Tom Hevey, a real-estate investor in Belmont, Mass., discovered the power of the right fit last August when he stumbled across one of the few stores in the U.S. that cuts clothes proportionately small for short men -- 'Jimmy Au's For Men 5'8' and Under.' Sizes at the store, which is located on a side street in Beverly Hills, start at 34 extra-short.

47歲的湯姆·希韋(Tom Hevey)是麻塞諸塞州貝爾蒙市(Belmont)的一位房產(chǎn)投資人，去年8月他在比弗利山(Beverly Hills)的一條小街上偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了“Jimmy Au's For Men 5'8' and Under”（Jimmy Au's，身高5英尺8英寸以下男士服裝專賣）男裝店，這是全美少數(shù)幾家針對(duì)矮個(gè)男士的服裝店之一，店內(nèi)的最小號(hào)服裝是超短34碼。此后希韋便深刻體會(huì)到了合體服裝的強(qiáng)大力量。

Jimmy Au's is a rarity -- a niche store that caters to the shorter one-third of our population. While small men can find suitable sizes online at places like Forthefit.com, most of the big retailers I spoke with -- including Saks Fifth Avenue -- said it doesn't pay to cater to small men. It's more profitable to focus on the bulge in the bell curve, sending their shorter clients to tailors.

Jimmy Au's男裝店堪稱鳳毛麟角，是占美國(guó)男性人口三分之一的矮個(gè)男士的福音，因?yàn)樗軡M足這些人士的需求。誠(chéng)然，矮個(gè)男士可以在諸如Forthefit.com的網(wǎng)站上找到適合自己尺寸的服裝，不過(guò)我采訪過(guò)的多數(shù)大型連鎖商──包括Saks Fifth Avenue──都說(shuō)自己不會(huì)刻意去迎合矮個(gè)男士的需求。關(guān)注大多數(shù)人的需求更為有利可圖，就讓那些矮個(gè)子客人自己去找裁縫解決問(wèn)題吧。

Moreover, it's hard to sell clothes to a group that some people prefer not to be identified with. Mr. Hevey, who is 47, says he very nearly didn't go into Jimmy Au's because he resented the name's reference to height. At 5-foot-5, he says, he doesn't consider himself short. 'I guess I'm sensitive about that, and I don't want to be labeled that way,' Mr. Hevey says.

而且，向矮個(gè)人士銷售服裝并非易事，因?yàn)橛行┤似鋵?shí)并不愿意自己被劃入矮個(gè)子之列。希韋先生就說(shuō)當(dāng)初他差點(diǎn)沒(méi)進(jìn)Jimmy Au's男裝店，因?yàn)榈昝靼谉o(wú)誤地點(diǎn)出了顧客的身高。身高5英尺5英寸(1米65)的希韋并不認(rèn)為自己個(gè)子很矮，他說(shuō)：“我想我對(duì)此是有些敏感，我不愿意自己被打上這樣的標(biāo)簽。”

Mr. Au carries smaller sock sizes, shoes down to a men's size five and styles that run the gamut from jeans to tuxedos. His sizes take into consideration all sorts of body types, such as 'Portly Short,' 'Athletic Short' and 'Extra Short.' The key, he says, is in the proportions -- his clothes are designed with smaller pockets, slightly narrower collars and sleeves, and higher crotches.

Jimmy Au's男裝店備有小號(hào)的襪子和小至5碼的鞋子，以及樣式齊全的服裝，從牛仔服到禮服應(yīng)有盡有。店內(nèi)有適合各種體型的服裝，包括“矮胖型”、“運(yùn)動(dòng)型”、“特矮型”，等等。店主區(qū)應(yīng)鐘(Jimmy Au)說(shuō)，關(guān)鍵在于比例──他店里的服裝口袋都是小號(hào)的，領(lǐng)口和袖筒也都略小一些，褲襠則往上提。

'If a man is five-foot-seven in my store, he shops in the tall section,' says Mr. Au, who is 5-foot-2.

