HOW TO DRESS A BEAR BODY.

Style tips for big guys with bellies, broad shoulders and bodies that take up some space.

You know how this goes.

You find a T-shirt you like. Put it on. Look in the mirror.

Shoulders? Good.
Arms? Actually looking pretty decent.
Chest? Yep.

Then you turn sideways.

And suddenly all you're looking at is your belly.

So you try the next size up.

The belly is still there, obviously. But now the shoulders are hanging somewhere near your elbows and whatever shape you had five minutes ago has disappeared.

A lot of us have shopped like this without even thinking about it.

See belly. Buy bigger shirt.

And honestly, your belly isn't something we need to fix here.

We just need clothes that actually work with the body you've got.

Stop shopping for the smallest-looking version of yourself

Style advice for bigger men has sounded roughly the same for years:

• Wear black.
• Go loose.
• Don't draw attention.
• Hide the belly.

Bit depressing, really.

For a lot of us, the belly is only one part of the picture anyway.

There are broad shoulders. Thick arms. A solid chest. Big legs. And sometimes enough body hair to keep a small village warm through winter.

So why build an entire wardrobe around one mission: making the stomach less visible?

Try asking yourself something different when you put a shirt on:

Not smaller.

Good.

Those are not the same thing.

Look at the shoulders before you look at the belly

This is probably the easiest change you can make.

Next time you try on a T-shirt, don't immediately turn sideways and start inspecting your stomach.

Look at the shoulder seam first.

On a regular-fit T-shirt, it should sit roughly where your shoulder ends. If it's already halfway down your upper arm, the shirt is either intentionally oversized or simply too big.

Then check the chest.

A T-shirt is allowed to sit fairly close here. If you've got a broad chest, let the poor thing exist.

Then look at the belly.

The fabric should have enough room to fall naturally without being dragged sideways or creating loads of obvious tension lines.

But this part matters:

Some of us seem to think there needs to be a legally required exclusion zone between stomach and cotton.

There doesn't.

If an XL looks great around your shoulders and chest but feels too tight around the middle, while the XXL fits the belly but turns the rest of you into a rectangle, you probably don't need to go bigger.

You need a different cut.

Fitted doesn't mean sausage casing

This causes a lot of unnecessary stress.

"Fitted" does not mean you need to be vacuum-packed into your T-shirt.

It simply means the shirt follows your body instead of floating somewhere around it.

It can show your chest. It can define your shoulders. People are even allowed to notice that you have arms.

And yes, it can sit closer around your belly too.

The difference is tension.

If the fabric is pulling hard across your stomach, creating horizontal lines everywhere and slowly travelling towards your nipples every time you move, it's probably too tight.

If it simply follows the shape of your body?

That's your body.

Everyone already knew.

You've got shoulders. Use them.

This is one thing generic plus-size fashion advice often completely misses.

A lot of us have a genuinely strong upper body.

Broad shoulders. Thick necks. Big arms. Wide chests.

That's good stuff.

So why bury all of it under the biggest T-shirt you can find just because your stomach needs a little more room?

When the shoulders and chest have some structure, the whole outfit starts to make more sense.

This is especially useful if your belly sticks out further than your chest.

Don't obsess over making the stomach look smaller.

Give the upper body some shape instead.

• A good shoulder line.
• Sleeves that don't flap around your arms.
• A neckline that sits properly.

And if there's some chest hair involved, we're certainly not going to complain.

Length is where a lot of T-shirts go wrong

Here's another classic.

You size up because you want more room around your stomach.

Unfortunately, you've usually just bought more length too.

Now the shirt covers half your fly, your legs look shorter and the whole thing is slowly drifting into nightshirt territory.

For an untucked T-shirt, somewhere around the upper to middle part of the fly is a decent place to start.

But don't just stand there like a mannequin.

Sit down. Raise your arms. Move around.

If your stomach gets fresh air every time you reach for another beer, you probably need a little more length.

If the shirt is approaching your thighs, you can probably lose some.

And remember: cotton can shrink.

That perfect fitting-room length can become unexpectedly adventurous after a few enthusiastic dryer cycles.

Fabric matters more than most of us realise

You can have two shirts in almost exactly the same size and one looks great while the other somehow finds every single contour on your body and introduces it personally.

That's fabric.

Very thin cotton tends to cling more.

That isn't automatically bad. Sometimes you want that closer, slightly sexier look.

If you prefer a cleaner silhouette, a slightly heavier cotton often works better because it has enough structure to fall from the chest instead of attaching itself to every curve.

Just don't go full medieval armour either.

If the fabric is too stiff, it can stick out from your stomach and suddenly you've got your own little awning.

A bit of stretch can help too, especially around the shoulders and belly.

One body doesn't equal one ScruffyCub fit

This is exactly why we don't believe one T-shirt should somehow work the same way on every guy.

Our bodies aren't built from one template, so our shirts shouldn't be either.

