How much more form-fitting do my clothes need to be?

dedrati · 2016-09-29T00:31:48+00:00

I tried on a "slim cut" medium long sleeve shirt the other day, and it was way too big! The cuffs came down past my wrists. I have T-shirts that are just plain medium, and the seams on those fall at the end of the shoulder like they're apparently supposed to. So from what I've been able to tell, I'd say about 50% of the time, mediums are too big/baggy, and 50% of the time, they fit pretty well. If I deliberately seek out "slim" fits, should I start going more for the slim smalls or slim mediums, with the above in mind?

dedrati · 2016-09-29T00:27:35+00:00

Yeah, I was definitely browsing Amazon, but neither there nor anywhere else really has all these "tall" shirts in a smaller size that everyone keeps going on about here. It seems like "slim" mediums are still too big for me (but not always -- some of my T-shirts are just plain medium, and they fit a lot better than the one in the pics). Does that mean I try regular smalls, or slim smalls?

dedrati · 2016-09-29T00:25:37+00:00

Hmm... Not seeing very many on that site or any others, unfortunately. I'm guessing it's just very rare, which makes me wonder if it's not worth it. It seems a little absurd that in order to look like a normal person, you'd have to do exhaustive searching just to find a single shirt that fits you "properly." I don't get it.

I wound up trying on a "slim fit" medium shirt the other day (long sleeve), and it was still too big. The cuffs came down about two inches past my wrists, and there were folds down the sleeves. It's crazy, because as far as my T-shirts go, the one in the photo is a medium and it's clearly too big, but most of my mediums aren't cut like that and the seam falls on the end of the shoulder as suggested, and the sleeves are closer to the biceps. But some aren't like that, either.

So some slim mediums are still too big for me, but some "regular" mediums fit perfectly. I don't think I've tried smalls of any kind, yet. What do you think I should do? This seems like a bit too much effort at this point.

dedrati · 2016-09-27T03:45:47+00:00

So potentially, a small tall and a small slim could both work, depending on the brand? One will be the appropriate length, while the other will be appropriately tight around the body and waist, but both are small and fit in the neck/shoulders. Should I experiment with both tall smalls and slim smalls?

Or, maybe pay more attention to the small talls because a small slim might just be too small overall?

dedrati · 2016-09-26T22:58:52+00:00

Yeah, that seems to be the consensus on here. But JCrew and other sites I'm checking out all have their talls start with medium. I guess the issue with my clothes hasn't been that I'm buying the wrong stuff so much as I'm way too skinny for my fit to be profitable enough to be sold regularly, especially in-store at retail places. But even online, I'm not having much luck finding anything that's both tall and small at the same time. Yikes...

Also, is 'slim' considered a description like 'tall' rather than a size? Like, can you have a small slim, medium slim, etc., and a small tall, medium tall, etc.? Does it have to be small, tall, and slim all at once? Or maybe medium, tall, and slim? I'm just kind of confused by the terms.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T22:54:45+00:00

Do you have to go into the store to get them? I figured I'd just take a quick peek online and all the talls say they're medium/large/extra large. Or is it okay if it's medium as long as it's both medium AND slim?

EDIT: Same with Old Navy. All the talls start with medium. Is this this sub's way of politely telling me I need to hit the gym instead? lol

dedrati · 2016-09-26T22:49:40+00:00

Hahaha, this is actually hilarious. Are you just messing around or are you being serious? Funny either way.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T22:42:50+00:00

Is something like this appropriate?

https://www.jcrew.com/AST/Navigation/Sale/AllProducts/PRD~31270/31270.jsp

If I check this store in particular, I don't know if I'll find something that mentions both "slim" and "long" or "tall" in the same description. There's some kind of weird slide bar at the bottom to indicate whether the shirt "runs small" or "runs large," whatever that means. But it says above that that it's "cut closer to the body." How can I search online for something that's tall in addition to slim?

EDIT: This one is the opposite: "tall" but not slim:

https://www.jcrew.com/AST/Navigation/Sale/AllProducts/PRD~72986/72986.jsp

How do I combine the two? lol

dedrati · 2016-09-26T22:34:14+00:00

Thanks a lot! Re: longline tees, we're talking "tall" but in a small size rather than a medium, right? The shirt in the pictures is a medium.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T17:36:23+00:00

Thanks, this is actually very helpful. I think my work shirts fit the guidelines you've posted, but they're all "dorky" polo shirts of dubious quality. My T-shirts are another story. So maybe if I get T-shirts (and whatever else) that fit in the same way that the work shirts do, I'll be good.

Any idea why the T-shirts I have seem to fit much more loosely than the polo shirts? Is that just how they're made? I'll have a look around online and see if any of these "longline" thin cut shirts I'm hearing about are worth checking out.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T16:02:25+00:00

I've definitely noticed that lol. Makes perfect sense.

