In a world where the menswear industry is often tailored only to the 6-foot-plus runway model in mind, men of shorter stature face unique challenges in finding clothes that fit well and flatter their frames. The XS to XL size ranges at the clothing store are —more often than not—, an erroneous and disproportional exercise that enlarges and widens the torso and ends up with a distorted design from the ideal Medium size standard of beauty the consumer saw in the catalog. 

For too long, shorter men have been handed the same tired advice—wear vertical stripes, stick to monochromatic outfits—without addressing the fundamental principles that make any man look good, regardless of height. Today we are going to change that narrative.

Bodies below average height don’t have a style limitation—it's simply a characteristic that requires specific considerations, much like any other body type. The most stylish men understand that working with their natural proportions, rather than against them, is the key to developing a distinctive and confident personal style.

Because when your clothes fit impeccably and complement your physique, you won't just look taller—you'll look better than most men of any height who haven't mastered the art of dressing well.

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Understanding Proportion and Fit

For men of any height, fit is an essential element of style. When clothes drape properly across the body, the visual impact is immediate and powerful. The power of good fit can make a $200 suit look like a $5000 suit, and similarly, poor tailoring can make an expensive suit look very inexpensive. 

What "good fit" means for shorter men often differs from standard advice. The goal is to create balanced proportions that work well with your body. This means clothes should follow your body's contours without excess fabric, creating clean lines that flow naturally with your movements.

What are balanced proportions? Every body is different, but overall, proportions fall into the categories of: shorter torso / longer legs, average, or longer torso / shorter legs. If you want to know what proportions does your body have follow the next steps:

Measure your height from the top of your head to the floor.

Measure your leg length by either:

Measuring from the top of your head to your crotch, then subtracting that measurement from your height. 

Measuring from your crotch to the floor. 

Divide your leg length by your total height. 

If the result is less than 45%, you likely have a long torso and shorter legs. 

If the result is between 45% and 47%, your torso is likely balanced. 

If the result is greater than 47%, you likely have a short torso and longer legs. 

Old school fashion advice would say to stay away from certain types of clothes given the proportions of your body. ‘If you have long legs, stay away from high waisted pants because they will make your legs even longer’. ‘If you are petite, don’t wear big prints because they will make you look smaller’. 

But rather than banning certain types of clothes, we are going to focus on the most flattering clothes for men with small stature. These flattering tips and tricks can balance out some of the old-school ‘big no’s’ and transform them into ‘maybe’s’. 

Kevin Hart wears an Alexander Mcqueen suit that plays with the proportions of the legs and torso, creating the optical illusion that the arms and legs are longer. 

Dark colors tend to make bodies look slimmer while light colors do the opposite as they receive more light. In this case, the suit makes Hart’s shoulders look wider, and his waist and hips look slimmer. 

Building a Relationship with a Good Tailor

A good tailor doesn't just shorten sleeves and hem pants—they adjust proportions throughout the garment to maintain its intended design while fitting your unique body. Ensuring that the hem of the pants and the sleeves are correct are long-lasting investments that will elevate the overall aspect of your clothes and boost your confidence. 

Identifying Well-Fitting Garments

When shopping, focus on these key indicators of proper fit:

For jackets and shirts:

• Shoulder seams should end at your shoulder's natural edge, not before or after
• When arms hang naturally, there should be minimal wrinkling across the back
• Jacket length should ideally end around the middle of your hand when arms hang at sides
• Sleeve cuffs should reach the wrist bone, showing roughly ¼ to ½ inch of shirt cuff

For trousers:

• The waistband should sit comfortably without needing a belt to stay up. (If you find yourself at the thrift store with a waistband slightly loose, go for it. This is a very easy fix with the tailor as you can always make the waistband slimmer).
• No excess fabric should bunch around the seat or thighs
• The rise should feel comfortable when sitting and standing

Techniques That Add Visual Height

Creating unbroken vertical lines in outfits

Vertical lines throughout the body are flattering as they outline the contour of people’s bodies from a vertical perspective, creating a strong emphasis that translates into the optical illusion of a person looking taller. 

Plaids and prints that mix vertical lines with other lines can also be flattering as long as all the lines of the print have the same color and visibility throughout the print. 

Robert Downey Jr’s suit works very well for his body. Especially because the matching pants connect the vertical lines of the pants with the jacket. So in a way, the vertical lines are more dominant than the horizontal lines. 

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Another example of vertical lines that are flattering is this Versace jacket Bruno Mars wore to promote 24K Magic. Vertical lines can be interacting with curvy lines and other visual elements, as long as the vertical lines have a certain dominance, they will continue to be flattering. 

Monochromatic outfits

The magic word to create the optical illusion of more height is ‘continuous’. Vertical lines emphasize vertical continuous movement throughout the body and create the illusion of adding more height. 

Another great technique that works for all body types, is wearing monochromatic outfits. This means, wearing the same color from top to bottom: continuous. 

Some bloggers and fashion advisors believe that in order for monochromatic outfits to work successfully, the color has to match perfectly in every piece you are wearing. However, there is a strong argument in saying that when the colors don’t match perfectly, and maybe you even add texture, the outfits become visually more interesting. 

Wearing a suit is not revolutionary —but it is the way you style it and wear it that can make the difference between an outstanding look and an unflattering one. 

In the case of Tom Holland’s burgundy suit for one of the premieres of Spiderman, Far-Away-From Home, there are several elements that stand out positively. The tailoring is on point with the trousers and the jacket. The fabric is laying perfectly around his body and not producing any unnecessary ease or creases that would make this look unflattering. The burgundy top underneath —even though it doesn’t match perfectly the color of the suit—it adds up to the monochromatic harmony of the whole look. The burgundy shoes are the cherry on top to preserve the color harmony.

This full black outfit worn by Bohemian Rhapsody actor Rami Malek for a Saint Laurent show is very rich in textures creating a visually interesting outfit. At the same time, as a full black outfit, it creates the visual illusion of more height. 

The clothes that we see at the store are the beginning of the creation of our outfits. It’s almost like getting a meal that is halfway cooked and we have to finish cooking it at home. 

Unfortunately, there are many body proportions that are left out of consideration in the design process of these clothes. Plus sizes, petites, tall bodies, people with mobility impairments, and so many others are not considered when designing these clothes —therefore it leaves many of these demographics with frustrations of where to find their clothes, and blaming their bodies and proportions for not fitting into the narrow box within the standards of beauty in fashion. 

The limitations of the clothes that we find around us must not be an obstacle to create flattering and creative outfits that can make us feel happy and spectacular —even if this process takes a few trips to the tailor and some mix and match, it is worth the work of feeling and looking spectacular.