Mens Fashion Tips For Short Guys

The world of men's fashion was made for toned guys with long legs and proportionately long torsos. Vertically challenged men, meanwhile, have the short end of the fashion stick on their side. But lack of height doesn't necessarily equal deficient style. countless less-than-tall guys have found their way to fashion fame. Who says you can't do the same?

A Problem, In Short
Neckties are too long. Pants sag at the hem. Shirts stretch toward the thighs. There are a lot of difficulties in dressing up as a short man, and you've probably encountered most of them at one point or another. Being short and looking stylish is all about getting clothes that work with your body and accentuate what you've got.

There are two secrets to looking good in your clothes, no matter how vertically deficient you feel. First, you have to maintain a continuous line with regard to the clothes you're wearing. That line from your shirt collar to your shoes should be uninterrupted as much as possible. Second, proportion must be maintained throughout your whole outfit. No one item should stand out in terms of size or visual magnitude.

Shortcuts to Style
Fit is already an important element of any piece of clothing, but it's even more crucial if you're trying to dress your height up. Too-tight clothes are never wise for anyone but Sylvester Stallone, but loose clothing is an equally bad idea. Shirts that sag and jeans that bag show your diminutiveness even more because they're so big in comparison to you. The shoulders of your tees and shirts should hit at, well, the shoulders.

Length is another critical factor for your tops. Though most don't pay a lot of attention to how long their shirts are, yours should never go beyond the middle of your fly when not tucked in. You want to show as much of your legs as possible to make your body seem lengthier, but without throwing your visual proportions out of whack.

Jeans should have a relatively low rise for the same reason. Avoid designs and washes that have a lot of horizontal whiskers because they tend to disrupt the all-important from your head to your feet. Boot-cut jeans seem to be particularly appropriate for maintaining that uninterrupted line. Just be careful and choose a pair that slightly widens at the leg and doesn't flare out like some Bee-Gees castoff.

Quick Fashion Fixes
But the fact still remains that men's fashion predominantly favors tall, muscular dudes. What's a short guy to do? You could start by finding a tailor.

High-end men's fashion rarely deals with items that are 100% off the rack. In most cases, every shirt and pair of jeans has to be sent to the tailor for adjustment, hemming and the like. You might not be into the whole world of Zegna and Ferragamo, but it's an effective practice that you should consider.

Shirts, for example, can usually do with a wee bit of resizing to bring up the hem and get those shoulders in closer. Pants and denims, meanwhile, will benefit much from getting hemmed and perhaps a quick edit job to the width here or there. Dressing for your height (or lack thereof) means getting a fit that's as close to tailored as possible. And when it comes to tailored fits, nothing is better than visiting an actual tailor.

If you haven't learned to do so yet, it's time for you to be aware of your body and how it's built. Good fashion and style at any height means working with what you've got, and using it to wear your clothes well.