How Men’s Clothes Should Actually Fit

When guys come to us for style help, one of their main concerns is the fit of their clothes. They see all sorts of opinions from Instagrammers, YouTubers, and magazines about how clothing should fit. Most of them are missing the point.

Let me explain.

Guys ask: “Should my clothes be tight or loose?” “I see that loose-fit clothes are trending now, should I be wearing that?”

This is where most style influencers lose the plot and where guys get confused. They obsess over what’s “in” right now. One year it’s pants that are oversized, the next it’s ones so tight they look painted on.

I’ve been in this industry for almost a decade and have watched the tides of fit ebb and flow.

Here’s what I tell our personal styling clients: Clothing should just fit you.

Let me give you a way to think about this.

When you put on a shoe, you don’t ask if it should be tight or loose. You just know when it fits.

There’s enough room to move, but not so much that your foot slides around. It’s snug, but not pinching or squeezing. It’s simply right. That’s exactly how clothing should fit.

Your clothing should be slim enough to avoid excess fabric so you don’t look bigger than you are, but loose enough that nothing is pulling or squeezing you. You want comfort with and an attractive shape to your body.

This is not exhaustive, but here’s a quick fit checklist:

-You should be able to move your arms easily without pinching.

-No bunching or sagging anywhere.

-No pulling at seams or buttons.

-Shirt collars and jacket shoulders should line up with your own shoulders, not hang over.

-Pant legs should just touch your shoes, not puddle.

-Waistbands should stay up on their own, but not dig in.

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If you want me to review the fit of your clothing, you can apply for a call with me here. We’ll walk through your current style, and I’ll show you how we do it with our personal styling service for men. This call is complimentary for now.
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Apparently, getting clothing that suits the wearer, not the masses, is a novel idea. That is until you hear it. Then it just makes sense.

“But Patrick, my wife’s friend’s teenage babysitter swears that loose/tight fit is so 'in' right now.”

Neat.

It’s funny how the same crowd pushing baggy fits now were the same ones yelling about skin-tight everything just a few years ago. Plenty of whom called me out for not jumping on the sausage-casing look.

Fast forward, and we’re now supposed to shop in the husky section. That’s how fast things change.

This is why, instead of following trends blindly, you should be wearing clothing that fits you, not someone’s idea of what’s trending.

Because, at the core of it, my simple thought is that clothing should make you, the wearer, look better. Crazy idea.

Here’s a quick question to ask yourself to figure out if your clothing fits you:

Ask: Does this make my body look better, or worse?

Some clothing will make you look heavier, shorter, or out of proportion. Other items make you look lean, muscular, and well-proportioned. When clothing fits you correctly, it does the latter.

You’ve seen it happen. You’ve put on something where you just look off. You might not know why, but you know your body looks worse. Conversely, there are times when you wear something that you can see you look great in. We want to get you more of that.

We’ve had clients wearing things that were too tight or too loose, and once we got them into properly fitting clothing, the compliments and their self-confidence started rolling in.

This is because we focused on the one thing that is most important in all of this: optimizing clothing for the person wearing it, not for what is trending this week.

And of course, this is nuanced. You can prefer things to fit a little slimmer or a little more relaxed, giving yourself a bit of margin. But this is a personal preference and should always still remain within an acceptable range of correct fit (see below).

There’s nothing easier to spot than a guy trying too hard to chase trends. You end up with a closet full of stuff you don’t even like. Worse, you never feel like yourself, or feel like you look good.

This is because you don’t.

Chasing trends is a great way to waste money and still miss the mark. Instead, tune out the noise and wear what suits you. That’s the difference between style and fashion. Style suits you. Fashion suits them.

So next time you get dressed or go shopping, ask yourself: Does this make me look good?

See if the item actually fits you and suits your body. This is what we teach and help our clients with. And once you figure out fit, it’s like seeing the Matrix.

You never have to worry about what’s trending next week because you know you look good and you're wearing items that correctly fit.

And that is a breath of oxygen in a space polluted with fashion hot air.

Hope this helps.

x Patrick