Carry your mkhaba with style
IT’S no secret that the fashion industry has embraced plus-sized women. More and more designers are coming out in support of plus-sized clothing.
We have plus-sized models on the runways, and even tough fashion magazines that swore never to have a plus-size person on the cover like Vogue have all turned a new leaf.
While all this progress is fantastic, the truth is that there is one aspect of the plus-sized industry that has been neglected, and that is plus-sized men. Yes, no one ever really pays attention to plussized men’s fashion, and we decided to do something about it.
What does a plussized man wear? Can a plus-sized man be fashionable? If you prowled the stores right now, would you ever find fabulous plus-sized men’s clothing and not frumpy unflattering tents?
Fashion stylist and former Edgars buyer Vusi Sediane gives plussized men some fashion tips. Sediane says that every plus- sized man has their best asset, and that it is their job to find and highlight it. “The number one rule when it comes to fashion is to accentuate your best points and camouflage your worst. This is so true when it comes to plus-sized men. You need to find your best assets and show them off. So do you have great shapely legs? Show them off. Do you have great arms? Show them off. Do you hate your belly? Cover it up. This is the one principle to always remember, whether you are plus-sized or not.”
Sediane highlights how to style plus-sized clothing for men to look stylish.
Do not follow the trends The problem with trends is that when they come out, there is a certain school of thought around it. There is usually a target market for the trends, so most of the times plus-sized options of that trend are often an afterthought, and will therefore look unflattering. A perfect example would be skinny jeans.
There are some really skinny guys who look great in skinny jeans. And although there are large-sized skinny jeans available on the market, automatically it does not become appealing to our fashion pallets because we already have preconceived notions of who should wear them.
Tailoring is your friend Most people often make the mistake of thinking that tailoring is mostly for suits. No. Tailoring is there to ensure that clothing fits us well. So get a trusted tailor who can make some of the oversized and unflattering clothes in stores fit you well. Have them taken in so that they are not oversized but not too small either. A tailor will help you get the perfect fit.
Do not underestimate the power of undergarments Just like women have girdles and waist trainers, you need an undershirt or vest that is going to hold you together, and make clothing fit effortlessly.
Familiarise yourself with prints Vertical stripes add volume, whereas horizontal stripes add length. Learn the dos and don’ts of taking the focus away from the bits that you do not want shown off. For example, some people think that if you have a giant print on your chest, it is an ideal way to take away the focus from a protruding belly, but unfortunately the opposite is true.
Learn your colours You know how they said that black is slimming? They were right. Know your colour wheel, and what is flattering and what is not. Wearing all white is probably the worst thing you can do, as it will only make you look like a giant tent, and the same goes for nude colours and neons.
You always want to stick to your blacks, browns and muted colours, as they give the illusion of being slim.
Avoid tucking in if you can help it It just makes one look like a compressed sausage. You always want to stick to tailored shirts that glide over some unflattering bits like love handles and the belly, and not necessarily force them all to get along with a belt. The belted look with a tucked shirt just does not look good on plus-sized men.
Nothing brings it all together like a dashiki Those should be in every plussized man’s wardrobe. They are really flattering and provided that you tailor them to perfection, can be really stunning and give a nice shape to a plus-sized man.