As a muscular guy, dressing inside the gym is easy.
Throw on a stringer or a t-shirt with some gym shorts and your muscles will pop. But what about when you step out of the gym? What exactly should a muscular man wear both casually and formally?
What type of clothes will make you look more muscular? Fear not, in this blog we provide a full guide on how to dress as a muscular man and the perfect solution to show off your muscles in our signature Muscle Fit Shirts.
How Should I Dress For Muscle? What Do Muscular Guys Wear?
Here are some dos and don'ts for how to dress if you’re muscular.
First and foremost, look for form fitting clothing that sharpens the lines of your torso, this will naturally reduce visual clutter and emphasise your physique.
You can wear shirts that highlight your torso but don’t look like they’re painted on. The last thing you want is the front button at the chest look like it's hanging on for dear life.
Looking for shirts that perfectly fit the muscular frame? Check out our collection of fitted shirts right here.
On the lower body go for straight leg or tapered trousers which create a silhouette from upper body to lower body. Top it off with a high quality leather belt to separate the waist and add balance to your overall look.
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Avoid wearing any blazers or jackets that have shoulder pads. Your shoulders are muscular enough to add width to the jacket.
Stay away from skinny jeans because firstly, your legs might be too big to fit into them! And also they take too much attention away from your upper body.
Remember the idea here is to add slightly more emphasis to your upper body while maintaining an overall balance proportion.
What colour shirt brings out muscles?
Neutral colours
If you’ve got the athletic body shape, this naturally stands out on it’s own, so you don't need loud colours.
Not only do you not need the extra attention but it also takes the focus away from your muscular body, allow your physique to do the talking, not the colours.
Bright colours have their place in summer so these are suitable for short sleeve shirts and vests where they don't cover as much of your body.
Black colours are slimming but subtle colours make you look larger because they highlight your body shape.
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Does white make muscles look bigger?
Similar to neutral colours, white broadens your frame making you look larger. If you are attached to wearing darker colours or black then you can contrast this with a lighter shade of trousers or jeans to contrast the two.
This contrast will create the illusion of a larger size. But focussing on white on the upper body creates a silhouette of your physique, particularly if you opt for a white fitted shirt.
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How to dress for a muscular body type
First and foremost you already understand the struggle of finding well fitting clothing.
There's a big misconception about swole guys needing oversized and comfortable clothing to accommodate large muscles. But now the market accommodates muscular guys with muscle fit shirts.
How A Shirt Should Fit a Muscular Man
Typically a shirt should fit a muscular man in the shoulders, chest, arms and waist. But a common problem that most muscular men face is how off the rack shirts fit in all of these areas.
The ultimate goal for the muscular body type is to balance out both the lower body and upper. You equally want to make the biceps pop without looking like you’re trying too hard.
Off the rack clothes present a challenging obstacle trying to achieve this look especially as you want to prioritise finding clothing that fits the shoulders without them sagging around the torso.
But let's look at the approach you need to take to dress for your muscular body type.
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Find your brand
It's important to get the brand right because sizing differs wildly between them. Especially around the globe. Take time to understand brands you can trust that specialise in fashion for muscular men.
They are few and far between so make sure to look out for clothing that fits the arms, chest, shoulders and waist evenly.
Once you have found your favourite, stick to it. Most muscular men are turning to Tapered Menswear who have spent over 5 years developing the perfect fit for muscular guys.
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Build a foundation
Because muscular fit clothing brands are few and far between build your wardrobe in a strategic way. Find fitted white tees and neutral coloured thin jumpers. Have a base of slim fit jeans and chinos.
Having these 4 items in your wardrobes are the classics and you can't go wrong with them. These should be the foundation of all your outfits that you can build around.
With this in mind, fit is paramount and you must make sure that these items fit your body perfectly while remaining functional. They should fit well enough to show off your gains without being too tight and uncomfortable.
Go light on the layering
If you’re reading this article it’s likely that you don’t need any extra unnecessary bulk. Therefore keep your jumpers and outerwear light, try not to go for the chunky knit jumpers or puffer jackets which makes your body shape get completely lost.
