Clothing Fit: Dealing with Weight Loss and Gain

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by Antonio on November 25, 2010 · This holiday season many of us will be eating large meals and spending time with family watching our favorite sporting events.  Another portion of us will start our New Year’s resolutions and make exercise and healthy eating a part of our daily lives.  Either way, quite a few of us will discover over the next few months that our clothing doesn’t fit the way it used to. And whether those 34X34 jeans become too small or too large, the problem of ill fitting clothing needs to be addressed if for no other reason than a man’s britches shouldn’t fall down or tear around company.

The purpose of this article is to help you understand what to do when you gain or lose a considerable amount of weight and are faced with the issue of not having clothing that fits.  The fact of the matter is weight transitions, whether planned or unplanned, can be expensive.  Even a man with modest wardrobe needs can face being out quite a bit of money if he is forced to spend resources quickly because his clothing no longer fits.  Hopefully this article opens your eyes as to what to look out for when shopping and what your full set of options are when confronted with this dilemma.

General Guidelines for Ensuring Your Wardrobe Can Accommodate Weight Fluctuations

1. Own less clothing and make sure what you do own is highly interchangeable – Buy less, wear what you have more often, and purchase clothing that matches a wide variety of items in your wardrobe.  This is perhaps the best advice I can give a man going through a weight transition.  This simple rule saves you money because you buy less and get high mileage from what you have.  Purchase clothing that is classic in style, simple in color and pattern, and timeless in cut.  Your goal is not for people to remember what you wore, only that you looked great wearing it.  I’ll reiterate this point because I see so many people do the complete opposite – they own 10+ pairs of jeans/trousers, 20+ shirts, 5+ pairs of shoes, and 2+ suits yet wear less than 20% of those items more than 80% of the time.  The reason – most of the clothing mentioned matches only one item in the closet or was purchased on a whim because it was too good of a deal to pass up.  If you expect to gain or lose weight, you can’t afford to recreate this wasteful wardrobe in another size.
2. Avoid trendy clothing – you might be storing it for years – Whether you gain or lose weight, you’ll want to hold onto your old clothing for at least a year and preferably longer if you have the storage space.  Some weight loss experts advocate getting rid of and even burning your “large” clothing after hitting certain weight loss goals.  I personally feel this is wasteful especially if the clothing is timeless in style.  Also, as many men can attest to, weight fluctuations happen multiple times over a man’s life; you may find a broken leg or too many broken promises to avoid that ever tempting Wendy’s Triple Stack Cheeseburger result in you having to pull out those large pants years later.
3. Find a good tailor – A good tailor or seamstress is your friend – he or she can often help you fit into your old clothing despite a weight swing of 25lb or more.  Experienced tailors can adjust jackets down two full sizes without incident at a cost significantly lower than buying a new jacket.  Tailors are only limited by their skill, the amount of excess fabric in the garment, and the limit of the garment’s proportions.
4. Lower quality fabric is fine in certain areas of your wardrobe – There are items in your wardrobe you can skimp on as your weight fluctuates.  These items include dress shirts and trousers, the logic being these items can be covered by quality pieces such as a jacket, and they have the least amount of give and will have to be replaced first.  However, once your size has stabilized for 6 months then invest in quality menswear with better fabric and build.
5. Thrift, Borrow, or Ask – The key with thrifting is finding the time to look.  I personally think the best deals can be found at Goodwill and Salvation Army stores located outside of the major cities, as less people are picking over a wide range of items.  To thrift successfully you do need to be able to spot quality items that fit or can be altered to fit your frame.  Another option is simply to ask your friends and family – know your measurements and sizes and put it out on Facebook and email.  If you are losing weight, this is a great way to let people know about your progress and see if they happen to have something hanging in the closet or storage that can tide you over until you reach your weight goal.

Specific Men’s Clothing Tips – Weight Gain and Loss

Gaining Weight & Menswear

Shirts – The good news is that most men’s dress shirts are built to fit men with healthy midsections; the bad news is that if you actually bought shirts that fit you and are now gaining weight you’ll have little room to accommodate any new insulation around the midsection.  Other areas you might experience weight gain are in the shoulders which will make the sleeves feel shorter, and the neck where you’ll be hard pressed to button the top button.

Adjust this collar by simply moving the button - if you need to remake it, then cut from the shirt tails as matching this complex pattern is next to impossible.

