The two most important things when dressing an overweight body for a wedding (or any other social function) is to find a look that makes you feel confident, and one that draws attention away from specific areas.
The main problem area for most overweight men is the belly. While you can’t flatten it overnight, you can dress in a way that draws less attention to it.
Techniques like layering, choosing subtle patterns, and proper accessorizing will make you just as stylish as anyone else. Most importantly, it’ll boost your confidence, and that helps improve your style more than you think.
Read on to learn more about what to wear to a wedding if you’re overweight.
Choosing Your Colours
Dark colours make you slimmer, while brighter colours make you appear bigger.
You’ll find that you look better in neutral coloured clothes. This includes black, grey, olive, navy, brown, and others. These colours give you an overall slimmer appearance.
Avoid bright colours like red, yellow, green, pink, and so on.
If you don’t want an all-neutral look, you can mix up darker and lighter colours. Use the darker hues on areas that you want to slim out such as the gut, chest or butt, and lighter colours on areas you want to accentuate.
Directing Attention
The human eye is easy to fool with a little visual trickery. Something as simple as a row of buttons can make a big belly much less prominent.
As you focus on neutral colours, there are a few more things you can do to draw attention away from your problem areas.
The button idea draws focus to the centre of your body, and away from around the gut. Along with a dark coloured shirt, it’ll make you appear slimmer and well balanced.
Something else that works great at directing attention is a tie. Choose one with a subtle pattern or a different colour from your shirt.
Toned down patterns and textures on your shirt, pants or blazer also help disperse attention all over your body, instead of a specific area.
Layering
Wearing just a shirt and pants may not be enough to slim down your appearance. Add a blazer or coat on top and you achieve a totally different look.
Additional layers on top do two things: they add texture and balance to your overall look (thus drawing attention away from your belly), and they also hide unwanted bumps and curves.
Just be careful not to layer too much or it will bulk you up. A blazer or coat is enough for most men. If it’s chilly, try a long overcoat.
Perfect Fit
A common misconception is that wearing oversize clothes when you are overweight will hide your large belly or some other feature.
This is not true. Baggy clothes will accentuate your large figure, make you appear less balanced, and can even affect your confidence.
Wearing perfectly fitting clothes makes you look confident, and dashing. If you cannot find your size in stores, get a personal tailor and get a made-to-measure suit for the wedding.
There are also several online services that make bespoke clothes on order. You provide your measurements, and they make you something that fits you like a glove.
Choosing The Right Clothing
There are some clothing items that simply don’t work for big guys. A good example is turtlenecks. They accentuate your large frame and hide your neck, making you appear more stout.
Instead, choose a V-neck. It directs attention down the centre of your body and has a slimming effect.
Jeans are also great if you are dressing casual for the wedding. Avoid baggy jeans as they’ll make you appear bigger. A well fitting pair will accentuate your slimmer lower body.
Chinos are also great. Their snug fit and slim cut is perfect for overweight men. Make sure you pair them with the right shoes for best results (smart casual or semi formal shoes such as Derbys, boat shoes or low boots are great).
A belt can make your gut pop out even more. Suspenders can work better, especially if you are wearing a suit.
If you prefer wearing a waist belt, choose a top that you don’t need to tuck in and let it cover the belt. If you have to tuck in, wear a dark coloured shirt to make your belly appear smaller. Layer a coat on top to further take attention away from your middle section.
Accessories
Adding the right accessories to your outfit can further direct attention where you want it, and make you more confident.
Don’t go overboard, though. Simple is best. For some outfits, a nice patterned tie is enough to complete your style.
Simple but stylish accessories such as a wrist watch are also great. And you don’t have to spend hundreds or thousands of pounds on a luxury watch. You can get a nice looking watch for under £50, complete with a leather or metal strap.
