Wondering how to dress if you’re short and stout? This post is for you, my friend!

Short men come in all shapes and sizes. When it comes to dressing well, all mend of modest height are familiar with some common frustrations (like pants being too long).

But other problems are body type specific, and it’s important to understand how your individual build affects your style choices.

This post is for my short, stout and hefty (or, if you want to be blunt, short and fat) brethren.

What does “stout” mean?

What exactly does stout mean, you ask? Hefty, portly, rotund, stocky, heavyset…you get the point.

This post isn’t really geared toward the athletic body type, which features broad shoulders and a narrow waist.

Instead, this post is for the man whose torso is as wide or wider than his shoulders. You may have some extra weight around your midsection, or you may be “built like a fire hydrant” as one reader put it.

Either way, I’ll teach you how to dress in a way that flatters the stout body type.

Here’s the Problem…

The biggest style problem short, stout men face is inconsistent fit. Clothes that fit okay on one part of your body fit terribly everywhere else.

Here are some examples:

• Pants that fit around your waist are way too long.
• Pants that fit in the seat and thighs are too wide and baggy around your calves and ankles.
• Shirts that fit around your stomach are too long to wear untucked.
• Shirts that fit up top (neck, shoulders, chest) are too big everywhere else (like the sleeves).

The list goes on, but you get the point. It’s a problem of proportion. You can’t find anything that really fits and flatters your specific build.

If it’s the right length, it’s too tight. If it’s the right width, it’s too long. Story of your life, right?

I’m going to give you three solutions to this problem, but first I want to cover some basic do and don’t guidelines for short and fat men.