Addressing the collar issue, a collar button extender or moving the collar button ½ inch might temporarily offer relief.   A more expensive option is to attach a new collar, which if white can be made and affixed by most tailors.  If your shirt tails are long enough, another option is to have a new collar cut from them – the key being whether there is enough fabric present.  As for dealing with sleeve length, a man could have longer cuffs cut and attached – this is limited though by proportions and usually anything more than ¾ of an inch is pushing it.  As for the torso – you can’t create room where there isn’t any fabric.  Some shirts might have a total of ¾ of an inch of room……but most won’t and so new shirts are called for.
Jackets – Of all the items we’ll discuss, a jacket has the most flexibility to handle weight gain.  The simple reason is jackets are normally given 3 or more areas where excess fabric can be let out.  It’s not uncommon for a man to have 2+ inches opened up on a jacket and it to still look fine proportionally.  But make sure the fabric is there – many times men pick up a jacket at a thrift store and find out it has already been let out, or try to adjust a designer suit which has very little excess material left in.  In addition, there are limits to what can be done based on proportion.  As for the jacket shoulders, little if anything can be done to extend them although sleeves and the jacket back can be opened to help accommodate the new weight.  Usually once a man expands past 1-2 sizes or 25-35lbs, the jacket cannot be worn.  Finally pay attention to the front length of the jacket.  A protruding belly can cause the jacket to rise considerably in the front, making the jacket un-wearable.

The fabric available for expansion can clearly be seen on this unlined jacket.

Trousers – Trousers are limited by the placement of their back pockets and the amount of excess material sewn into them.  As a clothier I leave room for 2+ inches of expansion – most machine cut pants have almost nothing left over in the seams as fabric costs money.  My advice is if your weight is fluctuating, be careful about spending too much money on pants. One trick I recommend is that if you have trousers made, skip the back pockets.  This gives whoever will alter them in the future a lot more leeway in alterations.  Also, although the current fashion is flat front trousers…..a man who enjoys food should wear and enjoy pleats.  They keep the excess fabric out of the way when not in use but allow them to stretch out when needed.  Lastly, large men are most comfortable in trousers that hang from their shoulders – consider suspenders.

Antonio on November 25, 2010 · This holiday season many of us will be eating large meals and spending time with family watching our favorite sporting events.  Another portion of us will start our New Year’s resolutions and make exercise and healthy eating a part of our daily lives.  Either way, quite a few of us will discover over the next few months that our clothing doesn’t fit the way it used to. And whether those 34X34 jeans become too small or too large, the problem of ill fitting clothing needs to be addressed if for no other reason than a man’s britches shouldn’t fall down or tear around company.

The purpose of this article is to help you understand what to do when you gain or lose a considerable amount of weight and are faced with the issue of not having clothing that fits.  The fact of the matter is weight transitions, whether planned or unplanned, can be expensive.  Even a man with modest wardrobe needs can face being out quite a bit of money if he is forced to spend resources quickly because his clothing no longer fits.  Hopefully this article opens your eyes as to what to look out for when shopping and what your full set of options are when confronted with this dilemma.

General Guidelines for Ensuring Your Wardrobe Can Accommodate Weight Fluctuations

