If you’re swimming in extra fabric around your arms, wrists, and armpits, you’re fighting a losing battle.

When the fit is right, you won’t find any excess material, and you also won’t see tension lines running horizontally.

Of course, for those of you guys who’ve been pumping iron lately, a few tension lines here and there never hurt anyone.

The Stomach

This is the part that gets most of us guys. You have to pay close attention to how your sweater fits around the torso.

Many sweaters have an elastic waistband that cinches in, and if you have extra fabric, you’re looking at major frump-factor. You’ll get a muffin-top effect that’s not flattering at all.

Go too far in the other direction, and you’re in trouble again. Because sweaters are made with thinner fabrics, especially wool and cashmere, going too tight will cause the button details to show through.

Too much detail coming through the sweater just looks clunky and doesn’t provide that clean, smooth surface that great sweaters provide.

Slim but not skinny is your best bet. A bit of extra room around the stomach so you can layer up, but nothing more.

The Hips

Sweaters are one of our favorite recommendations for building great style for shorter guys because they’re usually cut with a slight taper.

Most sweaters have some sort of elastic toward the hem. This should hug around your hips, but not squeeze at all. If it’s pressing in, you’re risking that muffin effect we mentioned earlier.

If it’s too loose, the hem will be apart from your waist. That’s a hallmark look of an old sweater that’s gone through the wash one too many times or a sweater that just doesn’t fit. Either way, you want to avoid it.