Chunky clothing has a way of hiding the contours of your physique and just makes you appear shapeless and bulky. Choose long sleeve shirts, cardigans and thin sweaters, finish with a trench coat.
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Stripe it up
Stripes can be a muscular guys friend when it comes to clothing. They have a way of tricking the eye into thinking an object is wider or longer than it is - depending on the direction. 
If you want to maintain the width go for horizontal stripes, adding some horizontal striped tees and jumpers are an asset to any bodybuilder wardrobe.
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Shoulder focus
This is more of a styling tip for bodybuilders because the shoulders play an important part in your physique. When trying on any item of clothing make sure the item is well fitted on the shoulders, not too tight or loose.
If it's too loose it will dictate the rest of the outfit and look baggy everywhere else so use the shoulders as a guide for the right fit.
Following on from my last point it's not always easy finding clothing that fits the shoulders perfectly and sits right on the other key parts (arms, waist). The physique that weight trainers enhance makes it different from the regular shaped man.
Once the chest and shoulders start to get larger the waist gets smaller which makes it a nightmare to find off the rack clothing to fit all areas.
This is where a tailor can help, take any of your poorly fitting garms to a tailor and they will tailor it to your exact body shape.
While this is an attractive option for muscular men, it's not suitable for all. After all you’ve spent money on a garment do you want to spend extra on getting it tailored?
What is The Best Fit For a Muscular Man?
As a muscular gent finding the goldilocks fit is a challenge, you are trying to find not too tight and not too loose, something just right.
More often than not you are going to find one or the other, which unfortunately is a result of having an elite physique.
Formal wear options particularly are the most challenging to fit a jacked V taper physique, until now.
What Size Shirt Do Muscular Men Wear?
This is difficult because assigning a specific size universally to all muscular men is nearly impossible due to the diverse range of body types and sizes.
Typically, they might need shirts that are XL or larger depending on how they like the shirt to fit. Many prefer form-fitting shirts, often selecting medium or large sizes to accentuate their physique, while others may opt for extra-large sizes for comfort or a looser fit.
On top of this shirt brands often have varying fits which makes it even more challenging!
Advice for the Muscular Man
You can follow all the advice given above and try to find styling tips to cater for your current wardrobe, but you’re reading this article meaning you’re looking for more. Introducing Tapered Menswear…
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Shirts that makes you look muscular
Imagine a shirt that fits a muscular body without being too tight at the shoulders or too loose at the waist. Imagine not struggling each time you shop for your muscular physique.
Imagine being able to spend more time at the gym and less time (and money) at the tailors.
Clothes For Muscular Guys
In 2017 we did just that and re-imagined the traditional dress shirt to bring you our exclusive TAPERED fit shirts. Our need to help you find a perfectly fitted shirt was born out of our own struggles.
Like you, we struggled to find physique-enhancing, proportional dress shirts that are ready to perform and ready to wear. Our muscle fit shirts are designed for an athletic build and to make you look more muscular.
But how?
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What shirts show off muscles?
Tapered fit shirts have been crafted by leading tailors and designers to allow for a close fit on your shoulders and chest whilst tapering in sharply at the waist.
Designed with athletes and bodybuilders in mind - to show off muscles. Guaranteed to make you look in the mirror and admire the same physique you’re proud of in the gym.
Our Tapered collection also includes muscle fit t-shirts and muscle fit polos.
Shop Best Seller Here:
Our revolutionary cut provides a 10" drop from chest to waist.
Fully fitted in chest and shoulders whilst tapering sharply down, giving a tailored look. No more bagginess in the waist.
Enhanced Darts
Expertly tailored darts at the back, for the perfect fit.
Stretch Cotton
Super soft, breathable and allows complete freedom of movement.
Perfect for the office.
With our non obtrusive logo stitched subtly on the wrist makes our TAPERED Fit Shirt ideal for formal occasions.
Tapered Fit Shirts are the true solution to your shirt fitting problem. If you want a shirt that fits your body like it should, check out or best selling shirt here
