What’s the best dress style for tall and thin people?
In this post, you’re gonna get 8 tips to help you look handsome.
These tips are gathered from around the web.
But:
There’s a lot of junk out there..
So I’ve filtered out the thin advice, and refined the best for you.
This means:
If you only look one place, this is it.
After reading this, you should have pretty good sense of dressing style.
And be ready to level-up your wardrobe accordingly.
Have fun reading!
Do wear crew necks. Don’t wear v-necks
Crew necks are the better choice for skinny guys, because v-necks
- looks best if you have strong pecs (chest-muscles) and
- if you have broad shoulders.
If you don’t have broader shoulders, the v-neck will make your shoulders look even more squared and narrow than they are.
Recommendation: TallSlim tees have great crew-neck t-shirts for tall and skinny guys. They are fairly inexpensive and are made of quality fabric. I have several myself and enjoy the soft feel and great fit years after I had them sent to me.Do wear fitted suits. Don’t wear baggy suits.
You might think that – just as with the v-neck t-shirt – you shouldn’t go for anything that exaggerates your thin frame. Well, that is true, but with tailoring, you actually do want something fitted to your body shape.
If you are slim and tall, you actually need a blazer that’s fairly fitted around the waist, and suit pants that are close to, but not touching, your thighs.
Tailored clothes just looks better when following the curvatures of the body. Don’t worry about looking to slim; the thick and layered nature of a suit will not reveal your body too much. Just leaves you look dandy and stylish.
Recommendation: Tailored shirts and suits can be found on Tailorstore.com. If that’s a bit too expensive, I recommend trying out American Tall’s new range of blazers.A last option, especially if you’re from the UK, is to check out 2Tall.com – they have a whole category of suits as well.
Do wear clothes that fit. Don’t wear baggy clothes.
Following up on the former points, do wear clothes that fits. Don’t go for the baggier options, just to hide away a scrawny frame.
It might be tempting to go up a size or two, but that will just make you look childish – as if you were borrowing your older brother/father’s hand-me-downs.
Recommendation: Buy your clothes at online stores catering for exactly your body type. If you realize that some brands are just not good for you, switch to other more dedicated tall and slim brands. I’ve gathered a whole list of tall men’s clothing and tall women’s clothing with lots of great options to check out.
Do wear accessories. Don’t wear too big accessories.
It’s totally fine to spice up your look with a watch, a belt or a scarf. The issue arises when these things become to big. The watch face can’t be very big, if the width of your wrist can’t carry it.
Go for more classic watches with thinner straps and faces in order to match the watch to the arm wearing it. Here are a few that would fit a slim wrist well:
When it comes to belts, the same principles apply as with the watch. If you are a skinny person, a huge belt buckle isn’t gonna work for you. You’d rather go for the classic buckle without a lot going on – and go for a belt width that is neutral; not super slim and not overly wide.
Recommendation: Asos has a large category of accessories for men, where the price is held low and the variety is immense. Also often in more slim-lined styles of glasses, wristbands, belts and more.Do wear fitted jeans. Don’t wear skinny jeans
Although jeans should be fitted and not overly baggy around your legs, you don’t want to go for the extreme skinny fit jeans. These jeans will emphasise your skinny legs and make people wonder wether those are jeans are leggings.
You are on the safe side if you just stick to regular, tapered or slim fit jeans – like the options from The Idle Man here.
Do be confident about your body. Don’t wear shoulder pads.
This might be common sense, but just to rule this out completely; don’t wear shoulder pads to make yourself look bigger and bulkier. There’s really no shame in looking the way you do – and dressing in a way that doesn’t overemphasise that is more than enough.
You shouldn’t go all in and try to look bigger than you are. This comes through a dedicated and focus fitness regimen, on-point diet and the right supplements – get inspired by my own fitness journey here.
Do wear horizontal stripes. Don’t wear vertical stripes.
Unless it’s a look, you want to avoid wearing vertical strips. Why? Because visually, vertical stripes are slimming, while horizontal stripes are widening. Use this to your advantage by wearing more of the clothes that have patterns with horizontal lines and seams – while reducing the use of vertical stripes to when you absolutely can’t avoid it. Maybe it’s your favorite pair of pants – then it’s totally fine (as long as they aren’t skinny fit also).
Recommendation: Find t-shirts that have horizontal stripes like these ones from Idle Man.Or if you are looking for pants and chinos without too many patterns, e.g. vertical stripes, then a good recommendation would be to check out American Tall’s selection:
Do stand straight and tall. Don’t slouch or hide.
This last tip is not really about the clothes you wear. Instead, it’s about how you wear it, and how you hold yourself. No matter what clothes you put on, you are still going to look insecure and frail if you slouch or look like you’d rather hide in hole in the ground.
Stand tall and straight with your chest held high and back straight – this will give you a confident look that will add on to your overall appearance as a secure and confident person.
No clothes in the world can fix your general appearance. Well, there are these posture correcting shirts, but you get my point. True confidence comes from within and is the foundation behind it all if you want to achieve the best dress style for tall and thin men.
Some quick extra advice
As a final note, I want to give you a few overall tips on how to dress well. These tips don’t only apply to the tall and skinny, but to everyone in general.
- 80% neutral basics, 20% daring colorful items. This will enable you to e.g. wear all black, with a pair of colorful sneakers and a catching cap. This 80/20 combo will make it easy to look good with most combinations of mainly subtle items and then a few crazier ones.
- Find a brand that fits you and stay loyal. If you’ve found someone who makes clothes just for you, then go buy what they have and make it the foundation of your wardrobe. Some brands fit, some don’t – and finding a great match is something to treasure.
- Get inspired with Google Images. This might sound like a weird style advice, but googling something like “mens bomber jacket”, “cocktail party dressing style” or “2020 black outfit combinations” – and clicking the Images view will give a great point of departure, when you are going to get dressed for any occasion.
Now it’s your turn
So those are my best advice on how to get closer to the best dress style for tall and thin.
Now I want to turn it over to you: What are your best style tips?
Have you tried any of the above? Or am I missing your all-time favorite hack in my list?
Let me know by leaving a quick comment below right now.
Richard Johnson
March 29, 2020Many thanks for guiding in such a nice way what one ought to wear and what not. From now on, I hope it will be easier for me to pick a look that will fit nicely. Looking for more important and useful information in the coming days on this site. Thanks a lot. Keep up the good job!