Suits for Bodybuilders and Muscular Men: How to Get the Fit Right, and Where to Order

A good suit on a bodybuilder does two things at once. It shows the shape you built, broad through the shoulders and back and narrow at the waist, and it does it without a single seam straining. If the button pulls, the sleeves grip your arms, or the trousers bind at the thigh, the suit is too small for your build even if it is the right size on the label.

Buy for the chest and the waist swims. Buy for the waist and you cannot do the jacket up. Here is what a properly fitted suit looks like on a muscular frame, area by area. If you want the short version and the order page, our athletic fit suits page has both.

What a bodybuilder in a suit should actually look like

Most photos of bodybuilders in suits show a man squeezed into a jacket that is fighting him, or wearing something so big it hides what he worked for. Here is what to look for instead, in front of a mirror:

• The shoulder seam ends where your shoulder ends, with no padding built up on top of it.
• The jacket buttons and lies flat, with no X-shaped creases around the button.
• The collar sits against your neck at the back, with no gap.
• The sleeves have room at the bicep and still show a little shirt cuff.
• The jacket covers your seat, with the hem around your finger knuckles.
• The trousers sit on your waist, clear the thigh, and narrow toward a plain hem.

Our guide to how a suit should fit covers these checks for any build. If you train but are not a bodybuilder, custom suits for an athletic build is written for you. Below is what changes on a heavily muscled frame.

Why off-the-rack suits fail a muscular build

A rack suit assumes one gap between chest and waist, usually six inches. A man who trains is often eight, ten or twelve inches apart, and no rack size represents that shape. It fails in four places, usually together:

• The chest and back, where the jacket pulls when buttoned and drags the collar away from your neck.
• The arms, where a sleeve cut for an average arm grips the bicep and wrinkles when you reach.
• The neck, where a shirt that fits your chest will not close at the collar, and one that closes at the collar balloons at the waist.
• The thighs and seat, where trousers that fit the leg leave the waistband inches too big.

A tailor can take in a waist and shorten a sleeve. Nobody can add cloth to a chest that was never cut with it, or rebuild a shoulder cleanly. If you want the full breakdown of the chest-to-waist problem and what alterations can and cannot rescue, read muscle fit suits and why off-the-rack fails.

Shoulders: soft structure, no padding

*A note on the cloth: the fabrics and linings in these photographs are examples, not a fixed menu. Every lining is chosen for the man it is made for, so yours will be its own. Our books also change as mills come and go, and they change without notice. If a cloth you have chosen is unavailable when your order is placed, we replace it with one of the same quality or better, as close to the colour as we can get, and we tell you before anything is cut.*

Muscular men rarely need shoulder padding, and most rack jackets have plenty. Pad on top of developed delts and traps looks square and stiff. A soft or lightly structured shoulder follows your natural line and lets your own shape do the work.

The seam should end at the edge of your shoulder bone. Past it, the jacket looks borrowed. Short of it, the sleeve head dents and the shoulder looks crammed. Our suit shoulder fit guide shows where that line sits, and suits for broad shoulders covers the wider frame specifically.

Chest and button: room to breathe, no pull

The most common mistake on a muscular man is a jacket too tight in the chest. It looks fitted for about five seconds, then the button pulls, the lapels bow and creases fan out from the button.

A properly cut jacket has a soft drape through the chest. It lies flat when buttoned, you can breathe and reach forward, and the waist still suppresses in so the jacket reads as a V rather than a box. That V is what shows the build. Tightness does not. If yours is pulling now, why a suit jacket pulls at the button explains what the creases are telling you.

Arms: width at the bicep, not extra length

Big arms need a wider sleeve at the bicep and a higher armhole, not a longer sleeve. Sizing up a rack jacket for arm room gives you a sleeve that covers half your hand and a body that hangs off you.

In a made-to-measure jacket the bicep and forearm are measured on their own, so the sleeve has room where your arm is big and narrows toward the wrist. Length is set so about a quarter to half an inch of shirt cuff shows. There is more on that in our post on suit sleeve length.

Neck and shirt collar

Rack shirts are sized by collar, so a collar that closes on a big neck comes with a body cut for a much bigger man. You end up tucking in a tent. A custom dress shirt cuts the collar, chest, waist and arms separately. Custom shirts start at $199. The collar should close with room for one finger and sit under the jacket collar all the way round, never above it. A Kent or classic point collar with a little spread balances a wide neck and jaw better than a narrow one. If you go without a tie, leave the top button undone. Our post on how a dress shirt should fit covers the rest of the shirt.

Trousers: rise, seat and thigh, with a taper

Developed quads and glutes need room in the seat and thigh, a rise long enough that the waistband sits on your waist instead of being dragged down, and a leg that narrows from the knee to the hem.

