Be Better Guys

You’ve probably noticed, if you shop online, that you’re seeing more and more “slim fit” styles for shirts and “skinny” ties.  And if you go into shops to buy your clothes, you may look up at the mannequins clad in narrow ties and what look like tight-fitting shirts and say to yourself, “Cute.  Cute trend.  Not for me.”

Men’s clothes cycle every 2 decades or so, from wide ties and broad lapels to skinnier pants and ties that look like they’re too short for the guy it’s on.  Last time we had a blast of skinny clothes was in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s as fans of punk and new wave wore skinny everything.  Before that, men wore narrow suits, shirts and ties in the late ‘50’s, early ‘60s.   See a cycle here?  What’s happening now is no trend, but rather a cycle in which clothes will stay slim probably through much of the next decade, and then some new blousier styles will come back – think the 1940s and even later 1980s/early 1990s.  In fact, with more men going throwback in their overall style, you’re seeing even rebellious types doing so with a tie on.  Kanye’s wearing ties.  LeBron’s wearing ties.  Timberlake’s wearing ties.  Though I’d hardly call him a rebel.

Now that you’ve read that and decided that you may as well just get with it already, here are some Be Better Guys tips for wearing slim shirts and ties.  Because you don’t just go in and buy a bunch of stuff and now you’re hip.  It takes a bit of knowledge going in to pull it off right.

There’s slim and there’s skinny. Slim fit means the cut is trim. It does not mean the clothes are to be tight on you.  There shouldn’t be any pulling or creasing of fabric just to hold your body inside the shirt (or suit or pair of pants).  If seams are stretched to the max just to stay on you, then you may have a skinny shirt on, which is really only for guys who are so lean, so wiry, so waif-like that at the beach, they might be mistaken for your kid sister.  You want slim fit and not clingy, regardless of whether you’re a taller or shorter fella.  If it clings to you, put it back and look elsewhere.

Same goes for ties. Skinny ties, like the ones that Ric Ocasek wore in The Cars in 1983, are back.  Just because they’re back doesn’t mean they look good on most guys.  If you’re a self-respecting professional, you want a slim tie, meaning the width is about 3 inches.  Any slimmer and you’re in skinny territory and unless you can play a Moog Prodigy synthesizer while telling the world you’re the next Jan Hammer, skinny ties will be your undoing at the next party you attend.

Slim fit shirts have higher armholes. The reason for this is that the higher armholes set off the fact that you will also have less fabric along your torso, thus giving you a “slim fit”.  Easy.

Sleeve length should hit the heel of your hand. Period.

You can have your own shirts made slimmer. I have taken probably 15 of my standard-fit shirts to my tailor to have him trim down excess fabric in the body and in the arms.  Costs about $15 to $20 a shirt, which is a lot cheaper than buying $15 brand new shirts!

Everything in proportion.  If you wear a skinny tie, you want a shirt that has a minimal, almost undersized collar.  If you go with a slim tie (remember, more like 3 inches instead of 2), you want a slightly more substantial collar.  If you’re going to wear your standard 3 and ½ inch tie, you want a standard collar width like the ones you have on most of the dress shirts in your closet today.  If you mix and match these, you’re probably gonna fail.  They look really out of place when you put a skinny tie on a standard-collared shirt.

Tie length is at your belt buckle. Always.

Remember age appropriateness. The skinny look is for men in their early 30s and under.  You wear that look when you’re 42 and you’ll look like you’re trying to hold on to the Studio 54 days.  The slim look, however, works well on men well into their 50s, but as you get older, you do have to have the build for it.  Nothing like looking at a 56 year old stuffing himself in what he thinks is a hip, slim-fit shirt and looking like sausage casing instead.

So…How do I start?: Slim-fit shirts can be solid colored or patterned, doesn’t matter.  Just remember that if you typically wear traditional-fit (read: somewhat baggy) shirts and the next Monday you show up in some slimmer-fit numbers, I’d suggest solid colors to ease your colleagues into your new look.  If you are a slim-fit shirt veteran, meaning you’ve been wearing them for the last 2, 3, 4 years, you should have some patterned shirts in the mix.  Same goes for ties.  Start with a simple, all black tie or a simple repp stripe tie (try Brooks Brothers, Band of Outsiders, Jack Spade, or our new favorite – affordable British clothier Topman at topman.com) to ensure you don’t step in the bucket trying to look “with it”.  When you feel like you got this, then here’s my favorite – go with a Scottish plaid slim tie.  I love the one I have, it’s a Brooks Brothers end-of-season tie I got for like $25, originally $115.  It goes with dressy solid whites and blues, a Tattersall shirt, and even a denim workshirt.  Funny thing – once you start wearing ties more, you keep wearing ties more.  Because they make you look crisper, more stylish – a gentleman – and women notice that.  It’s what they wanted out of you all along.