The Comprehensive Guide to Suits for Short Men

Short men’s suits are easier to navigate than you may think. In fact, for shorter gents, tailoring can be some of the most flattering outfits in your arsenal.

There are several ways to optimize suits for short men. Sure, it’s one of the more complicated garments a guy can wear. But, a suit actually checks a lot of the boxes of best sartorial practices for short men.

I always compare having a good suit to having tire-changing gear in your car’s trunk — and tire-changing know-how in your head. First, it’s a necessity for all men. And second, even if you rarely use it, you need to use it properly and effectively.

Suits are structured (even when tieless), are often solid in color, and are never way too baggy or super skinny. Okay, so fit is all a matter of personal preference. However, classically, professional suits have always been pretty moderate. And that’s what we’re talking about today. I won’t be going deep into zoot suits or trendy oversized suits, but the core of tailoring. So, getting right into it, how should a suit fit?

How Should a Suit Fit?

Despite the fact that “classic” suit fits have ranged across time and culture, a good suit should feature clean lines throughout. This means no major breaks at the pants, no slouching anywhere, and, most importantly, well-fitted shoulders.

This is the one major element that has never changed. The suit jacket’s shoulders should have a strong, no-slack fit that still allows mobility. This means they lie flat and are the same length as your shoulder bones beneath it, with shoulder seams that end just slightly past your own shoulders. In fact, it’s so slight you barely see it. It’s just there for your mobility. You want a polished, sharp intersection between your shoulders and sleeve top.

Take a look at past fashion icons. Cary Grant’s suits may have been flowier and Daniel Craig’s 2010’s suits slimmer, but the shoulders are exactly the same. This is because the rest of the suit will drape from there. And the better the fit on the shoulders, the cleaner the drape.

From there, you can choose a slim but not skinny fit or a loose but still clean-lined fit. It all depends on your personal style or if you’re accommodating to the convention of the day. If your suit lacks these qualities, seeing a skilled tailor is essential. No matter what look or fit you’re going for, your suit won’t look good without good shoulders and clean lines.

There’s no one classic fit — just look at how every James Bond wore a different suit fit from the other. Sometimes, a singular Bond would have a different suit fit at the end of his tenure compared to when he started.

Let’s break it down even further, starting with how a suit jacket should fit.

How Should a Suit Jacket Fit? Breaking It Down

The shoulders are the most crucial consideration in how a suit jacket should fit. Look at the head of the jacket sleeves, where the top of the sleeves connects to the shoulders and the rest of the jacket. If it’s creating a horn-like tip because of slack, it’s too big. If there’s a divot just beneath the sleeve head, it’s too small. Plus, you’ll unlikely be able to lift your arms comfortably. You want a strong, secure, and mobile fit.

Collar Fit

Next, your jacket collar should sit against your shirt collar. They should touch lightly, the way your shirt collar should rest lightly but securely on your neck. You want to avoid having a huge gap between your collars. If you had to choose between a jacket collar that’s too tight versus too loose, having one that’s too tight will be harder to spot. However, the collar may bunch and fold and feel uncomfortable.

Body Fit

If you want a looser jacket fit, you want the sides of the body to go straight down, creating a boxy look. This fit looks more natural with double-breasted suits than single-breasted ones. Still, as mentioned earlier, all lines should be clean and neat.

If you want a slimmer cut, the sides will sit closer to your body and invert just a bit as the lines go from your ribs to your waist. You don’t want it so tight that folds emanate from the top buttoned-up button.

The body should fall past the waist, with the hem sitting just at the top of the seat. Stand with your back straight but relaxed and your arms to the side. If the jacket covers your entire seat, then it’s too long. If it exposes it completely, it’s too short.

Sleeve Fit

The jacket sleeve should expose just a little bit of your shirt cuff underneath it. You’ll want the cuff exposure to hover around half an inch, more or less. For most of us, this often means that the sleeve hem stops just above your wrist’s large bone. Even if you choose to wear a suit with a T-shirt and you won’t see a shirt cuff underneath, keep this sleeve length in mind.

How Should Suit Pants Fit?

Again, all that matters here is that the lines are clean throughout. You don’t want excessive wrinkles around your seat, near your kneecaps, or by your hips. Horizontal wrinkles just under the seat means the pants are too tight or desperately need a steam. If there are sags just beneath your seat, it means it’s too loose. In the latter case, a tailor can easily take that part of the trousers in.

If you want a looser fit, just make sure there’s just a singular, slight break just above your shoe. This means there’s a small horizontal crease right above the hem of the pants. Typically, you want a higher waist to ensure a neat silhouette with a looser suit pant. This is an old-fashioned look that’s come back in recent years.

