Dress Your Body Type: Skinny

How To Stylishly Dress For Your Body Type If You're Skinny

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Regardless of the body type you were given, every man tends to encounter fashion obstacles with his body shape. It's all about making the most of it that's help you look and feel more confident and attractive, both to yourself and to others. And while the big and tall tend to have it the hardest finding garb that works well with their profile, skinny guys have it just have hard.

Skinny body types are sometimes described as ectomorphic. Whether you’re tall, of average height or short, this kind of body is characterized by a light build, lean muscle, small joints, long limbs, a flat chest, and small shoulders. Ectomorphs typically also have a fast metabolism and find it difficult to gain weight, no matter what they eat or how many weights they lift.

Expanding on our Dress Your Body Type series, here we take a look at areas ranging from fashion to grooming in which skinny men can focus their efforts on to look their personal best. You’ll find a useful list of recommended retailers, along with a checklist that you can print out and take with you on your next shopping venture, so that you’ll consistently come out of each store with pieces that are just right for you.

Related: Dress for Your Body Type: Tall

The Guide: Dress Your Body Type

Fit

No matter what your body type is, proper-fitting clothes are vital to being a well-dressed man. Several factors come into play that you'll want to be up on before jumping online and loading your virtual cart with seasonal pieces. Here are some of key ones to consider.

Blazers and jackets: With regards to the particular pieces slim men should have hanging in their closets, single-button and two-button jackets are a good choice for smart-casual occasions, while double-breasted blazers is this body type's best friend for dressier events.

With regards to the particular pieces slim men should have hanging in their closets, single-button and two-button jackets are a good choice for smart-casual occasions, while double-breasted blazers is this body type's best friend for dressier events. Fabric type: Skinny guys tend to have lots of fun experimenting with fabrics as they can get away with wearing a wider variety compared to other body types — heavy tweeds, corduroys and anything with a chunky-knit texture are good examples that look fantastic on a slender frame, but would overpower other body types. Check the label on your tops too, avoiding anything that contains elastic as these garments tend to stick too closely to your body rather than gliding over it.

Skinny guys tend to have lots of fun experimenting with fabrics as they can get away with wearing a wider variety compared to other body types — heavy tweeds, corduroys and anything with a chunky-knit texture are good examples that look fantastic on a slender frame, but would overpower other body types. Check the label on your tops too, avoiding anything that contains elastic as these garments tend to stick too closely to your body rather than gliding over it. Layering: Thin men can also enjoy the benefits of layering — namely, that you stay warmer, but look cooler.

Thin men can also enjoy the benefits of layering — namely, that you stay warmer, but look cooler. Outerwear: Toppers that cover your rear should be featured more heavily in your wardrobe than cropped jackets. Crew necks are a better choice than V-necks, and in cold weather, feel free to add turtlenecks into your winter wardrobe as they're warm — and your body type is one of the few (if only) that can get away with wearing them and still look good.

Toppers that cover your rear should be featured more heavily in your wardrobe than cropped jackets. Crew necks are a better choice than V-necks, and in cold weather, feel free to add turtlenecks into your winter wardrobe as they're warm — and your body type is one of the few (if only) that can get away with wearing them and still look good. Slim-fit tops: Favor body-skimming dress shirts and tees that permit some movement in the fabric. Look for “Slim Fit” models at your mass retailer.

Favor body-skimming dress shirts and tees that permit some movement in the fabric. Look for “Slim Fit” models at your mass retailer. Straight leg vs. skinny jeans: When it comes to denim, stick with straight-leg or slim-fit boot cut jeans instead. Unless you want to look malnourished or like you're wearing leggings, banish all skinny jeans from your closet — neither of which is attractive in the least.

A frequent mistake made by men with skinny body types is wearing oversize clothing in an effort to bulk up visually, skinny men actually benefit from having their clothes tailored more than any other body type. Hunting down a reputable tailor and taking all recent purchases to him will ensure you're showing off your frame to its best advantage.

Colors And Patterns

If you're on the slim side, there are a few tricks you can use to play up your assets and minimize the things you don’t like about your body. First off, you should know that recent research has revealed that vertical stripes actually make people look larger, which flies in the face of conventional fashion wisdom. Opt, therefore, for dress shirts, T-shirts, blazers, and suit pants with a vertically striped pattern. For suits and dress pants, pinstripes are a classic, flattering choice. For patterned tops, such as plaid or windowpane, midsize patterns are much more flattering than smaller ones.

