Where are all the style bloggers for big men?" asked New York-based fashion writer James Sanders in the Huffington Post last year.
Finding none - which is what made him ask the question in the first place - Sanders mused that perhaps there simply weren't that many large men who were interested enough in fashion to bother.
He doesn't believe that, of course, because he well knows that the same thing used to be said about women - until a wave of blogs with names like The Curvy Fashionista, Young Fat And Fabulous (now called GabiFresh) and V Curvy sprang up. All are aimed at plus-size women, which is deemed to be anything above a size 14, the average size of a British woman. V Curvy was launched by Italian Vogue, no less, and GabiFresh is written by Gabbi Gregg, who collaborated with designers Swimsuits For All to create the "Fatkini". It sold out in hours.
So where are all the style bloggers for big men? Well, it turns out that one or two large gentlemen do like fashion and are now putting fingers to keyboards. Miami-based student Wesley Pratt is one. His blog is called Fat Chap Fashion and in one recent posting he makes the sensible point that wearing clothing in size XXXXXL (or 5X as it's known) actually makes the big man look even bigger.
Of course it does. As any tailor will tell you, there's nothing more slimming than a well cut suit and for generations Savile Row has been proving it to those of their customers who are well-rounded as well as well-heeled. But if you can't pay Savile Row prices, then other than High And Mighty your options are slim (sorry). Which is where, increasingly, the bloggers have a role to play as they put pressure on designer labels to cater for larger sizes. Fat isn't just a feminist issue, you know.
Talking of which, my favourite website for the larger gentleman is the wonderfully-named Chubstr.com ("Life in your size" is its mantra). Founded by another American, Bruce Sturgell, it addresses such sartorial conundrums as what to wear for your Las Vegas wedding (the Egara slim-fit waistcoat in 5X is preferred, along with Levi's 559s, which have a straight leg and come "relaxed through the seat and thigh").
Chubstr allows readers to post pictures of themselves in their XXL finery. Recent contributions comes from Jay de Belen, men's fashion editor with Toronto-based magazine Accent, and from James Sanders himself, who looks splendid in a get-up he says is inspired by the Michael Caine film Alfie. If (or more likely when) fashionable clothes designed for larger men become more widely available, Sturgell plans to use the website to sell them. So watch this space: fashion loves a new market and when the penny drops, size really will start to matter.
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