We prefer to be transparent and honest – it’s neither stylish nor healthy to be fat, and the same goes for being skinny. If you fit into either of these two boxes, you should actively work towards a more normal body shape, primarily for health reasons but also, of course, because it’s far more stylish. Now let’s talk about how to dress if you are thin and skinny!
1 Go for a tight fit
You would think that the reasonable thing to do would be to dress in thick and baggy clothes to look bigger, and sure you can achieve a bigger figure that way, but that’s not what we’re after. The aim is not to hide our body, but to make the most of what we have. Because, unlike being fat, being thin and skinny is not as negative. Obviously, being bony is not handsome, but a slim figure is something you want to accentuate, unlike its fat counterpart.
Slim clothes accentuate the positive
Clothes with a slim fit enhance your slender silhouette, reveals Vogue. The beauty of a suit is the uncluttered feeling it gives, exactly the same thing is achieved when you, as a slim/thin man, go for slim clothes over baggy rascals that badly testify that you are trying to hide something.
But avoid super slim trousers
Time for a little contradiction; just now we said: “wear slim-fitting clothes” but now we’re saying don’t wear slim-fitting trousers. We understand that sounds confusing, but what we mean is that you shouldn’t take it too far, and especially not when it comes to your trousers! Few things accentuate your skinniness like a pair of super slim pants. Instead, go for a well-tailored fit, not baggy or baggy pants, but pants that are tight but don’t accentuate all your curves, or lack thereof. I found Vogue recommends this as well!
Stay away from baggy clothes
So, as mentioned above, stay away from baggy clothes. You won’t be able to hide your thinness by wearing baggy clothes, all you’ll achieve is that you’ll look unkempt and flabby, everyone will still see that you’re thin. Instead, work with well-tailored clothes that accentuate your figure and instead add more layers to achieve more volume in a stylish way.
The tailor is your friend!
If you don’t have a body shaped according to the fashion houses’ sizing system, it pays to visit the tailor from time to time. This is especially true when it comes to your signature pieces, or “centerpieces,” such as jackets, shirts, and trousers. The tailor can help you pick out oversized shoulder pads (more on this below), sew in and sew up shirts, jackets, and trousers, in fact, anything you need to correct your garments so they work to your advantage. It’s also not as expensive to have the tailor adjust your garments. Check this article “What can a tailor do?” for more info on how a tailor can help you with the fit.
Don’t lose your confidence
You can maximize your style by showing confidence. If you still don’t feel confident even though you are dressing well, you may want to change your overall look. I’m talking about your hair, your body, and even your skin. A nice-looking hairstyle, a fit body, flawless skin, plus a cool outfit will make you a superman. You can always check blogs such as Refinery29 or Women’s Concepts for advice in skin, hair, and body care. I always find what I want on these website, whenever it’s about skincare or haircare.
2 Wear layer-on-layer
Working layer-on-layer is by far the most important and valuable piece of advice we can give you as a skinny man. It’s the winning way to dress if you have a body that’s more ‘petit’ than you’d like – it’s kind of a way to add extra ‘fleshiness’ in a stylish and thoughtful way.
3 Skip the v-neck
When it comes to the choice of the neck on your shirts, crew neck is the way to go, why? If you’re skinny, you almost certainly don’t have any chest muscles to show off (if you did, you wouldn’t be skinny), so deep v-neck shirts will only flash a bony, flat chest, which is something you want to avoid. Note, however, that even crewneck sweaters can be deeply necklined, and it’s the very display of the non-existent chest you want to avoid. So simply skip all forms of deep neckline garments.
4 Avoid large shoulder pads
It may seem intuitive to choose jackets with large shoulder pockets, as they add a little more to your shoulders. But as mentioned above, trying to cheat your way to a bigger body doesn’t really work (see above about baggy clothes). So while it makes sense, you actually want to do the opposite, you want to choose jackets with small or non-existent shoulder pads, as these better accentuate your slim figure. If you already own jackets with larger shoulder pads, it might be a good idea to swing by the tailor and see what they can do to customize your jacket.
5 Avoid big accessories
Large accessories such as scarves, watches, and necklaces make the rest of your body look even smaller; instead, go for classic small buckle mens belts that will make you look proportionate. Go for delicate accessories such as thin dress watches and sweetheart necklaces, they better complement your slim and figure.
6 Wear it wide
As we all know, stripes that run wide make you look, well wider. Stripes that run lengthwise instead make you look taller – with some exceptions, of course. In short, you should choose wide-striped tops when buying patterned clothes.
We understand that it may sound like we’re going against ourselves a bit now, as we’ve previously talked about how we’re not looking to “look bigger”, but instead want to make the most of what we have, i.e. accentuate our slim figure. But working with wide rims isn’t quite the same as wearing baggy clothes. It’s not a way to physically look bigger, like with baggy clothes and big shoulder pads, but a way to create the illusion that we’re wider than we are. So if you like patterned clothes, wide-striped is the way to go!
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