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How clothes should fit
- xentronium 13y agoI believe this is sourced from reddit's MFA FAQ. http://www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice http://www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice sidebar has more useful info.
- esalman 13y agoThe illustrations are not loading properly on FF24.
- illyism 13y agoOdd. All the images are SVG. And they revert to PNG when SVG is not an option.
- Qz 13y agoHow [Men's] Clothes Should Fit.
- lampe3 13y agoi just chopped the url :) iam not the author of the site!
- acuozzo 13y agoThis should have been titled: How Clothes Should Fit __Thin_Men__ The same rules don't apply when your body is basically an amorphous blob.
- dkarl 13y agoI feel your pain, but I don't see how the recommendations would change for blobby men. The only issue for blobby men following these recommendations is that it's really hard to achieve the desired results with off-the-shelf clothing.
- acuozzo 13y agoFor example: IMO, most big-bellied men shouldn't be tucking-in a dress shirt unless they're required to. A better-looking alternative would be to buy a dress shirt that's one size larger than what's needed and wear it untucked.
- switch007 13y agoThe problem I have with dress shirts - as someone who "shouldn't" tuck them in - is that by virtue of being dress shirts, they are longer because they are designed to be tucked in. Casual shirts are generally OK. Plus, going a size larger doesn't hide my belly as much as I think it does. As noted by another poster: I'm better off working on the belly than finding the right length shirts and debating tucked in vs out!
- pvnick 13y agoHere's how to fix that: http://www.leangains.com/ http://www.leangains.com/
- acuozzo 13y agoThat doesn't fix the immediate problem of dressing nicely while being overweight. Also, some people are overweight due to, e.g., medical issues and the consumption of medication needed to deal with said medical issues. Would leangains.com help them too?
- pvnick 13y agoEverytime I see an overweight person who's wearing nice clothes that fit well, I don't see an overweight person. That is, the well-fitting clothes take away from their being overweight almost completely, at least in my perspective. You do make a good point, however, that those folks would probably want to untuck their shirts. While I study biochemistry in school, I will not pretend to be able to give medical advice, so I can't answer your question with regards to medication. However, for those overweight folks who just haven't been tending to their diet and exercise as much as they'd like, leangains and a good strength-training program is a fantastic way to shed fat and become more "fit." Although, if you're really interested in getting involved, I personally believe http://rippedbody.jp http://rippedbody.jp to be a better resource for the information on leangains (although leangains.com is the original source), simply because it's better organized and more straightforward.
- ElongatedTowel 13y agoThe amount of weight one gains due to medical problems seems to be overestimated. I mean, there are medications out there that will hammer your metabolism. But then again, your average guy with Hypothyroidism, high blood pressure and below average testosterone levels won't take such medications. A friend of mine has Hypothyroidism and he attributes gaining nearly 100 lbs to that because his doctor told him that might be the effect of it beeing not treated for so long. I find that pretty silly. It may add some water weight and another 10 lbs due to that and skew the balance between lean body mass and fat. But the body has to follow the laws of physics and adding 100 lbs of mass in fat requires massive amounts of calories above your daily expenditure for extended periods of time.
- JulianMorrison 13y agoNobody's body is an amorphous blob, male or female. It's simply a matter of design and convention - clothes are designed to fit some body types, and conventional clothing styles are predicated on "degrees of freedom" of possible design that can only comfortably suit some body types without looking like a tent or a gorilla suit. Actually "male" formal styles have more give in their degrees of freedom than informal styles for either gender, or formal styles for women, because fat men have often been suit wearers. Still, IMO, designers ought to see "fat people of any sex" as a challenge to their ingenuity. I'd really like to see what people would come up with if effort was applied, rather than merely shifting the proportions of something designed for thin people.
- acuozzo 13y agoUpvoted. You made some great points.
- ksar 13y agoMid-high end brands build their clothes to an aspirational fit model. Most people are forced to make that fit work for them, either through tailoring, or optimizing around what attributes of their clothing are important to them. Fashion is pretty backwards on fit - bottom line is wear your clothes the way you want to wear them, swag or no swag.
- noelwelsh 13y agoAnd going the other way, once you get a bit of muscle clothes don't fit anymore.