Some of us like a closer fit around the chest and arms. Some want more room around the middle. Others prefer something heavier, wider and more relaxed.

That's why we use different cuts and fabrics across ScruffyCub instead of pretending there's one magic fit for everyone.

Our Classic Tee, for example, has a medium fit and is made from 180 g/m² organic ring-spun cotton.

It has enough structure to feel substantial without turning into cardboard, while still sitting relatively close to the body.

Other ScruffyCub styles sit differently.

That's not inconsistency.

That's the point.

Check The Fit before you choose the size

That's also why you'll find The Fit on our product pages.

Before picking your size, have a look there. We'll tell you how that particular shirt is supposed to sit, so you're not left guessing whether it's closer, roomier or more relaxed.

Because we know the size label alone doesn't tell you enough.

Oversized can look great. Accidentally enormous usually doesn't.

We're not anti-oversized.

Far from it.

A proper oversized T-shirt on a bigger body can look seriously good.

Dropped shoulders. Bigger sleeves. Heavy fabric. Relaxed trousers. Chunky sneakers.

That's a look.

Buying a XXXL because the XL had the audacity to acknowledge the existence of your stomach?

That's something else.

One is a silhouette.

The other is panic with extra fabric.

If you're going oversized, make it look deliberate. Watch the length, balance it with your trousers and think about the whole outfit.

Please buy a T-shirt that isn't black

We like black.

We really do.

Black T-shirts are sexy, simple and very forgiving when someone drops aioli on you.

But plenty of us have spent years hearing that black is basically the official uniform for having a belly because "it's slimming".

You don't have to spend the rest of your life dressed like you're permanently on your way to a Berlin techno club.

Try green. Burgundy. Brown. Cream. Blue. Orange if you're feeling brave.

Nobody is taking away your Bear card.

We've got more canvas. Let's use it.

The same goes for graphics.

A bigger torso gives a graphic more space to work with.

That's not a problem. That's an opportunity.

A tiny print that looks perfectly balanced on a medium can look a little lost on a 2XL or 3XL.

Larger graphics often make much more sense on a broad torso.

Placement matters too.

A design sitting too low can look like it's slowly sliding towards your belly. A slightly higher placement connects it much better with your chest and shoulders.

We think about that a lot at ScruffyCub because we're not designing for some imaginary generic male body.

We're designing for bodies we actually recognise.

A bigger size shouldn't feel like someone took a design made for a medium, found a larger blank and called it a day.

The cut, the fabric and the artwork all affect how a shirt sits, moves and looks.

That's another reason it's worth checking The Fit rather than assuming every XL, 2XL or 3XL will behave the same way.

Because they shouldn't.

Different shirts create different silhouettes.

Finding the one you like is much more useful than obsessing over the letter printed inside the collar.

Yes, you can tuck the shirt in

Apparently there's an unwritten rule somewhere that once you have a belly, all shirts must remain untucked until death.

Ignore it.

Untucked is easy and often looks great.

But a full tuck can work really well too, especially with trousers that sit at a decent height.

A French tuck can also add some shape without making you look too polished.

The bigger thing to watch is actually your trousers.

Very low-rise trousers sitting underneath the belly can make your torso look incredibly long.

A mid-rise often creates much better proportions.

And ultra-skinny trousers with a huge loose top?

Sometimes that just exaggerates the difference even more.

Try a straight or slightly relaxed leg and see what happens.

You might be surprised.

Five things we can probably stop doing

1. Buying everything one size too big.
   If the shoulders are wrong, more fabric isn't going to save the shirt.

2. Looking at the belly first.
   Check your shoulders, chest, sleeves and length before starting diplomatic negotiations with your stomach.

3. Wearing shirts that are far too long.
   You're buying a T-shirt, not a summer dress.

4. Assuming black fixes everything.
   Bad fit also comes in black.

5. Trying to make ourselves disappear.
   Taking up a bit of space is hardly off-brand around here.

So what should actually be in the wardrobe?

You don't need to rebuild the whole thing.

Start with a few pieces that genuinely fit.

• Three really good T-shirts, ideally in slightly different cuts so you learn what works on you.
• One or two statement shirts that actually use the space on your chest.
• A solid overshirt.
• Jeans or chinos with a rise that works with your stomach.
• Good shorts.
• A tank for summer, holidays, Bear Week or any situation where sleeves simply feel unnecessary.
• A hoodie that doesn't hang to your knees.
• A jacket that closes comfortably without turning your shoulders into collateral damage.

That's enough to start.

Because once you know where your shoulders should sit, which length works on you and which fabrics you actually enjoy wearing, shopping gets a lot less annoying.

Next time, don't look at your belly first

Seriously. Try it.

1. Check the shoulders.
2. Check the chest.
3. Look at the sleeves.
4. Check the length.
5. Feel the fabric.
6. Move around a bit.

Then look at the whole thing.

Your belly is part of the picture.

It just doesn't need to run the entire wardrobe department.