Seattle Sounders Taylor Graham Models Longshot Apparel’s Winter Shirts

By Sally Bjornsen on December 18, 2012 5:18 PM


Tall Shirt for Tall Man

Taylor Graham Models the Longshot Apparel Shihadeh

Seattle Sounders Taylor Graham looks great in the new Longshot Apparel Shihadeh (named after one of our best customers).  We were super pleased to work with our friend and tall man Taylor Graham (6’4 and  195ish pounds). Taylor is the perfect Longshot Apparel guy, not only is he tall and lean but he’s athletic with a rich professional soccer pedigree.

Taylor Graham in a Sounders Match

Taylor is currently a marketing executive with the Seattle Sounders but prior to that he played on the Sounders Team.  His soccer career is a long and successful one.  The story goes like this. Graham, 31, signed with Sounders FC on January 21, 2009 after spending three seasons (2005, 2007-08) with the USL-1 Sounders. Graham made one league appearance in his three seasons with Seattle and started nine of his 10 appearances across all competitions, logging 822 total minutes. He started four matches during Seattle’s three consecutive Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title runs and started five CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage games in 2010.

Prior to joining Sounders FC, Graham played four MLS seasons for Kansas City (2003-04) and New York (2006-07), appearing in 34 games. He was a member of the 2005 and 2007 USL-1 Seattle Sounders championship teams. Graham was named USL-1 Defender of the Year in 2005 and first team All-USL-1 in 2005 and 2008. A graduate of Stanford University, Graham was also named the club’s Humanitarian of the Year in 2009.

Graham attended Rio Americano High School and played five years of college soccer at Stanford University, registering as a walk-on his freshman year of 1998, and only appearing in two games in 1999. After appearing in 18 games his sophomore season, Graham started every possible game his final two, winning first team All-Pac-10 his senior year, as he led the Cardinal to an appearance in the NCAA College Cup.

After graduating from Stanford, Graham was drafted 33rd overall in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft by the Kansas City Wizards. Graham was signed to a developmental contract, making two appearances and playing a total of ten minutes. In his second season Graham was given significantly more playing time, playing as both a right back and central defender. After a season in the USL First Division when he played every minute for the Seattle Sounders, led his team to the title, and was named USL Defender of the Year, Graham was acquired by the MetroStars, now New York Red Bulls. He was released midway through the 2007 season and signed with his former club Seattle Sounders. He then signed withSeattle Sounders FC, a continuation of the Sounders in Major League Soccer. On May 26, 2010 he had his first appearance of the 2010 season in a friendly against Boca Juniors of Argentina, playing the full 90 minutes and putting up a solid performance.

Graham announced his retirement on December 2, 2011, after he was dropped from the roster by the Seattle Sounders.

Tall Shirts

Taylor Graham at Retirement Ceremony with Seattle Sounders

Graham represented Puerto Rico in three international friendlies (including the team’s first win in 14 years) during early 2008 before theFederación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol modified its eligibility requirement. All U.S. citizens used to be eligible for Puerto Rico national teams, but now the player pool is restricted to players who have lived on the island for at least two years, meaning that Graham is no longer eligible for the Puerto Rico national team per federation rules.[2

Fun Trivia

Graham appeared on The Price is Right on June 24, 2009. In the showcase he spoke on one of the prizes which was a vacation to Seattle, to go to any 2 home games of Seattle Sounders and watch them play.[3]

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Great Gifts For Tall Men Are Here

By Chief Tall Guy on December 10, 2012 9:59 AM

We are thrilled to celebrate the holiday season with the arrival of two new Longshot Apparel styles; The Rodgers and The Shihadeh. Perfect as gifts for tall men and ready to ship just in time for Christmas, you can now pre-order today for shipment starting December 13.  Order yours today and stand tall under the mistletoe.

Greate gifts for tall men

The Shihadeh. A great gift for tall men.

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The 6′ 1″ Tall Club

By Megan S. on December 7, 2012 3:57 PM

We at Longshot Apparel would like to give a little shout out to all those tall men standing 6′ 1″. If you’re in this club, here’s to you! You stand tall alongside well-dressed men like Channing Tatum,  Bradly Cooper, and Robert  Pattinson.
We appreciate the way these fellas are dressing. There’s nothing like a tall man in a bold, well fitting suit. We hope that all you 6′ 1″ tall club members are out there classing it up like these risk-taking tall men. I think my personal favorite is Bradly Cooper’s purple suit. It takes a real man to wear a color like that.