- grannyg00se 13y ago"Before we jump in, let us note that clothes best flatter a fit body. " I'd say the statement in the article is more accurate. Fit rather than thin. And if you are not fit I'm thinking it would be better to work on that before the fashion.
- bane 13y agoI'm not thin and never will be. Even when I worked out 6 days a week for 2-3 hours a day, had a resting pulse of 46 and a body fat percentage under 10% I was still built like a square. Ignore this claptrap. Find good rules that fit your body within the following guidelines: 1 - shoulder fit is important, nothing says you don't know how to dress yourself like bad shoulder fit. This works for T-shirts to tuxedos 2 - sleeve length is important 3 - find comfortable pants you look decent in, don't hide anything, just fit in them well. What you wear up top is far more important than what you wear on the bottom
- nisdec 13y agoJust sent it to Mr. Zuckerberg.
- dhruvmittal 13y agoThis would have been pretty useful to me back when I was 15-18. I've got some heinous pictures of me wearing a suit jacket that was much too large and dress pants that were far too baggy. And pleated.
- antidaily 13y agoSame here. I recently read somewhere that certain men's stores purposely sell suits that are too big. Not sure why that would be a good idea.
- alex_anglin 13y agoTailoring services.
- pvnick 13y agoThis is a fantastic primer on how to fit clothes. Since taking care to get well-fitted, nice clothes, my confidence has skyrocketed and I seem to get more respect. This is a great way for career advancement - ever notice managers are generally better-dressed (ignoring Zuckerberg, the exception to this rule)? What I recommend to get started is go to a consignment/thrift store such as Goodwill and liberally buying cheap clothes that fit decently well. For shirts this mainly just means ensuring the shoulder crease lines up with the "angle" at the end of your shoulder. Take them all to an alterations store and have the nice lady fit everything for you. This will be the most expensive part of this whole endeavor. As a result you'll get a better feel for the types of clothes that work best for you as well as how clothes are supposed to fit, all for relatively little upfront investment. Also get nice shoes. Reddit's malefashionadvice is notorious for advocating Clarks Desert Boots. There's a reason for this; they're fantastic. I own a pair, wear them all the time. Whatever you do, don't wear sneakers around unless you're a personal trainer. You're probably not in high school anymore, and nice shoes will instantly help you present yourself more professionally.
- stuartmemo 13y agoThis comment is everything I don't want to be.
- pvnick 13y agoReally, why is that? I don't believe I said anything controversial. I personally haven't met anybody who, given the choice, prefers looking like a disheveled slob.
- mayanksinghal 13y agoFor one, people who wear sneakers often do it because they are comfortable. To equate them to high school teenagers if they are not personal trainers is quite unfair. You are free to advocate a more professional look, but if you get disrespectful on the way, people are going to hate your stance for it.
- spajus 13y agoThis should have been titled "How Clothes Should Fit __Corporate_Drones__"
- voidlogic 13y agoOh, you never go to weddings, funerals, dedications, meetings with old school customers, benefit dinners, graduations, award ceremonies, court, formal dinners or church? Just because people are not required to wear formal clothing everyday does not mean they don't want to look sharp when they do-
- iamtherockstar 13y ago"You're a grown man. You should already own a suit." http://putthison.com/post/44539956747/because-you-are-an-adult-you-need-a-sincere-suit http://putthison.com/post/44539956747/because-you-are-an-adu...
- reneherse 13y agoA good reference for anyone encouraging "Formal Fridays" or something similar around the office. There's a lot to be said for the occasional break from the routine of t-shirt and jeans.
- ladybro 13y agoI have a feeling that a lot of people on HN could truly benefit from this.
- Dewie 13y agoYou've seen a lot of pictures of people here? Or are you purely basing that on stereotypes?
- jonsterling 13y agoGod, they had me until they made the mistake of advising against pleats. I personally prefer them, but I'm not going to say which you should wear, and anyone who does is trying to trick you. Pleats come in and out of fashion, whereas fit is something that is pretty well-understood across time. Bitch, please.
- bhughes 13y agoI don't know if it is a question of whether they are in or out of fashion. Some people can pull off pleats, but when they don't look good, they really don't look good. If someone is reading this primer, they are probably not in a position to tell which is which.
