Men’s Style Guide: How to Dress for Your Body Type

Do you ever feel that, despite doing things by the book, clothing just doesn’t feel comfortable or look right on you? It’s very possible that you’re dressing for the wrong body type. This might come as a shock to you but believe it or not, dressing for your body type isn’t solely reserved to women’s clothing. Men’s bodies come in all different shapes and sizes, and having a good understanding of how to dress for your body type is can really help you better know how to style for it. At the end of the day, all of this goes a long way in making you look more stylish and put together.

Before we get started on the men’s style guide on how to dress for your body type, here are a few simple guidelines so that you have a general understanding of how to dress and how not to dress given your specific body type:

1. If you think you’re going to be losing or gaining much weight/mass in the near future, hold off on making any big purchases on clothes and stick it out with the ones you have. Once you see some major changes, it’s time to upgrade.

2. Not all of us have time to go shopping regularly. Identify brands that work well with your body type and establish some as your go-to places to shop. This way, if you ever need anything, you’ll be able to grab it fast and be on your way.

3. You might think that you need to stay on top of the trending fashion statement in order to become what we call a classy gentleman. Actually, you don’t necessarily have to keep up with the latest fashion trend. On the contrary, because they come and go so quickly and it costs a fortune to keep up, you might be better off avoiding them altogether.

On the other hand, you also don’t want to be known as someone who just goes with the flow and opts for whatever’s hot at the time. A real man needs to have an air of originality and personality around him.

4. If you’re looking for clothes that is the best way to know how to dress for your body type, you might need a helping hand from time to time. So if you’re having a hard time finding clothes that are suitable for you and the male body type, don’t hesitate to ask the store staff. If need be, you can also use a tailor to ensure that your clothes fit like they were custom made just for you.

Male Body Types #1: The Trapezoid Frame

This male body type is considered the most common frame. It’s when you have shoulders that are broader than your chest and your waist tapers to become thinnest at around belly button height. This is the frame that most clothes are designed for and that mannequins are modelled after. These proportions are easy to work with, lucky for you, and you can wear just about anything. However, knowing how to dress for your body type means to know that the trapezoid frame is typically synonymous with more athletic body shapes, you might want to take advantage of the sporty look with this male body type that many are rocking at the moment.

A pair of dark tapered pants, a light cable sweater, and a bold, dark colored light-fabric jacket along with ankle-high casual sneakers will do the trick.

Male Body Types #2: The Inverted Triangle Frame

This male body type isn’t all that different from the trapezoid frame. The major difference is that the waist tapers more severely than in the case of the trapezoid, thus your shoulders appear to be much broader for this male body type. This shape is mostly associated with gym-goers who aren’t afraid of putting on a little bulk and love hitting the weights. How to dress for your body type in this case is to soften the protrusion of the shoulders and make your torso look more evenly proportioned. For clothing that flatters those with an inverted triangle shaped frame, try wearing horizontal striped shirts, V-neck shirts, slim-fit shirts (ensure these fit properly and aren’t fitted too slim, as you don’t want them to be too tight to the point that they’re not comfortable), straight legged jeans, pants, or shorts.

A great outfit would encompass a neutral colored Polo or V-neck shirt with straight-leg dark jeans.

Male Body Types #3: The Rectangle Frame

Rectangle shapes are male body types that are easy to recognize because the waist is almost equally proportioned to the chest, a proportion that is found often in tall and thin men. Many rectangle framed men that wants to dress for your body type turn to baggier clothing to disguise how their body type looks. However, this is completely the wrong move. With this male body types, you want clothing that will create a sense of structure for you. You can do this with horizontal stripes, layers, scarves, prints, details, and even more so with tailoring.

Those with a rectangle frame would look great wearing a dark single-breasted coat with a boldly colored shirt underneath, pair it with a scarf and matching dark pants.

Male Body Types #4: The Triangle Frame

Men with a triangle frame aren’t always overweight, which is the common thought. Triangle frame as male body types is really just when the torso that is wider at the waist area and thinner at the top near the chest and shoulder area. Unfortunately, many clothing manufacturers tend to overlook this body type and it would be harder to learn how to dress for your body type, so it means it’ll take a little extra work and effort to get clothes that work for you. What helps are vertical stripes, coats, such as an overcoat, that have sturdy shoulders, single-breasted suits (these work best if they’re custom-tailored specifically for you), and strong colors, especially with accents in the upper chest and shoulder areas. You should avoid anything slim or skinny fit as well as coats with tapered waists as it may not fit the male body types as well as it should.

Opt for a tweed coat with either a plaid print or vertical subdued stripes, a bold earthy colored shirt beneath, and top it off with straight, well-fitting jeans and a pair of brown leather shoes.

Male Body Types #5: The Oval Frame

Those with oval shaped frames have torsos that appear more rounded in contrast to their slimmer shoulders and legs. The shoulders tend to be more on the narrow side while the oval shape peaks in wideness at the waist and hips area. This shape needs a certain amount of structure to look the part but still needs to be slim in the right areas. Vertical stripes, tailored shirts and pants, and fitted pants with a bit of a taper will go a long way to help this body shape look more structured.

Wear a dark gray button up flannel shirt with your best pair of jeans and a pair of sturdy brown shoes. Thick fabrics up top are your best friend.

Knowing What to Wear and How to Dress

What most of these body shapes come down to is paying close attention to how clothes fit. When looking at them on the rack, it’s hard to tell how they look. Try everything on and bring a friend so they can give you their honest opinion. If you’re not sure, set it aside for the time being and move on to something else. Most of the time, you can trust your gut on this sort of thing. When you put something on for the first time and look in the mirror, if your first reaction is “wow, this looks great!” go ahead and grab it! If you overthink it too much, you’ll end up missing out on some great opportunities and leaving empty-handed or even making the completely wrong choice. If all else fails, get clothing custom tailored. When dressing for your body type, the fit and how your outfit comes together means everything.

Here at Azuro Republic, we know how to make sure you look your best, no matter what your body type is. By leveraging your unique strengths, you’ll finally be able to achieve that stylish, manly look you’ve been looking for. Consider adding one of our top-of-the-line stone bracelets to your wardrobe to give your outfit the aesthetic edge it needs to help you feel like a king!

SILVER CLASSIC BRACELET                                SILVER CLASSIC OBSIDIAN

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