Shopping And The Body Type - Small Sizes, Short Sizes, For Men

July 10th, 2001

Whether short or tall, portly or slim, a man needs to shop for his clothing with his individual physique in mind. Since most people aspire to look like some idealized version of themselves, selecting clothes based on a particular body type is as old as fashion itself. Whereas I believe that familiarity with the geometric principles that downplay girth or emphasize height or breadth is helpful, such information should be viewed as a guide rather than dogma.

I have seen the most well-dressed men wear clothes in stark contradiction to the accepted dictates of fashionable physiognomy. I can recall one portly, older gentleman looking so debonair in his large, plaid, hefty tweed sports suit simply because it was cut to perfection. I am told that no other group of men would parade down Savile Row in the thirties with more panache than the contingent of Brazilian diplomats, most of whom were under five feet seven and all of whom wore their soft-shoulder, double-breasted suits with cuffed trousers. Proportion in dress in the foundation of all classic dressing. The truly stylish man knows enough about the rules to know how and when to break them.

To assist some of the basic body types in choosing their tailored clothing, I would like to make the following suggestions:

SHORT, SLIM MEN - Clothes should elongate and add shaped fullness

Jackets
1. Shoulder can be higher and slightly broader.

2. Torso should broaden the chest and shoulder and have slight waist suppression.
3. Jacket length should be as short as possible, however, covering the buttocks without cutting the wearer in two.
4. Single-breasted, three-button coats promote a longer line.
5. Double-breasted coats should have a long roll and button below the natural waist.
6. Lapel notches should be in the chest’s upper range. Peaked lapels offer more height.
7. Side vents or no vents.
8. Flap pockets add more width to hip and balance better with the wider shoulder, but they are not as elongating as the simple besom pocket.
9. Long sleeves make a short man look overcoated.
10. Fabrics such as mill-finished worsteds and flannels; with patterning that emphasizes verticality such as: herringbones, medium spaces chalk or pinstripes, and windowpanes longer in the woof (vertical) than the weft (horizontal).

Trousers
1. A matching trouser lengthens more than a contrasting one.
2. Should be worn high on the waist and fuller on the hip to promote a longer leg line and to smooth the transition of jacket to trouser.
3. Trouser should break on shoe to extend the view from top to bottom.
4. Cuffs (1 5/8”) help to smooth the transition of the fuller trouser with the larger scale shoe.

Accessories
1. Striped dress shirt with non contrasting collars and cuffs.
2. Spread collars, tab collars, long pointed pinned collars.
3. Suspenders emphasize verticality.
4. Striped, solid, understated neckwear knotted in four-in-hand style.
5. Longer four-in-hand necktie can be tucked into trouser.
6. Tonal handkerchief folded with point leaning outward.
7. Welted-soled shoes add height and balance with the breadth of the shoulder.

From Style and The Man by Alan Flusser