The prevalence of large silhouettes is the trend that unites runway shows from the previous year. But how do you dress stylishly in big clothing? If not executed properly, a look like ripped jeans and dad style can easily turn into sloppy rather than stylish. All forms of clothing feature longer lengths, wider cuts, and generally larger proportions: Cropped pants look boxier, sweaters appear wider and slouchier, and even jackets are cut as if they were made expressly for a David Byrne from the middle of the 1980s. Even accessories aren’t immune; beanies give extra room, while fanny packs are encroaching on the realm of cross-body bags. So how do you start?
Why Oversized Clothing?
It seemed inevitable that larger fits would become the norm. If you’ve been paying attention to menswear over the past few years, you may have noticed that fits significantly shrunk throughout the 2000s. Suddenly, T-shirts changed from being loose to thin, trousers took on a skinnier appearance, especially when worn below the hips, and suiting abandoned its ’80s and ’90s image to portray a smart, suave guy with the most exquisite choices.
The initiative is credited to Tom Ford and Hedi Slimane, and in 2003, The Strokes had a big impact on all of us. By 2010, straight, if not on the slim side, was the way to go. This was also the time when menswear at Fashion Week lost its cultural underdog position. As a result of the majority of men’s fashion changing and developing during this time, experimenting with larger fits in the present is unavoidable.
How To Wear Oversized Clothing?
What has changed since the last time? One is that adults can also wear the larger fits. The huge trend permeates everything, even if teens and young adults may have worn pipe-style pants with a large Tommy Hilfiger label down the back leg. There are suits for businesspeople, hoodies for hype beasts, and even coats, t-shirts, and pants designed for regular guys.
Second, but related, fit and proportions have a considerably more significant impact this time. For comparison, the late 1990s gave us JNCO jeans that resembled flared denim skirts covering both legs and T-shirts that covered the majority of the chest. If you’re old enough, you may remember that suits still had the 1980s by-the-numbers style: Broad, tapered and designed to virtually conceal the wearer at the workplace. Fits swiftly lost weight in the following decade, which is not surprising.
You shouldn’t just wear large, baggy clothing that looks like it was made for a child and that you’ll outgrow with time. Instead, common features are longer or wider, while crucial lines, primarily necklines, wrists, and hems, offer clothing structure and cohesion. At the same time, large apparel isn’t seen as a ’90s resurgence in particular. Instead, fashion magazines and designers have labeled it anti-fit, or, to put it simply, clothing that covers the majority of your body without seeming completely shapeless.
Inspiration
Jackets
To begin with, anti-fit develops via several different paths. The first and most noticeable change is in the jacket’s shape and cut. Both puffer jackets and trench-style overcoats have a larger, shape-enveloping, boxier fit that is now a meme but was once a fashion statement. Bigger pockets, larger shoulders, and even tie-waists contrast with an otherwise shapeless style by breaking up the billowing form.
Shirts
Meanwhile, shirts have developed a similar pattern. Longer hems on T-shirts are becoming the standard. Simply watch a lot of videos from EDM festivals to see how the younger artists frequently wear tees with hems that fall over their hips. They have generally gotten it right via this lens: Keep the shirt long and straight, and pair it with thick throwback sneakers, spray-on jeans, and thin, if not spray-on, jeans.
Knitwear
Knitwear, as a side note to all of this, combines both extremes. Large, slouchy sweaters by J.W. Anderson revolutionized fashion, virtually consuming the wearer: dresses-length garments, formless shapes, and even turtlenecks with a chin-curve. What began on a more radical note, though, has now been scaled back in many ways. Despite the slouchier cut that is now common in men’s knits, the garment still has structure, with a stronger collar, a defined hem, and sleeves that merely taper to the cuffs. In other words, there’s no distinction between comfort and style, and something you might often consider warm for a chilly day is now a chic layering item.
Pants
We first noticed this trend in 2015, which was completely separate from athleisure. Also, it has established a distinct niche in the menswear industry, even if slim-fit chinos and skinny jeans remain popular: broad and organized. These pants lose all ties to the 1990s and aren’t your typical skater pants; they don’t bunch at the ankles or hips and show no evidence of wear. Instead, a large part of its charm stems from the neat, precise lines along the sides and hem. They should fall to the ankle or even slightly higher, into the cropped territory, and are best worn at the hips or higher. In order to give you a unique boxy shape, they should fall just over your shoes, just like a good pair of slacks. If they’re more baggy, they either totally engulf your lower body or start to resemble the distinctly feminine palazzo trousers.
Suits
Let’s face it; in the 1980s and 1990s, business suits were hideous as sin and represented the inherent laziness in men’s clothing. All you needed to do to be ready for the workday without drawing attention to yourself was put on a partially pleated, semi-shapeless attire. All that was modified by the slim suit, and now men must also dress appropriately for their body types in addition to abiding by the guidelines. Slim fits, on the other hand, aren’t flattering on everyone, so the anti-fit suit fills this gap, albeit one that’s more for flash and parties than the workplace. It’s a cut that gained popularity with the party suit, and because of its semi-casual implications, it frees you from the restrictions of a business dress code: To channel your inner Harry Styles, choose a pastel or fluorescent tint, or go retro with a print.