For most of my clients, Summer means t-shirt time. How does yours fit? Don’t laugh — even though it’s just a t-shirt, it should fit you as well as all of the other items in your wardrobe. Below are 4 key points to watch for when determining whether to buy that next beefy-t:

1) The shoulder seam should hit directly on the edge of your shoulder. When a t-shirt is too big, these seams hang off your shoulder and make you look sloppy. But wearing a shirt with the seam right on the edge of your shoulder will make you look fit and trim.

2) The length of your sleeve should hit about halfway down your bicep. Again, this will be the most flattering to your build.

3) When you pinch the sleeve edge, there should be 1-1.5 inches of extra fabric.

4) The hem of the t-shirt should hit about halfway down the fly of your pants. Any longer than that will throw off the balance of your upper and lower body (aka make you look short), and anything much shorter than that won’t give you enough coverage.

Now, it’s your turn. Try on your favorite t-shirt…how does it measure up?

Do you ever wish you looked a little taller? Many of my clients, even if they are above average height, list this as an image goal. At 5′ 1″ myself, I appreciate the sentiment. Luckily for us vertically-challenged folks, we can use clothing as smoke and mirrors to achieve (or at least get closer to) the look we want. Below are 11 tips on how to dress so you look taller:

Patterns and Color
1) Wear the same color (or at least similar tones of color) on top as you do on bottom. That way, you avoid the horizontal line of a color break across your middle, which would cut you in half otherwise.
2) Similarly, you should avoid wearing a belt that contrasts strongly with the rest of your outfit, as it will abbreviate you.
3) Wear socks in the same color as your pants. It makes your legs look longer.

4) Everyone knows to wear vertical stripes, but did you also know that diagonal lines create illusion of length? In addition to vertically striped pants, suits, jackets, and socks, try a repp (diagonal stripe) tie.

Lines of Clothes

5) Dressing in layers allows you to add lots of elongating verticals. Think a hoodie or sweater with a zip or a cardigan left open (try under a sport jacket or a casual jacket).
6) Wear a pocket square. It draws the eye up to your chest favorably.

Sportcoats or Suit Jacket Details 
7) Opt for peak lapels, as the detail and upward-pointing angles guide the viewer’s eye in an upward direction, making you look taller.
8) As in #1, the diagonal lines of a suit jacket or sportcoat’s lapels will extend your height. Choose one with a “low button stance,” which means it buttons lower on your body, extending those diagonal lines.
9) The gorge on your jacket is where the collar meets the lapel. If you’re buying custom, tell them you want a “high gorge,” which will have the same upward-orienting effect as in #7.

10) Buy your jacket on the short side (or have it tailored that way) so that it just covers the curve of your seat. This makes your legs look longer.
11) When you have your jacket sleeves tailored, ask for at least 1/4″ of shirt cuff to show. If not enough or no cuff shows, it can make your arms (and the rest of you by proxy) look short.

Is there anything about your appearance you’d like to balance or camouflauge? Let me know in the comments below, and I’ll tackle it in an upcoming post.

Is your summer wardrobe in need of a refresh? At key points throughout the year, my Rath & Co. clients and I reassess their wardrobes for the upcoming season. We look at what works and what doesn’t, and what they didn’t have enough of last year. If you haven’t gone through this exercise for summer, before you go into full beach mode, carve out time to go through all of your summer clothes so that you can create a clear list of what’s missing. Below is my hit list of 10 summer must-haves to help guide you, plus a couple of grooming bonuses:

1) Lightweight t-shirts: a mix of henleys, crew and v-necks

2) Sweatshirt or long-sleeve shirt for post-beach

3) Summer footwear: sandals, flip-flops, or what I call social sneaks (aka nice sneakers you wouldn’t work out in)

4) Sunglasses

5) Swimsuits: here’s a guide on how to choose the best style for you.

6) Lightweight and light color dress shirts, pants, sportcoats, and suits (the latter two depend on your social calendar and how frequently you dress up for work).

7) Shorts

8) Strong deodorant with anti-perspirant

9) Minty soap: for more on soaps and other grooming products that will keep you cool, check out my post on Heat-Wave Style.

10) Sun protection: I’m fair-skinned and super-picky about what type I use — VMV Hypoallergenics Armada Face Cover is what works best for me. Also check out Bioastin Astaxanthin, which is an antioxidant that’s said to help protect skin against the sun.

What’s on your hit list for summer?

Question: Hey Rath & Co! I see that you have some fun backpack recommendations…how about a nice, professional, hip, not-too-expensive briefcase? Big enough to carry a laptop, cute enough for after-work drinks and nice enough for an interview. Thoughts? -Arielle (on behalf of boyfriend)

Answer: Hey Arielle (+ boyfriend),

Here are three briefcase-type bags that I love and that fit your criteria. Note that you don’t want to go too inexpensive with something like this because you’ll be carrying your laptop in it. So it needs to be sturdy and well-constructed.

Each suggestion below has a slightly different vibe:

Cheers, and let me know how you do!

‘Tis true, I talk about henleys a lot in general as smart layering pieces,  but this  number ($310) from PS by Paul Smith is currently at the top of my favorites  list. Here, the devil is in the details: the marled wool and red button thread  stitching are just the right unexpected touches to make its wearer  stand out without being party-pants obnoxious. I got this piece for a client  during Mr. Porter‘s Friend’s  and Family sale a few weeks back, and in person the red button hole thread is  much more visible than in the image above. The cool thing about this detail is  that it allows you to wear red elsewhere in your outfit as a way of pulling an  entire look together. With that in mind, here are some ideas of how to style  it:

Under a sport coat…

Opt for a neutral-colored fabric with a thin red line running through it as  part of the pattern like this GANT by Michael Bastian sport coat. (Red elbow  patches optional.)

Under a sweater…

Because both red references are on your top half, wearing a red sweater like this one above, from Polo Ralph Lauren, is a bit of a  no-brainer. Bonus: if you want to tie in your bottom half, add socks that  have some red in them like those from Corgi below. Note that solid red socks would be  overkill.

Under a sport shirt…

Another somewhat straightforward choice, throw it on under a sport  shirt that has red in its pattern, like this one from Bonobos, as an alternative to a v- or crewneck t-shirt.

With red footwear…

Red deck shoes like these from Polo Ralph Lauren and Shoo respectively are as bold as I’d suggest you  go for pulling in red elsewhere in your outfit. Of course, bright red  shoes are not for everyone, so as always, make sure to stick with what suits  your personality when choosing your look.

With red laces…

Wearing red laces like those in these Diemme boots is a more low key way of bringing your upstairs  and downstairs together.

Using the red button thread stitching on this henley as above is just one  example of how to subtly tie in any color in one part of your outfit with the  same color elsewhere. You can do this with almost any clothing detail. As  always, I welcome your questions and comments about how to accomplish this.