The taper is the part that shows the build. Skin-tight is the part that ruins it. If you can see the outline of your quad through the cloth when you stand still, or the cloth pulls into lines across the front of the thigh, it is too tight. Aim for trousers that skim the leg, sit clean at the seat, and finish in a plain hem with a slight break on the shoe. No cuffs. Our trouser fit guide goes deeper on rise and break.

Lapels, ties and details that keep the proportions right

A skinny lapel on a wide chest looks lost, and a skinny tie on a thick neck looks worse. Go for a medium to medium-wide notch lapel, roughly in line with the width of your chest, and a tie in proportion to it, around three and a quarter inches or wider. The lapel options are laid out in suit lapel styles.

A two-button single-breasted jacket is the easiest shape to get right on a V-shaped torso. A pocket square in cotton, wool or linen breaks up the wide chest, in a different colour and pattern from your tie. Flat-front trousers keep the thigh clean.

Colours and patterns

Most eyes are on you when you walk in anyway, so the suit does not need to shout. Navy, charcoal and mid grey first, then a rich brown or forest green. A subtle herringbone or faint check adds texture without adding size. Bold wide checks and loud colours make a big frame look bigger.

Fabrics with some give

You move more in your clothes than most men, you run warm, and you put more strain on the seams, so cloth matters.

Look for a lighter cloth that drapes instead of adding bulk. A Super 120s wool suit, from $1,299, does this well and wears most of the year. Then consider a little stretch. Our wool blend with a small amount of stretch woven in starts at $1,049 and gives you room to reach, sit and lift your arms. Stretch will not rescue a bad cut, but on a good one it makes the suit easier to live in. Skip heavy, stiff cloth and thick knits under the jacket.

If you compete, plan around your season

A suit cut at stage weight will not fit in the off-season, and the other way round. If you are mid-cut or mid-bulk, wait until you are near where you will stay for a while, and build for the weight you spend most of your time at. Men who compete can keep two sets of measurements on file, one for each phase. Alterations within 30 days of delivery cover ordinary settling, not a full cut.

How we build a suit for a muscular frame

We take 21 measurements, in our studio or online with our measuring form and two photos, and build the pattern from those numbers instead of adjusting a standard size toward them. Chest, shoulder, bicep, neck, waist, seat and thigh are each their own measurement. Our Owner and Founder, Derek Burbidge, and our team confirm the numbers before anything is cut, and production takes five to six weeks. Suits start at $899.

Order it online

You do not need a fitting to start. Pick the colour in the shop, choose the cloth, fill in the measurement form and send two photos, and the suit is cut to your numbers and shipped anywhere in Canada or the United States, shipping included. There will be an additional charge for measurements over 50 inches.

• Navy suit, from $899: the first suit, and the colour that does the most for a strong shoulder line.
• Grey suit, from $899: the second suit, and the one for daytime.
• Brown suit, from $899: the suit nobody else in the room has, and the jacket doubles as a sport coat.

Every one of them comes in a wool blend, a wool blend with stretch, or Super 120 and up. Our athletic fit suits page walks through the cloths and the four steps.

Not sure what cut, cloth or colours suit your build? Start with a Wardrobe Plan, a one-to-one session with our Owner and Founder, Derek Burbidge, on your build, colouring and what you wear it to. You leave with a written plan for what to buy and in what order. No measuring is involved. When you are ready to see numbers, Price Your Outfit takes about ten seconds.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best suit for a bodybuilder?

A made-to-measure two-button single-breasted suit with a soft, unpadded shoulder, a medium to wide lapel, room at the bicep and thigh, and a waist and leg that still taper, ideally in a cloth with a little stretch.

Should a suit be tight to show off muscles?

No. A suit shows the build through the shape of the cut, a clean shoulder line and a suppressed waist, not through tightness. If the button pulls, the lapels bow or the cloth shows the outline of your arms and thighs, the suit is too small and looks it.

Can muscular men wear slim fit suits?

Off the rack, rarely, because a slim fit is slim everywhere, chest, arms and thighs included. You want fitted at the waist and leg with room where you are big, which made-to-measure does. Our post on slim fit vs classic fit explains the difference.

Are stretch suits a good idea for bodybuilders?

Yes, as long as the suit is cut to fit first. A wool blend with a small amount of stretch gives you room to move and puts less strain on the seams. It will not fix a jacket that is the wrong shape for you.

How much does a suit for a muscular build cost at Cardero?

Suits start at $899 in a wool blend, $1,049 in a wool blend with stretch, $1,299 in Super 120s wool, and $1,699 in Super 150s wool, each built from your 21 measurements. A suit and custom shirt together, a custom fit package, starts at $1,098.