SIZE MATTERS

In Larchmont, New York, in 1977, when Peter Manning was 10, he asked his mother for a pair of bell-bottom cords. "Oh, sweetie," came the response. "I can't buy you bell-bottoms. By the time I shorten them, they won't be bell-bottoms anymore." Manning stands at five feet eight, which is not especially short, but short enough to be looked down on by the clothing industry at large. "It's torture," he says of the need to alter even his jeans and shirts. "It's like paying a tailoring tax." Last year, he started a collection of classic sportswear (petermanningnyc.com) catering to the roughly 25 percent of adult American males who are his height or under, and received thousands of orders for his slim-fit chinos ($79.50) with inseams as short as 27 inches. He has since added neckties that don't need to be tucked into waistbands, shirts that shorter guys can wear untucked, and a blazer handtailored by Martin Greenfield. "It's not just about the length, but the right proportion," Manning says, since you don't want your pants to look as if they were cut off at the knees.

ERIC WILSON

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