Kathryn Fassett
Bodies come in lots of shapes and sizes. Looking good in your clothes might feel a bit like a magic act, using misdirection to hide the things about your body that you don’t like. In a way, this is true! Small differences in how you dress can drastically change the way you look.
For large men, one common concern is dressing to appear slimmer. Depending on how a man’s weight is carried, he might prefer to look shorter or taller at the same time. This illusion is easy to achieve by following the tips below. With that said, here is our guide to 6 Style Tips For Large Men!
1. Wear Clothes That Fit You
The first tip is important for anyone, regardless of what “problem area” they’d like to correct. Many people have attempted a slimming effect by squeezing into clothes a size smaller, or to look shorter by wearing pants that are slightly too long. This never helps the problem and only makes it look worse.
The first step to looking your best is to wear clothes that properly fit you. A tailored shirt and trousers will always be more flattering than something purchased off the shelf, particularly for bigger men.
Poorly fitting clothes will bunch, crease, and sag. The lines of your body will be broken up by the bulges of fabric, almost always in the spots you’d like to draw attention away from. Since it’s almost impossible to buy perfectly-fitting clothing off the rack, you’ll need to find a good tailor. Luckily, tailor adjustments and inexpensive and well worth the investment.
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2. Wear Light Weight Fabrics
Heavier fabrics have a tendency to add bulk to your frame. Not only does a lighter fabric give you a more fair silhouette, it can also help you regulate your body temperature. Bigger bodies produce more body heat, which can make heavier fabrics uncomfortable any ways. Overheating can lead to sweat stains, odors, and general crankiness.
If you have previously tried to hide bulk behind thick khakis or heavy jackets, you will be amazed by how much lighter you feel in a fine wool suit.
3. Neckline Proportions
Every part of your neckline, from your shirt’s collar style to the knot you choose for your tie, should be proportional to the rest of your body. Just as a thin man with a smaller head looks like a caricature when he dons a large collar and a wide tie, a large man with a bigger head looks like a clown with a tiny collar and dainty knot.
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A spread collar shirt, wider tie, and a broad knot will make a large man look balanced and natural. When wearing a jacket, the points of the collar should be tucked underneath the jacket.
Proportion is particularly important at the neckline, but all of your accessories should be comparative to your frame size. A bigger man should have a bigger watch face and chunkier cuff links. Bigger items add a sense of authority to a large man, which sends a signal that this is not a “fat” man but a big powerful man instead.
4. Accentuate Height, Minimize Width
When choosing a suit pattern, larger men should concentrate on creating a taller and thinner visual. A pattern with chunky horizontal lines will make you appear wider because it draws the eye from side to side. A light vertical pinstripe has the opposite effect, drawing the eye up and down. Black is a particularly slimming color, and solid colors in general help slim a silhouette. Opt for simple, small patterns to avoid accentuating curves.
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5. Keep Pockets Empty
When you have a bulky wallet, keys, and a cell phone shoved into your pants pockets, you create big bulky areas that break up the precisely tailored lines of your ensemble. Having lots of items in your pockets also makes the fabric stretch and bunch in other ways, creating a ripple of discord through the whole look. After all, we are all trying to avoid the George Kostanza wallet! Choose a minimalist wallet or money clip and slip your keys and phone into your jacket pockets instead.
6. Grow A Beard
Growing a beard is an excellent hack to make a softer chin instantly look more masculine. A beard hides a double chin and makes a man look stronger. But growing a beard is a commitment, because the secret to looking good with facial hair is keeping it well-groomed. From a short goatee to full lumberjack, a recently trimmed beard shows that you intended to look this way, rather than just not caring enough to keep it neat. A larger man with a beard has even more pressure to keep his facial hair well-groomed because bigger guys fight the stereotype of not caring about their appearance.
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Bigger Guys Have More Reason To Dress Well
In addition as being assumed to not care about their appearance, big guys fight other stereotypes such as they are lazy and sloppy. If two men, one larger and one smaller, both wore athletic pants and a t-shirt, people have a tendency to assume one man is going to the gym and that another man was too lazy to put on nicer clothes.
Of course this isn’t a fair stereotype, but it does give bigger guys an added incentive to put thought into the clothes they wear each day. Taking the time to look a little nicer each day fights this stereotype and forces people to look at you differently. No man in a well-fitting suit ever looks lazy.
Remember, the last thing we want is to be dressed like this!
Sweetness!
And that's a wrap for this one! I hope that you have enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it!
If you are a larger & taller man looking for ties, please feel free to check out The Dark Knot's Extra Long Tie Collection!
