Men are finding the right fashion fit online

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Retail analysts at MarketLine predict men will be dressing better in the future. Sales of menswear is up over 14 percent in just the past five years. But many men aren't finding the right fit in stores, so they are going online. ABC7 News takes a closer look at the growing number of websites tailor-made for men.

Justin Overdorff likes his clothes to fit well. He says, "I am not very tall, but I have fairly broad shoulders and a very narrow waist so finding something that fits me is actually very difficult."

Overdorff buys his clothes from Trumaker.com in San Francisco, an Internet company that makes men's clothes to order. He picked the fabrics he likes online and a stylist from the company met him to take his measurements. A couple weeks later, his order arrived, custom made just for him.

Mark Lovas is co-founder and CEO of Trumaker. The company started with just shirts two years ago; now they expanding to everything else.

Lovas says the site is popular for one big reason. He says, "Most guys don't like to shop in a very big way."

There's a lot of research to back that up; men generally go into a store to get what they need. Women will spend time browsing and trying things on.

"I think women are willing to do the work, right?" says Lovas, "They want to look great and are willing to do the work and they like to discover clothing. We find men just want to solve it and the simpler it is the better."

Trumaker's custom shirts start at $98. In fact, most of the companies making their mark in this new retail world have found success pricing their clothes in the mid-range.

Derek Tian is CMO and co-founder of BlackLapel.com. He says, "We've actually made suits and shirts for customers all over the world, about 75 different countries and over 10,000 happy customers to date."

Tian spoke to us by Skype from BlackLapel's New York offices. Tian says the need for made-to-order menswear is growing out of an increasing demand for clothes that fit.

"Most men don't happen to be lucky enough to fall under the retail industry's standard of small, medium and large," says Tian.

Like other online haberdashers, BlackLapel posts videos online to help customers take their measurements.

Tian says, "It's not necessarily a very short process. It can take up to 15 - 20 minutes to take those measurements down," he added. "But at the end of the day, all of that is designed specifically to get you that perfect fit."

For men who think that's too much work, Vancouver-based Indochino is giving customers an alternative -- measure yourself or go to one of their stores and let someone else do it for you.

"What we offer is a series of fabrics and we offer them in large bolts so that you can really feel the fabric," says Indochino co-founder and CEO, Kyle Vucko.

Indochino started the online made-to-order trend seven years ago, but they realized some people still want the service of an old fashioned tailor, so they are opening stores like the one in San Francisco's Financial District.

Vucko says, "Once we have your measurements, you can then personalize a garment. You can pick your lapel, the fabrics, you can put a monogram in your suits, and do the same thing for your shirts and then we custom make that garment in Asia and deliver it to you in three to four weeks."

Fans of the made-to-order trend can't seem to get enough.

"I very much think this is the future of menswear," says Vucko.

Justin Overdorff is looking forward to buying more from Trumaker's new line.

"This is my fifth order overall, so I probably have around 12 or 15 shirts," says Overdorff.

While the online made-to-order trend is booming for men, it appears women are going to have to wait for now because there are few companies willing to take them on. That's largely because the variations in women's body shapes, styles and the need for multiple fittings.

Written and produced by Ken Miguel