Fitting A Suit: The Definitive Guide For Shorter, Slimmer Men

I’ve been frustrated over the last few years about never really being taught how to properly fit myself with a suit. What appears as common knowledge to those in fashion is relatively unknown to most men. There are many factors that strongly impact a well dressed suit for a shorter man, and I hope to expose a few of them here.

Easy, step-by-step instructions…

Shorter Jackets

With shorter men, the width and length of the suit jacket is one of the most important aspects of your entire ensemble. If your suit jacket appears too long, then you’re overall appearance is diminished, which is hardly what your going for. As a general rule, your suit jacket (with your arms hanging) should fall between your thumb and index finger. This gives your upper body the appearance of length, but doesn’t take away from the length of your legs (which visually makes you appear taller).

Chest

You should be able to easily button the jacket without it pulling. There shouldn’t be much space between the button and your chest—no more than a clenched fist’s worth.

Arm Length

The proper length of the arm is debatable between tailors but generally speaking you want your arm length (with your arms resting at your side) to be just on the bend in your wrist. The other school of thought is to have it slightly above that, about 0.3 of an inch, so you have a part of your cuff showing at all times. Neither is right, neither is wrong. Having your cuff showing might be considered alittle more “liberal” in your fashion depending on social circles. I personally think it looks better because people see your cuff links.

Shoulders

You want the edge of your shoulders lined up with your seem between the jacket and the arm sleeve. If the shoulder crease goes over the shoulder too far, it will look bad, and disproportionates your body. Likewise, if you have the shoulder too short then you’ll be sweating up a storm and the bottom of the jacket will flap out too much (and uncomfortable). You might even be able to do the fat guy in a little coat dance.

Trousers

I read recently in GQ that by not wearing a belt on a well tailored suit, you can actually lengthen your legs. I haven’t personally tried this yet, and I love belts, but I’ll give that a shot this weekend when I attend a wedding reception. That’s a little less conservative in fashion, but doable.

The trick with your trousers here is to have your inseam as close to your balls as possible without feeling uncomfortable. As you combine slim fitting leg trousers with a high inseam, the appearance of your legs is elongated. This makes you appear taller. The length of your pants should rest comfortably on the high rim of your heel. It shouldn’t pass, otherwise you’ll get your suit dirty.

Button Count and Lapels

I personally try to stay to 2-3 buttons, with a low cut jacket. This shows more shirt which (once again) makes your look taller. The high 3-5 button suits are for fatter, or taller men. They may appear good, but it doesn’t do your physique justice.

Stay away from wide ties and lapels. Because your short, stick with skinner ties that show more of your shirt. Also, tie your tie with a half-windsor, not a full-windsor this makes the tie appear skinner. Accessorizing, colors, patterns and brands will be discussed in another post. This was post is strictly for fitting.

For some brands that usually have these characteristics for shorter men, go with Clavin Klein, Hugo Boss, and even the cheaper H&M suits.

Popularity: 18%