Tips on Buying Clothes for Big Guys

I received an email from a PGG reader asking some tips on how fat or chubby guys can get into style. Read his email here.

“Hi Chris! I just want to commend you for a nice blog you have and I need some help in choosing fashionable clothes for fat/chubby guy like me. I am wondering where can I buy fashionable clothes for myself. Because when I go to F&H, People are People, Refill, etc.. there are no clothes that fits me. Can you help me? Thanks in advance.”

-ASH

Thanks Ash for your email and for the compliment. As you wish, here is my response to you. I have provided here some tips to help you and the other big guys in choosing comfortable and stylish clothes.

1. Don’t buy too loose or too fit.

When chubby guys buy clothes, they have a tendency to buy either clothes which are too fit or too loose to prove that they are not too big. However, I think this is a wrong move in choosing clothes.

If you happen to be a chubby guy, go for clothes which are one size bigger than your actual size BUT choose a slim fit version.

Confused?

Let’s say you go shopping for a shirt. You know that you are a size XL. So what you need to do is to find nice clothes on size XXL which are SLIM FIT. Once again read: SLIM FIT! So what will happen is that you will end up buying clothes which are just about right for your size and since it is slim fit, it will make you look slimmer.


2. Vertical Patterns

If you have attended Psychology 101 you should remember a topic their called visual illusions. During my freshman year in college, I clearly remember my Psych professor teaching us how to wear good clothes which will make short guys appear taller, fat guys appear slimmer, skinny guys appear bigger and so on and so forth.

I will not go over all of them. But what I remember is that, if you are a chubby guy, you should avoid horizontal prints on clothes because it only will make you look bigger and yes, fatter. Instead, what you should do is to wear vertical prints because the length of the prints will produce an illusion that you are taller and slimmer than you actually are. Choose a variety of vertical prints and not just plain stripes. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to find your wardrobe full of vertically-striped clothes would you?


3. Buy from shops like…

…Jag, Lee, Penshoppe, Bench, Human, RRJ, Tribal etc. They have tons of stylish and inexpensive clothes available up to XL (and in some cases even XXL). I also recommend that you go shopping for clothes in department stores rather than stand-alone shops for variety and for size availability. And if you can find American and foreign brands like TopMan, Van Heusen, Izod and Von Dutch – it would be much better because American sizes are naturally bigger.

You mentioned in your email some brands that you like. However, People are People, Folded & Hung, Refill, Mint, Oxygen and other similar brands rarely have BIG sizes. Yes, their clothes are very modern and chic but their target market is for slim guys. So I suggest you go for the previous ones I have mentioned.


4. Try MaxWear at SM Department Store

If you have some time, try to drop by SM Department Store one of these days. They have a section there called MaxWear and they have a wide variety of inexpensive clothes for big men.  Check out a few photos below:

They have plenty of clothes for both casual and formal wear and most of the designs are the latest ones which you will also see from the other brands.


Anyway, I hope you and the other guys will find this post useful and helpful in a way. If the other readers have some tips also, please don’t hesitate to post a comment below.

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