區(qū)應(yīng)鐘說(shuō)：“如果身高5英尺7英寸(1米70)的男士來(lái)我店里采購(gòu)，他就得去大碼區(qū)了。” 區(qū)應(yīng)鐘本人的身高是5英尺2英寸(1米57)。

Racks in the store are two inches lower than they are in most stores, and shorter sizes are thoughtfully placed on bottom shelves. Many men's stores, oddly, place shorter sizes on top.

此外，店里的貨架也比多數(shù)商店的貨架低兩英寸，小碼服裝很體貼地放在了最下面的一層。而很多男裝店都是把小碼衣服放在最頂層，真是讓人奇怪。

The bias against short men is apparent even in Mr. Au's store windows. Unable to buy shorter mannequins, Mr. Au turned to a Hollywood special-effects studio that makes crash dummies for action movies -- the kind that get blown up in chase scenes. I noticed a resemblance to one famous A-list action-movie star who is under 5-foot-8 -- but Mr. Au wouldn't name names.

不過(guò)，從Jimmy Au's男裝店的櫥窗也能看出對(duì)矮個(gè)男士的偏見(jiàn)。當(dāng)初區(qū)應(yīng)鐘沒(méi)能買到尺寸合適的人體模型，就去找了好萊塢為動(dòng)作片制作人體模型的特效工作室──就是在追殺戲中會(huì)被打爛的那種模型。我注意到其中一個(gè)模型很像好萊塢一位身高不到5英尺8英寸的動(dòng)作巨星──不過(guò)區(qū)應(yīng)鐘不愿指名道姓。

Mr. Au's clientele is a who's who of professionals from careers that favor the short of height, with jockeys, astronauts and jet pilots among them. The store's publicity materials list the stars it has dressed for film and television -- though the stars themselves aren't always comfortable with being publicly identified as short. On a recent day, Mr. Au and his son, Alan Au, were discussing outfits that they were sending over to participants at the Grammy awards.

區(qū)應(yīng)鐘的主顧包括一些聲名顯赫的專業(yè)人士，這些人來(lái)自那種更青睞矮個(gè)人士的行當(dāng)，有賽馬騎師、宇航員、飛行員等等。服裝店的宣傳材料上列出了在上電影電視時(shí)穿過(guò)本店服裝的一些明星──不過(guò)這樣公開(kāi)被歸入矮個(gè)子的行列，這些明星本人應(yīng)該感覺(jué)不是那么舒服。就在最近的某一天，區(qū)應(yīng)鐘和兒子Alan Au還在商量向格萊美頒獎(jiǎng)禮嘉賓提供禮服的事情。

After his visit to the store in August, Mr. Hevey left with a suit, three sport coats, five shirts, two pairs of jeans and seven pairs of khakis. Finally, he had clothes that 'fit like clothes fit a six-foot-two-inch guy,' he says. The difference was 'huge,' he says. 'When I tried on a pair of pants, my wife got teary-eyed.'

去年8月份，希韋離開(kāi)Jimmy Au's男裝店時(shí)收獲頗豐：一套正裝、三件運(yùn)動(dòng)外套、五件襯衣、兩條牛仔褲和七條卡其褲。他說(shuō)自己終于有了“穿起來(lái)感覺(jué)身高有6英尺2英寸的衣服”了。他說(shuō)，差異“非常明顯。看我穿上其中一條褲子后，我妻子都熱淚盈眶了。”

Mr. Hevey has since ordered two more big shipments from Mr. Au, including having a winter wardrobe shipped to Massachusetts sight unseen. 'I get compliments from people who say, 'something's different about you.''

后來(lái)希韋又兩次從Jimmy Au's男裝店訂購(gòu)了大量的衣物，其中有一批冬裝他事先都沒(méi)看過(guò)就讓直接送貨了。他說(shuō)：“大家都夸我，說(shuō)：'你現(xiàn)在跟以前很不一樣了。'”

引自http://chinese.wsj.com/gb/fashion.asp