1. Own less clothing and make sure what you do own is highly interchangeable – Buy less, wear what you have more often, and purchase clothing that matches a wide variety of items in your wardrobe.  This is perhaps the best advice I can give a man going through a weight transition.  This simple rule saves you money because you buy less and get high mileage from what you have.  Purchase clothing that is classic in style, simple in color and pattern, and timeless in cut.  Your goal is not for people to remember what you wore, only that you looked great wearing it.  I’ll reiterate this point because I see so many people do the complete opposite – they own 10+ pairs of jeans/trousers, 20+ shirts, 5+ pairs of shoes, and 2+ suits yet wear less than 20% of those items more than 80% of the time.  The reason – most of the clothing mentioned matches only one item in the closet or was purchased on a whim because it was too good of a deal to pass up.  If you expect to gain or lose weight, you can’t afford to recreate this wasteful wardrobe in another size.
2. Avoid trendy clothing – you might be storing it for years – Whether you gain or lose weight, you’ll want to hold onto your old clothing for at least a year and preferably longer if you have the storage space.  Some weight loss experts advocate getting rid of and even burning your “large” clothing after hitting certain weight loss goals.  I personally feel this is wasteful especially if the clothing is timeless in style.  Also, as many men can attest to, weight fluctuations happen multiple times over a man’s life; you may find a broken leg or too many broken promises to avoid that ever tempting Wendy’s Triple Stack Cheeseburger result in you having to pull out those large pants years later.
3. Find a good tailor – A good tailor or seamstress is your friend – he or she can often help you fit into your old clothing despite a weight swing of 25lb or more.  Experienced tailors can adjust jackets down two full sizes without incident at a cost significantly lower than buying a new jacket.  Tailors are only limited by their skill, the amount of excess fabric in the garment, and the limit of the garment’s proportions.
4. Lower quality fabric is fine in certain areas of your wardrobe – There are items in your wardrobe you can skimp on as your weight fluctuates.  These items include dress shirts and trousers, the logic being these items can be covered by quality pieces such as a jacket, and they have the least amount of give and will have to be replaced first.  However, once your size has stabilized for 6 months then invest in quality menswear with better fabric and build.
5. Thrift, Borrow, or Ask – The key with thrifting is finding the time to look.  I personally think the best deals can be found at Goodwill and Salvation Army stores located outside of the major cities, as less people are picking over a wide range of items.  To thrift successfully you do need to be able to spot quality items that fit or can be altered to fit your frame.  Another option is simply to ask your friends and family – know your measurements and sizes and put it out on Facebook and email.  If you are losing weight, this is a great way to let people know about your progress and see if they happen to have something hanging in the closet or storage that can tide you over until you reach your weight goal.

Specific Men’s Clothing Tips – Weight Gain and Loss

Gaining Weight & Menswear

Shirts – The good news is that most men’s dress shirts are built to fit men with healthy midsections; the bad news is that if you actually bought shirts that fit you and are now gaining weight you’ll have little room to accommodate any new insulation around the midsection.  Other areas you might experience weight gain are in the shoulders which will make the sleeves feel shorter, and the neck where you’ll be hard pressed to button the top button.

Adjust this collar by simply moving the button - if you need to remake it, then cut from the shirt tails as matching this complex pattern is next to impossible.

Addressing the collar issue, a collar button extender or moving the collar button ½ inch might temporarily offer relief.   A more expensive option is to attach a new collar, which if white can be made and affixed by most tailors.  If your shirt tails are long enough, another option is to have a new collar cut from them – the key being whether there is enough fabric present.  As for dealing with sleeve length, a man could have longer cuffs cut and attached – this is limited though by proportions and usually anything more than ¾ of an inch is pushing it.  As for the torso – you can’t create room where there isn’t any fabric.  Some shirts might have a total of ¾ of an inch of room……but most won’t and so new shirts are called for.
Jackets – Of all the items we’ll discuss, a jacket has the most flexibility to handle weight gain.  The simple reason is jackets are normally given 3 or more areas where excess fabric can be let out.  It’s not uncommon for a man to have 2+ inches opened up on a jacket and it to still look fine proportionally.  But make sure the fabric is there – many times men pick up a jacket at a thrift store and find out it has already been let out, or try to adjust a designer suit which has very little excess material left in.  In addition, there are limits to what can be done based on proportion.  As for the jacket shoulders, little if anything can be done to extend them although sleeves and the jacket back can be opened to help accommodate the new weight.  Usually once a man expands past 1-2 sizes or 25-35lbs, the jacket cannot be worn.  Finally pay attention to the front length of the jacket.  A protruding belly can cause the jacket to rise considerably in the front, making the jacket un-wearable.

The fabric available for expansion can clearly be seen on this unlined jacket.

Trousers – Trousers are limited by the placement of their back pockets and the amount of excess material sewn into them.  As a clothier I leave room for 2+ inches of expansion – most machine cut pants have almost nothing left over in the seams as fabric costs money.  My advice is if your weight is fluctuating, be careful about spending too much money on pants. One trick I recommend is that if you have trousers made, skip the back pockets.  This gives whoever will alter them in the future a lot more leeway in alterations.  Also, although the current fashion is flat front trousers…..a man who enjoys food should wear and enjoy pleats.  They keep the excess fabric out of the way when not in use but allow them to stretch out when needed.  Lastly, large men are most comfortable in trousers that hang from their shoulders – consider suspenders.