Sculpt Your Body…with Patterns! (Tips for All Body Types)

When addressing your body type with clothing, the goal may not necessarily be to make you look taller, shorter, thinner, or wider. It could be simply to make you look proportional. Today, we’re going to discuss which patterns will best fit your body type and achieve a proportional overall appearance.

Whether your legs are long and your torso is short or vice versa, you can use patterns on the fabric of your clothing to even these out and, in turn, make you appear visually more proportional, which will give you the desired appearance of being taller, shorter, thinner, you name it.

Types of Patterns: Checks

These should be familiar to everybody. A check pattern is typically made up of vertical and horizontal lines that cross over each other. That’s what’s going to make these small box shapes.

Common check patterns include Prince of Wales, tartan, gingham, and windowpane. 

Stripes

While stripes may appear very simple, they can change the overall look of an outfit. So, it’s important to get it right.

Common stripe patterns include the awning stripe (at a quarter of an inch) and pencil stripes (at an eighth of an inch). Pinstripes are very thin, at about 1/30th of an inch, and give the impression of pinpricks. Meanwhile, chalk stripes can come in thinner or wider patterns.

Debunking the Horizontal Stripes Myth

The idea that horizontal stripes make someone look wider is almost common knowledge, except that an optical illusion discovered in the 1920s by Hermann von Helmholtz argued the opposite. When placing two identical-sized squares side by side, it was decided that the square with the horizontal stripes actually looked 6% thinner than the vertical stripes.

So, that should put the old myth to bed, right? Well, actually, it didn’t. That’s because on a 3D body, especially on someone who is already large, the horizontal stripes make a person look wider and guide the onlooker’s eyes outward.

The illusion comes from the perfect 2D square shape, rather than from the lines themselves; in other words, horizontal stripes really do appear to widen a three-dimensional body. So, you should definitely consider this when choosing patterns for your body type!

Micropatterns

Micropatterns are very small patterns, sometimes made of repeated imagery. These can come in checks, stripes, or tartans.

They can even come in Macclesfield patterns, which are often used in linings and tie fabrics.

Sculpting Your Body Type with Patterns

Let’s apply this newfound knowledge on patterns to our body types and find out how we can always look our best. It’s a good idea to consider all of these patterns and all of these body types because not everyone’s body will fit into any one category. As we wear clothing all over our body, it’s important to consider all aspects and all parts of our body.

For example, you may want to appear taller, but it could be that you have a long torso and short legs. This would be a good idea for you to wear striped pants but not striped shirts as this would also make your torso appear longer, thus ruining the balance.

Wide Gentlemen (Typical Goal: Looking Thinner)

When it comes to stripes, if you’re a gentleman on the wider side of things, you probably don’t want to make yourself look wider by wearing horizontal stripes.

We would definitely recommend wearing vertical stripes over horizontal stripes, which will help you emphasize your height rather than your width and make you look more proportional.

Also, try wearing thick stripes. A thin pinstripe, however, will make you appear bigger in comparison to the pattern. And so, it’s better for you to go for thicker stripes, for example, a chalk stripe, if you want to appear smaller than you actually are.

Do not go for any tiny checks. Checkered shirts will also not work for you. Instead, opt for wide check patterns; if you want to wear more of a complicated check on a suit, for example, a Prince of Wales, try to find it in a bigger pattern rather than on the trendier side where it’s much smaller. 

A wider pattern, such as a tartan for a jacket or even a windowpane, will further complement your figure.

When it comes to other patterns, such as for your shirt or tie, also go for bigger patterns here as well, if only just to match and balance out the rest of your outfit. If you’re going for paisley or a Macclesfield pattern, also go for a bigger print. You should avoid micropatterns at all costs. These patterns will make you appear larger in comparison to the fabric.

You should also avoid bright and vibrant colors. Vibrant and bright colors make you stick out against your background and, in turn, can make you appear bigger than you actually are. Instead, opt for more muted colors in your wardrobe.

Thin Gentlemen (Typical Goal: Looking Broader)

If you’re a thinner man, the one thing you don’t want to do is emphasize how thin you actually are by wearing wide lapel jackets or tight-fitting pants. The same goes for the kind of patterns you choose to wear.

If you wish to wear stripes as a thinner gentleman, you could always opt to wear a horizontal stripe to emphasize your width better. However, you could also look good in vertical stripes as well.

Furthermore, wearing a bold stripe will similarly draw attention to your slim build, and actually play it up further, giving the illusion that you aren’t as wide as you actually are, and, visually, it will look like there are fewer stripes on your suit.

Fitting more stripes onto your body will give the illusion that you have more space on your body to fit those stripes. This, in turn, will make you look much wider. You essentially want to scale up your body size by making other things in your body appear slimmer.

What you can do is try wearing thin stripes. For a suit, the stripes will be well-spaced, which is much better than closer-spaced stripes. For a shirt, you can afford to go for stripes with closer spacing. 

With checks, you can follow the same principles as with stripes. Don’t wear any wide checks. Wide checks run the risk of, again, making you appear thinner in comparison to the weave of the fabric. Instead, focus on wearing medium-sized checks on your suits.

