styles

Mark Beavers, a new customer at Stantt said he’d put on some weight after a surgery and couldn’t find a shirt to fit him properly. He learned about Stantt through online reviews and bought two shirts when he found his size.

Yet, the shirts Poleo tested were too tight for his neck and mid-section and he didn’t fit into any of the 75 sizes. The “Bond Street” size came close but not close enough. Stantt is an option for guys who don’t fit off the rack clothing, and who don’t want to spend money on custom clothing.