- jonsterling 13y agoA fair point. I suggest only that whether or not you can pull off pleats has a lot less to do with your build or any other personal characteristic and a lot more to do with the kind of pants you're wearing (and whether you are wearing them properly). (To be fair, if you have massive thighs, you basically have to have pleats; this is not an issue for most people though). And so as regards fashion, it's not a matter of whether pleats are in fashion, but how high a rise is fashionable. If you wear your pants anywhere near your hips, you will look like a clown if you have pleats. Likewise, pants which were made to be worn near the hips are clown-pants if they have pleats. If your pants, however, have a high rise, and you are man enough to wear them at your natural waist, then pleats will make it possible to sit _and_ stand in your pants and not look like a total fool.
- cmod 13y agoFor more, in video form: Put This On [0] [0] http://vimeo.com/putthison http://vimeo.com/putthison
- Fargren 13y ago"No pants should need a belt to stay on your hips." So I suppose I should quit pants altogether, or only wear pants with elastics, since I can't find pants long enough for my legs that don't fall off anywhere. I have only one pair that fits me without a belt, and I had to buy it in Spain (I'm from Argentina); apparently teenagers are taller there so a they had my size. I know these articles can't work for everyone, but it really bothers me how hard it is to find clothes for some body types.
- crazygringo 13y agoBuy pants long enough for your legs, and have them altered. There are lots of body types that clothes don't fit off-the-rack!
- TwiztidK 13y agoI think the solution there would be to buy pants as close to fitting as possible and take them to a tailor to have them adjusted.
- coldtea 13y ago>So I suppose I should quit pants altogether, or only wear pants with elastics, since I can't find pants long enough for my legs that don't fall off anywhere. Or, you know, you could always have the longer ones adjusted at a tailer. Or you could order made-to-measure pants if you are such an outlier.
- Fargren 13y agoI know there are solutions to the problem. I don't particularly care for going to a tailor, so I wear belts (which are also hard to get in my size, but using kid's belts is viable, and I change belts a lot less than I change pants). But I'm still annoyed whenever I have to shop for clothes; it's an extra effort I don't care for.
- dschleef 13y agoFat shaming in the first sentence.
- hellephant 13y agoYeah, not at all.
- sdfjkl 13y agoSomehow I associate suits with either dishonest people who use them to try and project false integrity (salesmen, bankers, recruiters, etc.) or servants who are forced to wear them by their masters[1] (porters, security staff, heck in some city offices even the cleaners wore them). Since I like neither dishonesty nor subservience and find ties incredibly uncomfortable, I intentionally don't wear any such thing. It is astonishing how much we read into clothes though. I was regularly mistaken for a bouncer while standing outside a club wearing plain black clothes (despite drink in my hand). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livery
- encoderer 13y agoI associate suits with making me feel like a million bucks -- at least when they fit well. And i firmly believe nothing looks worse than an ill fitting suit. Also, black at night is fine but most people should avoid black during the day. It compliments very few complexions. Suit advice: I'm 30. Most the people I work with and talk to about clothing are in my age range, say, 25-35. Not "young" still, but we don't feel old and certainly don't want to put on a suit and see our fathers in the mirror. If you relate to that, and want something more contemporary, I'd suggest taking a look at Theory. They are on sale right now 50% off and are a value at that price. I don't love them as much for the full price. They are sold as separates and you can pick one up now for $375 or so. These jackets are partially canvassed (not bad, not great), have spandex or lycra in the blend that gives them a TINY bit of stretch, and the single vent and width of the lapels is modern enough to look good on a young man, and classic enough to still look OK in 5 years. http://www.theory.com/mens-suiting/mens-suiting,default,sc.html http://www.theory.com/mens-suiting/mens-suiting,default,sc.h...
