Miss Earth 2011

Just want to share with you guys...a few months ago, I had the chance to treat the Miss Earth Philippines 2011 finalists to a shopping day in Skechers Trinoma (part of my job people when I used to work with Skechers).

Athena (the girl on the far right) eventually won the pageant and I think moved on to become one of the Miss Earth 2011 winners in the international pageant. But Miss Cebu was my bet.

This photo reminds me that next time when I have my photo taken, it should not be at an angle as my double chin come out and my cheeks seem to cover up the rest of my visible neck. Hmmm this could be a good topic for a post in the future ---- how to pose when you're fat or how to minimize your fat profile when having your picture next time... :)

Breathing New Life to My Old Watch

A few Christmases ago a friend of mine who I haven't seen for the longest time literally gave me a Rudy Project watch off his wrist since he noticed that I wasn't wearing any. This friend has been with me for the longest time - for more than eleven years.

I'm a very sentimental guy so this gift is more than just a gift but is something much more. The watch has been through tough times with me, but sadly the leather strap it came with leaves much to be desired. It's all worn out, scratched, and in some parts stripped of its color (my sweat is quite acidic) and yet I still wear the watch for sentimental reasons.

Quite recently I came across ASPREY in one of the malls and saw what they called a NATO STRAP and found out that they had a blue colored one that was very close to the hue of the watch face of my favorite wrist watch. So I bought it and upon reaching home removed the worn out straps and replaced them with my brand new ASPREY Nato Strap!

Tip: If you have an old plain vintage looking silver watch (in my opinion looks best with any colored strap), drop by Asprey and pick out any color NATO strap to breath new life to your watch.

Butt Crack Trouble

I'm fat and can't avoid having fat friends, fat bosses, fat relatives and we all fall prey to buying the wrong type of pants - either too loose, too tight and never just right.

Most of the time I notice that we fat guys really wear loose pants that inadvertently slide down and we often find ourselves hiking up our pants as we walk, run and move. And there's the danger of what I call "Butt Crack Trouble" --- that's when your pants slide down while you're actually moving around in your seat, then you stand up, then bend down and pick something up while giving everyone a good view of your (our) pimpled backside.

How to avoid this:

1. Wear the right size of pants - Kinda hard to find the correct fit and size so once you buy the pants, take the time to visit your neighborhood "mananahi" (usually just Php50) and alter-to-fit your pants.
2. Wear a belt - They do have big sizes available from McJim belts in department stores.

Give everyone a break and stop "mooning" your officemates, friends, relatives and loved ones. Just a friendly reminder.

How to Wear Jeans - Basic Guide

Wearing jeans are the most normal thing for us Pinoys as the national casual wear is jeans with a sports shirt or a plain tee. Below are some very basic guides on how to wear jeans.

1. Baggy jeans are a no-no unless you're going for a slim shady, hip-hop look. Chances are if you're reading this blog, you do own these baggy jeans for comfort because of your size --- but wearing them makes you and I look fatter! Go for the straight cut my friend.
2. Wear your jeans just below your waistline. I've seen guys wearing them too high and they just look downright silly.
3. As for the fit, AskMen.com gives this advise: A good tip to know if your jeans fit properly is to try them without a belt; if they fit and stay on without having to wear a belt, it means they will look even better once you slip one on. Also, be sure you can still breathe when you have them on, because having extremely tight jeans looks as silly as when they are hanging on your knees.
4. I've also seen a lot of guys sporting what the British call "turn-ups" --- folding the cuffs of the jeans from anywhere between 4 to 10 inches. If you don't like the look, just have them altered to your length.
5. As for color Dark blue is the way to go. Dark-colored jeans easily match with most types of shoes, and can be combined with a variety of colored shirts and sweaters.

Over or Under the Tummy?

This is a quick post being a Sunday and all...word of advise from FAT MAN FASHION TIPS:

Wear your pants just below your gut not over the top of it. Your belt should be below your belly not running over the top of it like they did in the old days. Your belt line should be at the point just above your ass. Think of it as your belt separates the moving part of your lower body from your upper body. That is why fatter men that wear there belt too high look so foolish. Yes, you should make an effort to lose some of that gut. But in the meanwhile, wear your belt at the proper location. By the way, for the thin men reading this, this location applies to you also. Thin men look stupid wearing their pants too high also.

Happy lazy Sunday everyone!

Untucked

I've always tried to get away wearing my tops un-tucked since I do believe that the mirror doesn't lie at all when I see how wide I am. I've always been big but the problem really is not that my gut sticks out whenever I tuck my shirts in, it's more of how wide I look.

So how does one wear an un-tucked shirt whether they be polo shirts or button down shirts?

A good friend of mine gave me these two tips:

TIP NUMBER 1: An un-tucked shirt should sit in the region from a little below your belt line to halfway down your ass. Any higher and your butt crack will show. Any lower and it is way too long.

A good measurement really is, the hem or bottom of the shirt should sit either right above the top of your back pocket or a little under the top pocket.

TIP NUMBER 2: If you are going to wear your shirt un-tucked especially in the office, try and go for the square-hemmed shirts as they offer a more finished, more sophisticated look than normal curved shirt hems.

Fashion Tips for Fat Dudes

Seriously, the best way to look great in the long term is to shed some of those excess pounds. No need to enroll in those expensive classes or spend for gym time. Your best bet is to put on some running shoes and run, walk, hike --- just move --- take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk instead of taking the jeep, any activity that will get you off the couch or in front of your computer.

