Fit is King

So, as part of stepping up your Game and increasing your sense of self-worth you’ve decided to start dressing better. You set aside two grand for that sweet two-button, window-pane suit you’ve seen at Hugo Boss and the shirt, shoes, belt and tie to go with it. You walk out of the store with your head held high thinking of all the women who are going to throw themselves at your feet and men who want you to teach them the path to awesome.

But you get home and try it on and you don’t look nearly as good as you thought you would. You can’t figure it out, but you look just as sloppy as you did in the T-shirt and cargo shorts you had on at the grocery store yesterday. In fact, you look even worse because at the least the T-shirt and shorts are supposed to look sloppy. You’re supposed to be a lady killer in this suit and instead you look like a kid who’s snuck into his dad’s closet to try on his business suit.

What happened?

You didn’t pay attention to the fit is what happened. The body of the suit is two sizes too small, the pants are too long and you should be wearing a notch lapel instead of a peak because of the relationship between your face and shoulders.

You’ve the heard the saying, “When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail,” right? Well the opposite is just as true. If you see everything as a nail, the only tool you think you need is a hammer. Most men have this attitude when it comes to their clothing. “I wear it because I’m supposed to.” I’ve heard many lamentations about societal expectations on clothing preventing men from walking around in sweat pants and a T-shirt everywhere.

Well clothing that doesn’t fit correctly will do the job of covering you and helping you dress appropriately, but it won’t help you dress well. A $50 suit you found at a Good Will that fits right will always look better than the suit you paid $10 grand for that hangs off of you like a sack of potatoes.

And fit doesn’t just apply to your formal clothing. The same principle works with your casual clothes. Even if you’re in jeans, a T-shirt, and a hoodie, the fit is what’s going to take you from being just another frat guy to being the interesting man who looks good. Sure it’s a quick value assessment based on mostly superficial data, but you wouldn’t be at this site if you were in the habit of denying reality and telling yourself pretty lies.