Tall and thin men have a length problem, not a size problem

Quick answer: Fix length first: sleeves, shirt hem, inseam. Then get the shoulders right. Then buy heavier fabrics and layer, so your frame has some structure to hang on. Skip skinny cuts and skip tents.

You reach for a box on a high shelf and your shirt leaves your belt. You check the mirror and your cuffs are sitting two inches above your wrist bone. The shirt fit when you tried it on, sort of, if you stood very still.

That's not a body problem. Most off-the-rack clothing is cut for a man of average height and average build, and you're neither. The trouble is in the proportions, and proportions can be fixed with a few specific moves.

Start with length, because it's the first thing anyone notices

Short sleeves and short pants announce a bad fit from across the room. Fix these before anything else.

• Sleeves. A dress shirt cuff should end at the wrist bone, with a quarter inch of cuff showing under a jacket. If you can see your forearm when you lift your arms to shake hands, the shirt is wrong. Buy tall sizes, or shirts sold by sleeve length (34/35 and up), where a brand offers them.
• Shirt hem. For a shirt you wear untucked, the hem should land around mid-zipper. For one you tuck, you need enough tail to stay in when you sit and reach. Raise your arms straight over your head in the fitting room. If it pops out, it's too short.
• Inseam. If you need a 36, buy a 36. Don't buy a 32 and call it a deliberate crop. Pants that stop above the ankle can work with a loafer in summer, but they have to look chosen, and most of the time they don't.
• Rise. A short rise on a long torso feels like wearing someone else's pants. Look for a mid or higher rise, so the waistband sits where your hips actually are.

One warning about tall sizes. Some add length and a lot of width, because the cut assumes a tall man is also a broad one. Try them on before you commit. If the length is right and the body is a sack, you've traded one problem for another.

Shoulders are the anchor

Everything else in a garment hangs from the shoulder seam. It should sit on the bone at the edge of your shoulder, not slide down the arm.

If the shoulders fit and the body is loose, that's the easy case. A tailor can take in the sides of a shirt or jacket. It's a basic alteration, and it's the best money a thin man can spend on clothes. Buy for the shoulders and tailor the waist. You can't do it the other way around.

If the shoulder seams droop, put it back. No tailor will fix that cheaply, and a drooping shoulder makes a narrow frame look narrower.

Buy weight, not bulk

A thin tall frame in thin fabric looks like a coat hanger in a dry-cleaning bag. Fabric with some weight holds its shape and gives you body without adding size.

What works:

• Oxford cloth shirts, which are textured and sturdy and hold a collar.
• Flannel and brushed cotton in cooler months.
• Midweight denim, not stretchy and not paper thin.
• Twill and corduroy pants, which keep a line down the leg.
• Wool sweaters and jackets, in a knit with some thickness to it.

What fights you: flimsy jersey tees that cling to every angle, very thin dress shirts that go see-through, and stretch denim that bags at the knee by noon.

Layers do the work your frame can't

Layering is the real trick for a thin man. Each layer adds a little dimension, and a tall frame has room to carry it without looking buried.

A tee under an overshirt, open. A sweater over a collared shirt. A chore coat or field jacket over a flannel. The combinations that work are the ones with visible structure: a collar, a placket, a hem that shows below the layer above it.

Keep the pieces separate in tone, too. Head to toe in one dark color makes a tall man look even more like a pole. A lighter shirt with darker pants, or a contrast jacket over a plain tee, breaks the vertical line. Horizontal stripes and chunky knits help. So do patterns with some scale: plaid, windowpane, a wide stripe.

Pants that don't look like drainpipes

Skinny jeans on long thin legs is the classic mistake. You think you're fitting your frame. You look like a pair of chopsticks in tubes.

Go straight, or a modest taper. There should be a little room through the thigh, and the leg should narrow gently to the ankle, ending in a hem that clears the top of the shoe with a slight break. A straight leg with a bit of fabric to it gives your legs some mass and makes the whole outfit look balanced.

A belt matters more than you'd think. A good leather belt, a bit wider than a thin dress belt, helps anchor the waist. If pants sag at the back even with a belt, take in the waist. A tailor does that in one visit.

Jackets: length and structure

Jacket sleeves have the same rule as shirts. A tall cut gets the sleeve length right. Check the body length too. A jacket that ends too high on a tall man chops the torso and makes the legs look like stilts. For a sport coat, the hem should cover the seat.

Lean toward structure: a jacket with a real shoulder, a peacoat, a field jacket, a chore coat. Puffy jackets add bulk, which you may want in January, but a down jacket cut for a bigger man can turn you into a coat rack. Try it zipped, with your arms raised.

Watch the dryer

Tall men can't afford to lose an inch. Cotton shirts and chinos shrink in the length first, which is exactly where you have the least room. The dryer is why your clothes wear out early, and in your case it's why your sleeves keep retreating. Wash cold. Hang the shirts, or dry on low and take them out damp.

A checklist before you buy

• Can you raise your arms without the hem leaving your belt?
• Do the cuffs end at the wrist bone?
• Does the shoulder seam sit on the shoulder bone?
• Is the body loose enough to take in, with the shoulders already right?
• Does the pant hem clear the shoe with a small break?
• Is the fabric heavy enough to hold a shape?

For a longer run of fit checks, see the checks that tell you a garment actually fits. When you're ready to build a wardrobe around all this, start from ten garments that get you through almost any week and buy each one in the right length.

What to skip

Skinny anything. Oversized everything. The theory that baggy hides a thin frame: it doesn't, it announces it. And don't slouch to make yourself shorter. Stand up. You have the height most men spend money on lifts to fake.

Get the sleeves right and the rest starts working.