5 Effective Style Tips for Tall & Skinny Men
Style Guide for Men with Tall and Slender Build
Many style tip articles for men are geared toward stocky and shorter builds or for average bodied men. One of the biggest reasons for this is perhaps because shorter men tend to run into more styling dilemmas than others.
If you’re a tall and skinny guy, however, there isn’t much helpful information available out there. Sure, clothes are easier for you to fit into, but maybe you want to look more buff or fit. Maybe you’d prefer for your clothing to look fitted rather than fitting on you like a pile of laundry.
When skinny and tall guys ask for styling tips, they’re usually given practical advice such as “dude, hit the gym” or “bro, eat more food”. Yes, these tips are great but they will months, if not years, before you start to see some effects. Throw in fast metabolism, busy work schedule, family & kids, and other responsibilities in life to tend to — and it can be quite a task just to find some time for the gym to begin with. The point is you want ideas that will help you look good in your clothes right now.
And what if you like the way your body looks now? Perhaps you’re a lean and tall man who doesn’t want to build muscle because you’re a marathon runner or some other kind of high-caliber athlete. You don’t have to go to the gym and lift weights if you don’t want to (although it’s always healthy to implement), your only goal is to look stylishly awesome.
Style Matters: Tips for Tall Guys Who Are Skinny
No matter what your reasoning is or what your goals in life are for your body, you’ve come to this article for a reason: you want to look good in the clothes you wear as a skinny, tall guy. The clothes you wear can truly make a world of difference in how you’re perceived by the world around you, having the potential to change your image from “lazy and lackluster” to “distinguished and determined”.
If you wear the right clothes (and the right way), you can accomplish exactly that which can propel your life forward. Here are some style tips to help you look your best.
Style Tip #1. Wear fitted clothing.
Baggy clothing does the opposite of what you’d hope for it to do. If you’re chubby, baggy clothing makes you look bigger. If you’re slim, baggy clothing makes you look even slimmer (basically, you’re not fooling anyone). Instead, opt for clothes that fit you nicely and appropriately, with not too much excess fabric hanging around. That means no oversized jackets and tees, heavyweight outerwear (like those old Starter jackets, or baggy jeans. This one style tip alone can completely change the way the world perceives you for the better.
Style Tip #2. Avoid excessively tight jeans.
Although you should absolutely wear fitted clothing, this doesn’t mean you should wear clothes that cut off your circulation –– and make you look even skinnier. So unless looking like Jack Skellington is your goal, you should avoid jeans that are very tight-fitting.
Very skinny jeans will only bring emphasis to your slim build, making you look skinnier than you really are. Instead, aim to wear slim or fitted jeans that leave a little bit of wiggle room for your legs to breathe while making your legs look bigger as well.
Related: Grooming Routine for Men
Style Tip #3. Wear suit jackets (or similar) whenever possible.
If there’s a surefire way to make your tall and skinny frame look a little more built and broad, it’s wearing a jacket. And no, we don’t mean a track jacket or a hoodie. We’re specifically talking about sports coats, suit jackets, and blazers (find out how to rock a blazer here).
These types of jackets work by having padding in the shoulder areas that accentuate your shoulders, giving you the appearance of being broader and having a stronger build.
However, you shouldn’t go overboard with the padding. If you find a suit jacket that is excessively broad in the shoulders, it might be best to leave it alone. A great suit jacket will serve to make you look wider in the shoulder region while still maintaining a slim posture in the waist, giving you a Superman-like appearance. Not quite as built like him, of course, but you get the point.
Style Tip #4. Wear bulkier fabrics.
It’s important to note that we do not mean to wear bulkier, larger fitting clothing. Rather, we simply mean that you should choose to wear fabric that is typically bulkier by nature.
For example, fabrics like flannel, tweed, denim, corduroy, and Glen plaid, all help to give you the appearance of having more body mass than you actually have, which helps to make you look broader and more muscularly built.
Aside from these fabrics, you can also try to find some clothing that comes in bulkier, thicker knits. For example, many winter shawl-collared sweaters are built with a thick material, which can further “beef” up your build.
Style Tip #5. Layer up appropriately.
A great and easy way to add bulk to your build is by layering on the clothing. However, you want to make sure that you go about this the right way. As a general rule, layer your clothing from thin to thick as well as from light to rigid. Basically, this means that you would put on your lightest and thinnest fabric first (such as a basic white tee-shirt or a plain white shirt), and end with a sturdier outer layer, such as a suit jacket or a shawl collar knit sweater.
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