How to Pull Off Men’s Big and Tall Pants at the Office

You might feel self-conscious in Men’s Big and Tall pants when you try them out at the office. But if anything, finding an appropriate fit will make you look more professional, not less.

Don’t believe us? Here are some essential steps for avoiding ill-fitting clothes and pulling off a pair of well-fitting Men’s Big and Tall pants at work.

Make Sure the Fit is Right

Are you really “big and tall,” or do you just like how the pants feel? It’s an important question. A proper fit isn’t just the cornerstone of good fashion; it’s the only way to successfully pull off any pair of pants.

Here’s how to know whether or not you have the right fit:

• Get measured by a tailor and have them write your numbers down. It only takes a few minutes of your time and a little bit of money. The information itself, however, will save you on perhaps hundreds of dollars’ worth of alterations and new clothes down the line.
• Enter in your precise size when purchasing any pair of our men’s Big & Tall pants. For example, with the Cotton/Poly Dress Khaki, you can enter waist sizes up to 48”, not to mention your specific inseam, bottom finish, and rise.
• Double-check your best-fitting pair of pants to get an idea of what size works best for you. And, no, we don’t mean the largest pair of pants that feel comfortable simply because they’re not restrictive. Try to find the best-fitting pairs of pants you own.

Once you’ve accomplished all of the above, you’re ready to think about what else to wear with your men’s Big & Tall pants.

Master Your Silhouette

Putting together a work outfit is about creating a professional “silhouette,” or overall shape to your clothes. If you have a well-fitting pair of trousers but your button-up shirt goes halfway to your knees, you’re in need of some serious rebalancing in your wardrobe.

To master your silhouette, start pairing your new men’s big and tall pants with the appropriate office attire. Here are a few rules:

• No sneakers with khakis—ever.
• Ditch the square-toed shoes. They give your overall presence a “blocky” feel. You’ll cut a better figure with slimmer, rounded-point shoes.
• Stick to a basic color palette. Blue shirt, black pants, brown shoes? It might seem office-ready simply because you’ve put together an outfit of random office clothes, but the brown-and-black palette is mostly unflattering. Blue and brown, or khaki and white would be a far better choice. And try to pair black pants with black shoes.

Don’t Overcompensate

When you realize you need to tighten your fit and avoid the billowy look of many men’s Big & Tall pants, that’s not your cue to find the tightest clothes possible. Avoid overcompensating, and simply look for office-appropriate clothes that actually fit. Chances are, your usual “get-up” of a button down and khakis does work… it may just need to fit better in order to flatter your silhouette.

In short: don’t swing too far from one extreme to the other. Look for the middle-of-the-road fit, the “fits like a glove” feeling of not too tight, not too lose. Keep tweaking until you start getting compliments—that’s when you know you’ve hit the office-wear sweet spot with your men’s big and tall pants.