Where color coordination is concerned, wearing all of one or, more specifically, dark colors like black from head to toe will emphasize your skinny body frame, so take advantage of breaking up your outfit when you can with lighter hues here and there such as white, light-gray and pale-blue.

Hair

In addition to the fit, color and pattern of the garments in your wardrobe, there are additional points to consider when dressing a skinny body type. To begin with, impeccable grooming is a surefire way to enhance any man's appearance, be he thin or not. As skinny men tend to have slimmer, angular faces, use this fact to your advantage by asking your barber to give you a great haircut that will show off your prominent cheekbones and jawline.

Fashion Trends

Additionally, much like with their hairstyles, men with slender physiques can pull off an impressive array of fashion trends. Because designers prefer to dress this body type, many clothing lines are designed with your body type in mind, and you can use this knowledge to your advantage by regularly incorporating one or two trendy pieces into your wardrobe each season. If you're not into following fashion, at least consider slipping into some trendy footwear.

The Stores: Shopping For Skinny Men Clothing

Zara

Zara

Slim fits and trendy cuts are what Zara do best. The brand offers everything from activewear to outerwear, though its penchant for attractive suits is what really makes them a standout – designing each piece from “smooth, rich fabrics” to achieve a formal, premium look. You can keep things neutral with an all-classic black tux or draw attention rocking a print or pastel-colored suit. Don’t sleep on Zara’s lineup of double-breasted and trench coats either.

Find out more at Zara.com

Topman

Topman

The British fashion brand has become the go-to for skinny types in the US with a variety of clothing options that primarily run slim. Every season welcomes chic new arrivals and trendy styles ranging from street to workwear. You can even pick up suits in ultra-skinny fit.

Find out more at Topman.com

Stitch Fix

Stitch Fix

Life can take up so much of your personal time, forcing you to deal with the same outdated wardrobe you’ve been rocking for the past few years. That ends now. This clothing subscription service won’t just send the best-fitting options to your front door, it also curates each piece based on your personal taste via Style Quiz. Pay for what you want to keep and send what you don’t want back to the company. Keep everything and the company awards you a 25% discount.

Find out more at Stitchfix.com

Asos

Asos

Cardigans to t-shirts, Jackets to jeans, Asos has every major clothing category covered for the fashion-forward millennial with a slim figure. You’re looking at over 340 brands to choose from. That doesn't even include the retailer’s own signature lines, which offer some sleek and funky designs.

Find out more at Asos.com

H&M

The retail giant remains offers a nice selection of slim-fitting tops and bottoms, along with a ton of other items from accessories to shoes to pimp out your without breaking the bank. Sales are constantly taking place, so you can definitely score some sweet denim jeans and dress shirts for super cheap. Stumble upon some cool finds online or walk into any of its hundreds of locations nationwide and try them on for size.

Find out more at H&M.com

Pros And Cons Of Dressing A Skinny Body

A slim frame is significantly easier to dress than a large one simply because clothes hang better on thinner bodies. Another benefit of having a slender physique is that it’s easy for you to be in style because trendy clothing not only looks good on you, it’s made readily available to you by the fashion industry. And, if you’re into high-end apparel, your size is more frequently available in stores because your body shape is what designers prefer to dress (for both aesthetic and sample/pattern size reasons).

While there are obvious benefits to dressing a skinny body type, there remain, however, a few challenges. Notably, wearing ill-fitting clothes will result in coming off as a boy playing grown-up. A further and rather vexing problem this body type faces is finding clothes that fit at budget-friendly mass retailers, which — in America — frequently size up (offering sizes up to 3XL). To solve this problem, become a fan of European imports like Zara, H&M, and Topman, which are skinny-body type- and budget- friendly.

Checklist: Wardrobe Staples

Double-breasted blazers

Heavy-knit sweaters

Pinstripe suits

Trendy footwear (say, a pair of combat boots)

Crew-neck tees

Straight-leg or slim boot cut jeans

Flat-front trousers

A pair of corduroy pants

Single or double-button blazers

Vertically striped dress shirts

Military-style jackets

A tailor

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