Anyway, here are some more tips for us larger-than-life fellows from ASKMEN.COM:

1. ENSURE YOUR CLOTHES AREN'T TOO TIGHT

Wearing clothes that are too tight will showcase the lumps.

2. DON'T WEAR TOPS WITH SLOPED SHOULDERS

Draw attention away from your midsection by wearing tops that have more squared shoulders.

3. WEAR LOW-RISE PANTS

4. WEAR V-NECKED SHIRTS

As my friend Daemon Frost told me a few days ago, wearing V-NECKED tops makes it seem that you still have a neck. I laughed but seriously thought about it and then I saw this tip on ASKMEN.COM and lo and behold he was right all along.

5. WEAR PANTS WITH A LONGER HEM

For more tips visit ASKMEN.COM

The List PART 1

Here goes...in no particular order --- the polo shirt list of where we, the horizontally challenged can get our fashion fix:

Polo Shirts

1. Greenhills Tiangge (Ralph Lauren/Polo overruns where XL is roughly chest size of 48" at Php800 per polo shirt)
2. Le Tigre (80's classic with the tagline HOLD THAT TIGER) warehouse outlet along Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong in front of Liberty Center and Puregold where Le Tigre polo shirts are at Php500 for the bigger sizes starting at XL --- if you have a waistline of 42, the XL is perfect for you, the 2XL is waaay to big.
3. Collezione and Collezione C2 (in major malls for boutiques and in department stores) - 80's classic again made famous again a few years ago with the introduction of Rhett Eala's Philippine map design sadly copied by the cheaper brands. Price is around Php375 to Php650. Sizing is a bit smaller than the Greenhills Tiangge export overruns XL and the Le Tigre XL so if you are a size 40-42 waistline, get the 2XL polo shirt in pique (but this depends whether the design is classic fit or slim fit).
4. Nautica - Pricier at almost a grand per shirt but quality is stupendous. They have sizes ranging from XL to 3XL. The 2XL is roughly 47 inches at the chest.
5. Lacoste - sure to have your size (until 2XL I think). If you're above a size 44 waistline last time I checked they no longer have the 3XL to 4XLs polo shirt. (You can try the class A one's in Greenhills though they may have much bigger sizes.)

I will add to the list soon. Last piece of advice, there is no harm in trying on the merchandise. Fit it, feel it and look at yourself in the mirror --- you are probably thinner than you think your are.

Some TIPS from Pinoy Guy Guide

PINOY GUY GUIDE posted tips on how to buy clothes if you're sorta chubby way back. AM re-printing it with some of my comments.

1. Don’t buy too loose or too fit.

When chubby guys buy clothes, they have a tendency to buy either clothes which are too fit or too loose to prove that they are not too big. However, I think this is a wrong move in choosing clothes.

If you happen to be a chubby guy, go for clothes which are one size bigger than your actual size BUT choose a slim fit version.

Confused?

Let’s say you go shopping for a shirt. You know that you are a size XL. So what you need to do is to find nice clothes on size XXL which are SLIM FIT. Once again read: SLIM FIT! So what will happen is that you will end up buying clothes which are just about right for your size and since it is slim fit, it will make you look slimmer.

TOOFAT4FASHION SAYS: Know your measurements. Shoulder, chest and waist. There is no standard sizing in the clothes found in the Philippines. An XL for one brand may be an 2XL for another brand.

2. Vertical Patterns

If you have attended Psychology 101 you should remember a topic their called visual illusions. During my freshman year in college, I clearly remember my Psych professor teaching us how to wear good clothes which will make short guys appear taller, fat guys appear slimmer, skinny guys appear bigger and so on and so forth.

I will not go over all of them. But what I remember is that, if you are a chubby guy, you should avoid horizontal prints on clothes because it only will make you look bigger and yes, fatter. Instead, what you should do is to wear vertical prints because the length of the prints will produce an illusion that you are taller and slimmer than you actually are. Choose a variety of vertical prints and not just plain stripes. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to find your wardrobe full of vertically-striped clothes would you?

TOOFAT4FASHION SAYS: I've been hearing this a lot of times but hey, horizontal striped shirts look great especially the Ralph Lauren (POLO), Lacoste and Le Tigre designs. No matter what you wear, if you're plus-sized, you are plus-sized. Wear what is comfortable, wear what looks good --- basta walang masyadong bilbil na visible. If you must wear horizontal stripes, try to wear more tapered pants (not the baggy hiphop one you have in your closet or loose slacks).

3. Buy from shops like…

…Jag, Lee, Penshoppe, Bench, Human, RRJ, Tribal etc. They have tons of stylish and inexpensive clothes available up to XL (and in some cases even XXL). I also recommend that you go shopping for clothes in department stores rather than stand-alone shops for variety and for size availability. And if you can find American and foreign brands like TopMan, Van Heusen, Izod and Von Dutch – it would be much better because American sizes are naturally bigger.

You mentioned in your email some brands that you like. However, People are People, Folded & Hung, Refill, Mint, Oxygen and other similar brands rarely have BIG sizes. Yes, their clothes are very modern and chic but their target market is for slim guys. So I suggest you go for the previous ones I have mentioned.

4. Try MaxWear at SM Department Store

If you have some time, try to drop by SM Department Store one of these days. They have a section there called MaxWear and they have a wide variety of inexpensive clothes for big men.

TOOFAT4FASHION SAYS: Sure they will fit you but the quality sucks big time.