Also, we should note that two of these three 6′ 1″ tall club members have been deemed People Magazine‘s “Sexiest Man Alive”, Bradly Cooper in 2011 and Channing Tatum in 2012. So we at Longshot say, way to go 6′ 1″ club, you are making the world a more beautiful place one club member at a time. Other tall man clubs are falling woefully behind. For instance, sorry 6′ 3″ tall club, you’ve got John Mayer, and though we like his music, he could use some help on the fashion front. Come on, 6′ 3″ club, get it together. The 6′ 1″ club is really rocking out there. Although, the 6′ 7″ club is pretty high on the awesome ranking because they have James Cromwell, and we just LOVE him.

So, here’s to the gentlemen of the 6′ 1″ club, and here’s hoping the 6′ 3″ club can pull it together to make up for John. We love you all, but the 6′ 1″ club is just doing wonderful things these days.

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Longshot Fall Clearance Tall Shirt Sale

By Chief Tall Guy on July 12, 2012 2:27 PM

Summer has finally hit the Pacific Northwest and along with it comes the Longshot Apparel Summer Clearance Tall Shirt Sale.  Now all of our remaining stock of tall mens shirts is only $99!  Shop now and save!

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Men’s Fashion Week In Milan: Tall Guys with a Lot of Makeup

By Susan Clare on January 31, 2012 3:00 AM

. What caught my attention was dudes running around with little clips and foil papers in their hair. When I have those I the salon, I’m so not that cool. The prim and properly of all these Adonises can give fellas a complex over a whole lot of nothing in my book. Guys don’t need to be dewy and romantic. But handsome, styled, well-groomed and wearing proper-fitting clothing – for sure. Watch at your own peril but it will give you a good chuckled. In our Longshot Apparel opinion, stay classic, add a little personal flair and get shirts that fit you well. No amount of makeup can come close to achieving that!

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Why Nicolas Sarkozy feels ten feet tall

By Sally Bjornsen on January 16, 2012 9:00 PM

People in positions of power feel taller, according to researchers. A series of experiments by American researchers found that there is a relationship between feelings of power and our self-perception of height. According to the research, from Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), in New York, there is a physical experience that goes with feeling powerful.

Professor Jack Goncalo, who led the study, along with Michelle Duguid at Washington University, said the findings now raise a number of questions.

 

Professor Goncalo said: ‘Although a great deal of research has shown that physically imposing individuals are more likely to acquire power, this work is the first to show that the powerful may actually feel taller than they are.

‘Using different manipulations of power and measures of perceived height, we found that people literally perceived themselves as taller when they occupied a more powerful position.

‘Are world leaders less able to feel empathy and relate to the “little people” because they literally feel bigger?

The research involved three experiments, where 266 men and women were assigned a video game avatar as a way of exploring the relationship between the psychological and physical experiences of power.The findings are to be published in an upcoming issue of scientific journal Psychological Science. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084500/Why-Nicolas-Sarkozy-feels-feet-tall-People-positions-power-feel-greater-height.html#ixzz1jgTAGVaH

Standing tall: Researchers found that the powerful, such as French President Nicolas Sarkozy, may actually feel taller than they are
World leaders: Sarkozy with Prime Minister David Cameron. The study found there is a physical experience that goes with feeling powerful
World leaders: Sarkozy with Prime Minister David Cameron. The study found there is a physical experience that goes with feeling powerful ’Do short people attempt to capture power by physically elevating themselves above others? ’Would it be possible to psychologically empower people by giving them an office on the top floor?’

 

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Classic Cars of Palm Springs

By Susan Clare on January 10, 2012 10:30 AM

The Palm Springs retreat offered up a number a classic car sitings that are worthy of a posting on the Stand Tall site. When something is well-crafted and built with care it has the ability to last and be cherished – albeit by the classic car owner or a passer by on a cruiser bike much like myself. You simply cannot pass this classics without stopping to appreciate them. Check out these breathtaking beauties. Not sure which is my favorite. I could see myself in all three. Now this is design meant to last for decades.

