Skinny men have in fact got an advantage over their plump counterparts when it comes to style. For example, it is more socially acceptable to be “skinny” than it is “fat” any day of the week.

Society tends to associate being lean with being attractive, which is a bonus to the thin man and a great starting block.
Naturally being a size that fits somewhere into the middle is ideal, which is why we need to turn to our good friend ‘perception’.

Perception

Perception is a very interesting concept and as they say “perception is reality”. So why not use this to our advantage and create a great “perception” wherever possible by following 6 simple rules that will help get us there.

Rule No. 1 – The fit
The fit of our clothes is very important and one that is overlooked by ALL men (not just thin men) way too often.
The core principles apply to thin men as they would any other body type. The fit needs to be snug, not too loose and not too tight. I know that it sounds a bit vague, but it is because the fit is always going to be slightly different for each piece of clothing. As a general rule, your clothes need to fit the contours of your body, but not in a way that you can see your body through your clothes because that would mean they are too tight.

For the thin gentleman there are a couple rules that must be abided by.

1. Loose clothes do not make you look bigger. In fact it is quite the opposite. A loose shirt that is bulging out where it is tucked into your jeans or trousers looks like the shirt is controlling you rather than the other way around.
2. Tighter clothes accentuate your slimness. Tight fit jeans, tight fit shirts etc. should not be worn unless you want to tell everyone you are skinny.
3. Always keep consistency between your tops and bottoms in terms of the fit, colors and patterns.

Rule No. 2 – Create Breadth

There are quite a number of small techniques that you can use to give the impression that you are bulkier/wider than what you actually are. Some of these include:
· Wearing double breasted suits, coats and jackets, and not just for formal occasions!
· Opting for a 3 button suit or blazer as opposed to a 2 or 1. Ever wondered why some tall skinny NBA players wear suits with 5 buttons? Because it just makes the proportions match, and gives a balanced look
· Wear pants with pockets – these add volume
· Opt for bulky fabrics wear possible. For example, high thread count cotton shirts, corduroy or heavy wool suits.
· Wear shirts with spread collars. As opposed to button down, try Tab and long point collars.
· Have a longer rise in your pants. The rise is the length from your waist to your crotch area.
· Wear trousers with cuffs: They certainly serve a purpose with creating breadth.

Rule No. 3 – Watch the colors

Ever heard the saying “black is slimming”? Is there any wonder why women always revert back to black clothes if they are in doubt.
Well this is because black actually does make you look slimmer.

Light colors will actually have the opposite effect. As an example, all you need to do is take note of the difference between a black t-shirt and a white one. The black one makes you look skinnier, which means the white one wont.
For a more conservative light color lean towards a white, gray or khaki color to give you a bulkier effect.

Rule No. 4 – Watch the patterns

This rule is very similar to the rule above.
It is generally well known that vertical pin stripes on a shirt, suit jacket will make you look taller, because it focuses people’s vision up and down.
Naturally, Slim people should completely avoid any of these types of patterns. Try to stick to either 1. horizontal stripes (if possible, this will generally will only apply to t-shirts though) or 2.checked and cross-hatch type patterns with a horizontal aspect and effect.

Rule No. 5 – Carefully select your accessories

Accessories are great for every single man and I don’t think men dabble with them as much as they should.
The thin man should still wear accessories where possible, but should be slightly more careful when buying them.
Things like scarfs, the right sunglasses (ones that accentuate width i.e. heavy plastic wraparounds and oversize lenses) and hats can give you some width.

However, with watches and ties you need to be careful and not to get them too big. Naturally a thick tie is going to make YOU look smaller and If you have a small wrist what do you think a watch with a big face will do to your wrist?
Also, it can always be a good idea to dress in layers (where possible), as this will have a positive effect in creating a bigger body frame.

Rule No. 6 – Your body language

At the end of the day even if you’re wearing something that is completely complimentary for your body type, you’re not going to be able to pull the look off if you haven’t got the body language (and mindset) to back it up.
You need to be able to stick your chest out with confidence when you enter a bar, and have the ability to be able to talk to people you don’t know with self-confidence

Basically, your look and dress should be viewed as your business card only.
To give an example: If you meet a expert in a certain field, and they give you a business card with a long list of credentials after their name, needless to say you will be impressed.

If you then start to ask this person questions about the field that they are an expert in and he/she couldn’t answer any of them for you, my guess is that your respect for them would dwindle away pretty fast.
Same applies with style. Have everything you can to back your good look up. Have a great lifestyle, be able to talk to everyone and be the life of the party to compliment your great image and looks, and you can’t go wrong

Always Copy

Remember the quickest, easiest and sometimes the best way to being stylish is to pick someone with YOUR same body shape and personality that you think you can relate to and watch what they do. Someone famous can be a good starting point as there are always plenty of photos of them around and they pay their stylist thousands of dollars to make them look good (and bulkier).

This was a guestpost by Sam, author of http://www.stylethroughintelligence.com/. It’s a blog for guys who want to improve their stylishness and evolve. Pay him a visit and stick around there! ;)

Cheers
Adrian

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