If you want a slimmer pant, just make sure that it isn’t too skinny. This means that the fabric around your kneecaps doesn’t bunch up and get stuck when you sit down and stand up. You’ll have to adjust it every time you sit and stand or go up and down stairs.

You still want the hem to stop right at your shoe, though there may or may not be a break, depending on how slim you want it. You don’t want your socks exposed when standing with your back straight and relaxed.

These are the two acceptable classic extremes when it comes to pant fit. Of course, you can do anything in between. Don’t go too far past either when you’re going for a professional, non-trendy look.

So, what about the best suits for short guys? How can we smaller men optimize our tailoring?

Best Suits for Short Guys: Details, Colors, Patterns

If you’re a smaller, thinner guy, I highly implore you to pay attention to the chest of the suit jacket. It’s important that there isn’t a ton of room there. Otherwise, you’re going to fall into the classic kid-in-dad’s-clothes trap.

Often, guys wear suit jackets with too much room in the chest. We see this issue all the time with short and slender guys. Jackets are sized based on the circumference of a man’s chest. So a 38R is made for an average-height guy with a 38″ chest, and a 38S is made for a shorter guy with a 38″ chest.

Next, darker colors are the best for petite men’s suits. Hues like navy, black, brown, charcoal, and dark olive can create the illusion of height. Even if your goal isn’t to look taller, it’s more flattering because it brings out your best features.

I know that some of us shorter, slimmer men aren’t always happy with being slim. But, clothes drape more cleanly on our body types. Every body type has its pros and cons, and this is one of our benefits. Slimmer fits are also better on smaller guys. When clothing follows the contours of your body, meaning there’s little to no break in the pants, it looks more intentional. Additionally, dark, classic suits just look great on us.

I’m not saying you can’t go for lighter colors. Of course, darker colors are most appropriate in the winter and cold weather. But, if you’re going to go for a summer suit, monochromes are the most flattering — full tan suits or full cream suits.

As far as patterns go, stick to vertical lines, like pinstripes, or subtle, small-scale patterns, like those in a classic Glen check suit.

Men’s Suits for Stocky Men

The best men’s suits for stocky men follow many of the same guidelines as ones for skinny, short guys. As always, the best options are made-to-measure, tailored, and bespoke suits. A well-fitted piece of tailoring helps cut any excess fabric that isn’t flattering on stocky builds. Again, avoid big, bold patterns, and go for medium to dark suits.

Additionally, a single-breasted, two-button jacket will highlight your shoulders and elongate your torso. Meanwhile, a mid or high-rise pant will add visual length to your legs, bringing balance to your entire silhouette. I also recommend going for narrow or standard lapels. Huge lapels will create a zoot suit effect, making you look stockier than you are.

Short, wide guys have a natural strength and sturdiness about them. It’s a great quality! By following most of these guidelines, you can really spotlight that quality.

Short Suits for Men

Ever since Thom Browne, dress shorts have become increasingly common. This is more of a cool, fashion-forward look. It isn’t usually appropriate in offices or formal events. However, dress shorts are a great item to have since you can wear them casually.

Moreover, the broken suit with shorts is a common staple in island and vacation culture. The navy blazer with Madras shorts combo is a classic Ivy style and old money aesthetic staple. You can also opt for a full summer linen suit with shorts.

Your shorts hem should stop right at the top of your kneecaps at the longest. Going anywhere from one inch to three inches above your knee provides a natural look. Your legs will look longer the more of them you expose. So, for shorter men, you’ll opt for a pair in the 5-7” range. For short suits for small guys, say under 5’8”, the optimum inseam is seven inches.

FAQs

Do you still have questions about suits for small men (or short guys)? No problem. Here are the most common. We have covered a lot of this in detail already. However, you can use these answers as quick references!

Which Suit Is Best for Short Guys?

The most flattering suits for short guys are those that are slightly slim but not skinny. Darker and medium-colored suits are also ideal. If you’re going to wear patterns, stick to vertical lines and small-scale compositions instead of large patterns.

How Do You Wear a Suit if You’re Short?

Just as any man would, you want a well-fitting suit. Again, dark colors and fits in the slim family are best. However, it’s important that your pant break is little to non-existent and that there isn’t excess room in your jacket’s chest area.

Do Suits Look Good on Short People?

Yes, suits look great on short people. Because of their structure, usually classic cut and dark palette, suits are flattering for short and skinny guys and short and stout guys.

Conclusion: Suit Up, Soldier

And that wraps up our explainer on suits for short men. Your suit is good to go as long as you have a clean-lined silhouette, well-fitted shoulders, and a neat drape. Most short men will need to get their suits tailored. Really, though, all men should get their suits tailored anyway.

Some best practices for shorter guys include going for darker colors, slimmer fits, smaller chests, and smaller patterns.

Questions? Comments? Let us know below!