 

 

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Charles Barkley Approved: A New Big and Tall Store Concept

By Susan Clare on January 5, 2012 4:08 PM

Tall men, take note. Charles Barkley has a new big and tall store concept. We’ve been waiting for inspiration here at Longshot Apparel and maybe he’s found the winning combination. Click on the below image to see the skit from SNL – it’s the one with the chicken wings – appropriate huh? It was a great way to kick off the first SNL show of 2012 but let’s hope that big and tall guys style (especially tall) is not going back to the late eighties.

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Find Perfect Fit with Longshot’s Tall Sizing Tool

By Susan Clare on January 5, 2012 12:48 PM

Navigating sizing charts can make a tall man feel like a mouse in a maze when looking for the proper fit. What many people don’t know is that at Longshot Apparel we have a proprietary pattern with our own Tailored Taller fit, designed specifically for tall, fit men,  (yes we do have 39″ long sleeves for guys with particularly long arms).  In order to make it easy to find your size we’ve incorporated our own sizing tool to ensure a shirt that fits. And now the Pièce de résistance for fit is here.

Measure twice cut once my dad always says. We’ll now you can measure once and check once with the new Longshot Apparel Fit Tool.  The tool let’s you input your stats for height, neck, chest, waist and sleeve. Move the slider bars as desired and viola! Then, look below to find the Longshot size that fits you best.

Off course the tool is only as good as the accuracy of the measurements put into it, so it’s still important to measure properly – have a wife, partner, friend, tailor or even a Nordstrom sales person help you with that and then get to ordering some tall shirts (like the new Leadon Gingham) that will fit your towering frame beautifully.

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The Tall Guys Behind Longshot’s Tailored Taller fit.

By Chief Tall Guy on January 4, 2012 12:07 PM

We never set out to make our own product. Really. Being in the apparel or fashion business is for crazy people. Not us. But, in the fall of 2009 we bought every brand and size of tall men’s apparel we could get our hands on. I took it on as a special challenge because I thought I could show my boyfriend that with some shopping savvy it was easy to dress his tall 6’7” frame. As the clothes poured in from Nordstrom, JC Penney, Robert Graham and Paul Smith, the rolling rack in my dining room looked bountiful and optimistic but in totality the fit sucked. I brought the rack up to Seattle to share with Mark and Sally and for a fitting with some more tall friends. And the same thing happened. More sucky fit.

Designers were found, patterns made and many fit sessions had. When we started, I was advised to get a form (or a fit dummy) to try our product on for sizing consistency. I contacted the expert place in New York to scout out a form that would be our go-to guy as we developed Longshot shirts. It was crazy, an entire library of men’s bodies made for apparel brands around the world – and none was close to ours. Oh, and this is what I loved – there’s like superstar forms and for men it is the “John Gallagher.” I looked at him (okay his form) and thought of another perfect fit guy here in Portland, OR – John Bebe. Adidas, Nike and Nau often use John for live fit sessions as he is the perfect athletic guy. I’m guessing he’s about 5’10”. The John Gallagher has a 40” chest and a 33.25” sleeve and 32” inseam. He wasn’t going to work for us. So the tailored taller fit would take brains and some doing on our end.

We conducted a survey acquiring stats from 75 guys, analyzed them and took an educated guess on what our average tall guy would look like. After rounds of samples and fitting them our own fit model (okay a tall comrade), we tried Longshot shirts on 50 tall guys to see where we needed improvement. Initially our shirts were too long – hey guess what? if there’s no belly for a shirt to go over you don’t need the extra length! What a revelation that was. And while the shirts were cut with narrow torso we had to make doubly certain that they lived up to the promise. Our sleeves were working for almost all the guys – the two sleeve lengths did the trick. Many of our shirt testers had never had sleeves that covered their wrists. Beers were drank and we celebrated our tailored taller fit.

Now we’ve done it – we’ve made a beautiful product to help tall guys shop like everyone else. If you want to be involved with product development or potentially contribute to our blog in the future as a tall guy with tons of experience, well, at being tall, we’d love to hear from you. Working together is how we can eliminate mediocre, poorly made product as well as the sorrows of shopping tall.
This is one of the reasons why shirts don’t fit tall guys – John Gallagher. Is this what your body looks like? We think not.

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