Perhaps, even a micro-check on your shirts will work best. It will give the illusion that your body is actually bigger in comparison to your clothes’ fabric.

Other patterns, such as paisley, can be difficult for anybody to get right. But, if you’re on the thinner side, we recommend some smaller micropatterns instead of large prints or large Macclesfield patterns.

If you’re feeling brave, you can try wearing bold colors. This will make you stand out against the background and make you appear much bigger than you actually are. If you’d like to learn more about dressing as a slimmer man, our slim man style guide has you covered.

Short Gentlemen (Typical Goal: Looking Taller)

As a man, there’s often a stigma about being short or looking short. But, never fear, stripes are here. Regardless of your width, at this point, you should be wearing vertical stripes.

If the main goal is to increase your height, vertical stripes are the main thing you want to be focusing on. They draw the eye upwards, emphasizing length over width, making you appear taller. Stripes that are close together, especially stripes with more than one color, will help you appear taller.

If you’re interested in wearing a check, it may be helpful to wear a more rectangular check, something that is taller than it is wide, to better help you emphasize length and height. Try wearing micro checks. When trying to wear large checks, you’re actually working against the illusion and will make yourself appear smaller in comparison to the fabric.

It would be best if you also tried wearing micropatterns. Most patterns are open to you as long as you’re wearing micropatterns and as long as you’re not wearing anything that’s too long, wide, or large.

You should also try wearing houndstooth patterns as they can really help make a short person look taller because of the nature of its shape and the colors. Micro houndstooth will really compliment your body type because of its textured appearance and its small size.

Tall Gentlemen (Typical Goal: Looking Broader/More Proportional)

If you’re very tall, you’ll likely want to emphasize your width to make yourself look more proportional. As we said previously, a vertical stripe pattern can make you appear taller. So, if you don’t want to appear like a beanstalk, this might be something you want to stay away from. 

However, this doesn’t mean that horizontal stripes are off-limits to you. You should be wearing thicker stripes. Wearing a wider vertical stripe pattern in your suit can help bring your body back into proportion and help you appear not to be so lanky.

You should try simple stripes that have just maybe one or two colors in them for your shirts. Instead of vertical stripes, especially where shirts or polos are concerned, you should try wearing horizontal stripes. This will put more emphasis on your width and help you appear broader. To complement this, you can wear horizontal stripes in a variety of colors and widths.

As a taller man, you’ll want to wear much larger check patterns, preferably some with rectangles that are wider than they are tall. This will help emphasize your width.

It would help if you stayed away from wearing micro checks. The small squares will make your body look larger in proportion and, thus, emphasize how tall you are.

Remember, the idea here is to make yourself look more proportional. So, rather than wearing something with small checks that make you look more like a skyscraper or an office building, wear something with larger checks that make you appear more like a house, for example.

You should also try wearing large patterns. Bold colors can help you stand out against the background. If you want to emphasize width over height, it might be a good idea to wear light and bright color tops to emphasize your chest area better. This way, your chest area will contrast with your jacket and pants.

Conclusion

To achieve the appearance you want, whether that’s to look taller, shorter, thinner, or wider, incorporate patterns in your wardrobe that best complement your body type. Of course, patterns can’t physically change your body’s size, but using them to look more proportional will help even you out visually.

For bigger and taller men, large patterns and horizontal stripes are best. For shorter men, vertical stripes can help achieve the look of a longer body. And for thinner men, small patterns and close stripes can help you appear girthier and broader.

It’s obvious that we all don’t fit neatly into one category. You could be tall and thin or tall and wide, short and wide or short and thin, etc. So, make sure to take advice from all of today’s body categories and do what’s best to address your unique body type.

However, patterns can only do so much to help you. Other things to consider to help you achieve that perfect look: consider the cut of your suit and the proportions of your garments.

Example Techniques – Kyle’s Notes On Dressing for His Body Type

For many years, I’ve been using varying sizes of checks and stripes in my sport coats and shirts to appear, what I thought in my head, would make me look more muscular. As I have grown, I have been purchasing more solid colors, the occasional stripes, but also bigger check patterns.

I rarely will seek out checked pants as I don’t usually want to appear much wider than I am. But, I do own a few pairs of both small check pattern pants and some wider windowpane pants. 

Personally, I never really enjoyed wearing pinstripes in my suits. It was always something that I found that looked really nice on a mannequin, but as we all know, everything looks different when you put it on your own body.

I always felt that it made me look a little bit bigger than I am. So, I usually like to wear something a little bit wider when it comes to stripes in my suits.

Outfit Rundown

I’m wearing a tan and cream sport coat in a checked pattern. Pairing that with a brown crewneck sweater and a white dress shirt. And, of course, finishing off the top half of my outfit with a really unique pocket square from Fort Belvedere in a burgundy color with little rabbits on them as well. And then, I have a dark pair of denim and my Red Wing boots. And, of course, my shadow-stripe brown and light blue Fort Belvedere socks.

What’s your favorite pattern that best sculpts your body type? How do you incorporate it into your outfits? Share your style techniques in the comments!