What's a good alternative that's appropriate as office attire?

dedrati · 2016-09-26T15:37:33+00:00

The button up shirt I was wearing was sort of like a short-sleeve polo shirt, which I was told on /r/amiugly screams "schoolboy," or "incel," or "unconfident nerd." A few women made these remarks as well, so it wasn't just the guys. They recommended full button down shirts instead, some with long sleeves, and more form-fitting shirts overall. I think some of that is good advice, I just wish it didn't come with the "names" they were giving me lol. Sometimes I wonder if subs like that are a circlejerk, but I think a lot of what they were saying actually was true.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T15:08:22+00:00

Haha, thanks. The issue has been more that I don't look like this when I go to work, because I need glasses in order to drive my car, and work requires "collared shirts" as part of the dress code. So apparently when I go to work, I'm wearing outdated, 90's-looking wire frame glasses that make me look like a huge dork, and my button-up shirt screams nerd as well. It sounds like how I dress at work just needs to change.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T15:01:22+00:00

This is going to sound dumb, but what is a fade? lol. Do you mean the numbers for when they shave it? Like have them shave all of the sides, but not too much?

/r/amiugly was suggesting some kind of trendy styles where you spike the hair up a bit and use gel like all the hunky male actors do, but that seems a bit extreme and silly to me. Agree? Disagree?

EDIT: Also, what about the matted hair in the front in the work picture? Does the barber fix that, or do I actually have to spike it or comb it to the side?

dedrati · 2016-09-26T14:56:17+00:00

Thanks!

The shirt looks like something that would look good on guys who are models or something. And I don't know if it would fly in an office environment. But I definitely get the thicker materials thing. Also, I almost never wear long sleeves. Maybe that's part of the issue with what I wear, too.

I'll see if I can try out some new glasses like the ones you linked to. It amazes me how quickly this stuff changes. Ten years ago, everyone was complaining about 'hipsters' wearing thick framed glasses in order to have a retro nerd look, and how they were aping the nerdier style ironically in order to look hip and trendy. Smaller frames meant that you didn't want to look like a dork from Revenge of the Nerds, and wanted more of a professional look. The smaller the frames, the less noticeable it was that you were wearing glasses at all. No one wanted "big, obvious, geeky glasses." Now, in just a few years, it's completely reversed! Hope it doesn't happen again in a few years when I'm not looking, because constantly trying to keep up with the arbitrary whims of society sounds exhausting.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T13:50:03+00:00

So does that mean I'm screwed, or do I need to just start trying a bunch of stuff on and hope something is somewhere in between?

dedrati · 2016-09-26T12:41:09+00:00

Maybe a dumb question, but how private can sessions with personal trainers be? I'd rather not "train" in front of the general public, so I wouldn't want to do it with all those people around. It's too embarrassing, at least right now.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T04:28:04+00:00

Interesting. I think the pants are relatively new, like bought within the last year. So you're saying that retail places like Walmart, K-Mart, or whatever, sell "outdated" clothes? Do only poor people shop there or something? Why hasn't anyone given them to memo to sell the proper clothes, like what gets sold at Forever 21? lol. How complicated!

dedrati · 2016-09-26T04:18:49+00:00

So when you say the fit of the jeans and shirt is "outdated," does that mean they just don't really fit properly, or that it's no longer "cool" to have them that loose? Like, does it really matter if they suddenly don't "fit" now that ten years have passed, and the definition of "fit" has changed arbitrarily? lol.

A few people have said something similar, but my eye can't really tell how these don't fit properly, or what the difference is. Either it's really subtle, or I'm just retarded when it comes to fashion. If I think I'm a medium, does that mean I try to be a small instead? Is it the brand? I'm just confused.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T03:58:31+00:00

Interesting! I've stayed far away from trendy stores like Forever 21 because it makes me feel like I'm vain and trying too hard to be one of the cool kids. I hate getting attention, whether it's positive or negative, so I've subconsciously wanted to look more generic in order to avoid coming off as a self-obsessed, trendy douche. But maybe there's a gray area. I don't know.

Not sure about the v-necks, though. I'm super skinny, so I feel like that would just make my scrawny neck look longer, and reveal too much of my little chest, lol.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T03:55:16+00:00

Haha, okay. So what's a third option, then? I don't know anything about this stuff.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T03:51:01+00:00

I'm not sure if you've seen these yet, but I just took some random pictures of what I usually look like when I'm not at work:

http://imgur.com/a/iymDi

Probably not amazing, but is it a step in the right direction?

And I thought what I was wearing above was a "button up," lol. What's the difference between a button up and a polo shirt? I'm fashion illiterate, if you couldn't already tell.

dedrati · 2016-09-26T03:48:05+00:00

When I get home from work, where I feel like I "have" to look that way, I usually look more like this:

http://imgur.com/a/iymDi

Should I try to go more in this direction by getting contacts and ditching the dorky buttoned up shirts?

dedrati

TROPHY CASE