How to purchase apparel for your big and tall guy

Christmas is the time of year that buyers of apparel have the toughest time purchasing for their friends and family who fit into the "big and tall" category.

Big and Tall generally refers to men that are 46 waist and larger, sometimes all the way to 80 inches around....or over 6'3" tall. Big and Tall generally means what it says...big AND tall! This causes much frustration for the tall slender man who can't find much in a traditional store.

Gift givers are also caught off-guard at the higher prices for big and tall. The main reason for the higher prices is the cost of service. The costs of production are much higher because the fixed costs of production are spread over far fewer units of manufacture. The costs of selling are much higher because the occupancy costs are spread over far fewer units whose turn (industry term for how many times you replace your inventory in a year) is much slower.

Purchasing online has augmented, and in many cases, replaced catalog shopping. My company, Big Tall Direct, http://www.bigtalldirect.com was an "early adopter" of online selling. For years, we were one of only a few online stores catering to the large man. Today, there are many many websites from mom-pops, to national chains and department stores selling to this segment.

One feature we pioneered early on was the ability to "search by size". Big Tall Direct calls it "QuickSearch". It was our answer to the perpetual problem of customers thumbing through catalogs only to call in their order to find that the item was not made, was not offered in their size after the catalog printed, or was oversold.

Today, the market for big and tall is over-saturated with too many stores serving too few people. This means, that in future, offerings may begin to suffer as manufacturers overseas (which supply nearly all the big and tall apparel) are requiring larger and larger minimums to produce...and the stores who sell it are so fragmented in the choices to consumers, it's becoming more difficult.

For now, however, the selection is large and wide, pardon the pun.

The best advice in buying big and tall online is to KNOW YOUR SIZE. Freight costs aren't cheap and the last thing you want to do is to try something on and it not fit. The cost to return and replace can be higher than the value of the garment. Go to your closet and look inside the label for your favorite fitting garment.

Be realistic about your weight. If you have added 20 pounds, go up a size from the last time you purchased clothing. If you buy jeans, but not normally slacks, you will add up to 4" in the slack size. Shirt sizes are often less critical but do know that talls give you extra tail length that some men need to cover their torso. The talls are less full so it's often advisable to go up one size.

DON'T ORDER ALTERATIONS! Besides adding days to the shipping process, once cut, the garment is yours. Your local cleaners can hem a pant, so take the garment either unhemmed or as it is manufactured and try it on first!

ORDER A RETURN LABEL. We sell return service labels for only $4 that allow you to return a package without additional freight charges. This can be a big savings. Save the label as it never goes bad.

USE A CREDIT...NOT A DEBIT CARD. Credit cards protect you in ways debit cards do not. Plus, debit cards are not always tied into address verification systems and in some cases the bank will tie up your funds while they decline your purchase. It is so frustrating for all involved.

MAKE SURE THE WEBSITE SHOWS INVENTORY. Few do this and they have a higher experience of stock-outs and other problems. We ship almost every order 100%. As we share stock with our physical store, it's possible that an item is lost, stolen, or sold to a live customer before you order it. But, it's not a frequent occurance.

Good luck in your search for big and tall stuff for your guy!

Big Tall Direct, http://www.bigtalldirect.com