- mc32 13y agoI think this is a balance. Well fitting clothes (suits or not) do enhance a person's appearance and speaks to their attention to detail in that area --they may or may not apply to other areas. On the other hand, dressing without dedicating much thought can come from, among other things, being too busy with 'important' things, the person is kind of lazy, at least in terms of dress, or perhaps they think they're being anti-pattern --but they're not, as many other people do the same. That said, most people who wear suits, to address that area, don't really wear well fitting (bespoke) suits. Ill fitting suits are worse than down dressing or dressing like a slob --it says you're being rote and don't really pay attention to detail. I see this symptomatically in salespeople, and others you mention, yes indeed, it looks horrible. A well fitting suit and matching clothes do enhance people's aesthetic look and that bleeds into their professional appearance, rightly or wrongly, in my opinion. By the way, if your stay-at-home clothes fit well and they match in color, pattern and mood, they don't have to be special or expensive. They need to match you in some way, however. It can't be a mishmash of incoherence. It becomes a visual cacophony and can be hard to get past. It's like looking at the person preparing your food and seeing them sweaty, clearing their throats, wheezing and uncomfortable, yet, they're washing their hands and at no point sneezed or coughed and never touched their face before finishing the preparation, but it still seems gross.
- calanya 13y agoThis is incredibly American centric and ignorant of variant weather conditions. Try wearing a fit shirt, long pants and leather shoes in 90+ weather...
- coldtea 13y ago>Try wearing a fit shirt, long pants and leather shoes in 90+ weather... That's around 32 oC? Yeah, what about it? People working in "serious" businesses, like banks, etc do it all the time. Not only in 90+. Even in 105+. And even I, that dress casually (t-shirt, jeans), have never had a problem with jeans and leather shoes even in 105+. You really think that shorts, that get you direct skin exposure to the sun are ...better than long pants? Even people in African deserts and such (were it's more like 110+) are wholly clothed (covered).
- Dewie 13y agohumid 32 C in a dress sounds like death.
- bane 13y agoIf you're cynical like me and think "dressing well" is a code word for "conform!", you can look at adopting the costume every once in a while (used judiciously) as a kind of hack that will get you what you want more often than wearing my normal uniform of loose shorts an old t-shirt and flip flops. Knowing when to throw on a decently tailored suit, a nice shirt and a pair of well matched shoes (even if your screaming inside to kick them off after a half hour) has gotten me contracts, procurements, jobs, raises and let me get away with figurative murder quite a few times. It says "I'm part of this club, I'm playing this game, let's not let a few hundred thousand dollars come between us." I hate suits and think they're a symbolic harness the modern world uses to remind workers they're one step away from either a hanging or working as a beast of labor, but using them as a tool to extract money from people is a perfectly valid tactic. In other words, I hate not making money more than I hate wearing a suit. The problem? I'm personally built like a square, and when I was younger and in better shape it was even worse. Very little on this page is relevant for me. Years of kickboxing built up thick thighs and calves and makes slim cut pants look ridiculous, likewise a 17.5" neck means I might find a single Oxford at any given store regardless of style. Wide feet and high arches mean fine shoes feel like Chinese foot binding. Round or narrow tipped shoes look absolutely absurd on my frame, square toed shoes look far better and much more consistent. Here's my hacks that end up looking decent if I need to: Go west coast, no tie. Leave the top button undone. No shirts with button-down collars, those are meant for ties. Slip on wide square toed dress shoes with good grippy soles. Sleeve length and shoulder fit here are dead on (you wouldn't believe how many people aren't aware of how shoulders should fit). Never button your blazer or suit jacket -- keep at least one hand in your pocket for the cool "I'm a guy in a suit" look, everybody will be doing it anyway. A barrel chest and years of not kickboxing have given me a healthy man-gut no blazer fit will ever work with. Just make sure the shoulder and sleeve length is right and you'll be fine. I take the jacket off at the start of meetings anyway. If negotiations of lots of paperwork start, roll your sleeves up, it'll cool you off and make you look serious while working on this "hard stuff". Regular cut pants, no low cut, shirts don't like staying tucked in well. Being built like a square means coats below the waste are an absolute no-no. P-coats work well if you absolutely need a coat. Avoid pleats at all costs. Flat-toed shoes, round or pointy toes look absurd on my square body shape. Tuck your shirt in properly, and starch the collar. Nothing says "retail worker forced to wear this" more than shirts that aren't tucked in right or messed up collars. To paraphrase the Romans, worship these gods in public for approval, abandon them in private for a comfortable life.
- cheshire137 13y agoOh, men only. :(
- WhatAboutObama 13y agohttps://reddit.com/r/femalefashionadvice https://reddit.com/r/femalefashionadvice