Slim Fit vs Athletic Fit

In the battle of slim fit vs athletic fit, which one comes out victorious? What are the contenders made of and who are they made for?

Both slim and athletic fit garments have the same goal: to highlight your best features with clothes that sit close to your form. 

An slim fit might sound appealing if you’re more muscular than the average person, but there are a few things you should keep in mind before you buy anything. Even with most high-end slim fit clothes, they’re cut and tailored to the average skeletal structure.

This is where TAILORED ATHLETE comes in. To provide you with clothes that truly fit you, we design our clothes around your muscles. Our ‘True Muscle Fit’ garments are a cut above the rest, showing off all the hard work you’ve put into looking good.

Let’s break down the definition of each fit and see how they compare to other fits.

What this article covers:

• What Is Athletic Fit
• Athletic Fit vs Slim Fit

What Is Athletic Fit

When we refer to different clothing fits, we’re mostly describing how the clothing sits on the body.

So what does Athletic fit mean in terms of clothing? We’re sure you’ve run into the problem of finding clothes that are technically your size but just don’t fit properly. This is because most designers don’t give much thought to how increased bulk affects the way clothes sit on your body.

You need to wear clothing that has space in the chest and thigh regions to compensate for your bigger muscles. 

However, areas such as the stomach and arms are closer to skin tight, allowing you to display the muscles in those areas.

This is where TAILORED ATHLETE comes in. We design ‘True Muscle Fit’ clothing that accentuates your muscles without clinging to you and making you uncomfortable. If you workout, an athletic/muscle fit will always be more catered to your body shape, an area we have exceptional expertise in.

We use 4-way stretch premium material to allow your muscles to expand and contract along with the clothing. This also allows a freer motion for athletes to move around. 

What Is an Athletic Fit Shirt

Dress shirts are designed to make you look smart. They’re typically white and can be worn with a bow or necktie.

Most dress shirts are square, boxy and baggy but by design should give a more formal impression. However, certain body types won’t feel comfortable in the average dress shirt.

Our athletic-fit dress shirts have more room around the chest. This allows the garment to fall naturally and accentuates wider shoulders. There’s also more breathing room by the armpits, however our unique design caters for the drop between your chest and waist, narrowing into a tapered to exemplify your physique.

Our shirts are made with a premium 4-way stretch material that allows the shirt to sit snugly against your chest and arms without limiting your range of motion.

Our athletic-fit T-shirts have the same breathable areas as the dress shirt but will feel more casual and comfortable than a button-up.

Athletic Fit vs Slim Fit

In terms of aesthetics, athletic fit doesn’t appear drastically different from slim fit. They both aim to sit closer to the body, but they’re aimed at different body types.

Both athletic and slim fits are great for formal wear and work well as part of a suit if they’re paired with a well-fitted jacket.

Another important difference is just how tightly the two fits are. Athletic fits tend to be closer to the body, but caters for natural tapering by following the shape of the muslces, whereas slim fit sit close to the body, but some areas will fit tighter than others, for example tight across the chest but baggy at the wasit. This is another important difference between athletic fit and regular fit shirts; the latter is more relaxed and less attached to the skin.

The downside of getting a slim fit that’s not a ‘True Muscle Fit’ is your range of motion. Garments that are not uniquely designed for your body shape will limit how far you can bend and turn, and if you fill out your clothes completely, they’re more likely to tear.

Areas like the shoulders are narrower while the armholes are positioned higher on a slim fit, and no one wants to be wearing a shirt and be scared to move your arm too quickly. 

Where athletic fit clothing has breathing room around the chest, a slim fit is usually to tight against the chest, resulting in you needing to size up and therefore have a lot of more excess fabric at the waist, even with a slim fit. 

What both athletic and slim fits have in common when it comes to dress shirts are the higher sleeves that taper towards the wrist.

An athletic fit is more comfortable than a slim fit, but a slim fit looks more formal provided you can get into it properly. If you spend a lot of time the gym, that’s not likely.

Athletic Fit vs Slim Fit Jeans

Just as shirts have different styles for different bodies, so too do jeans and pants.

Like certain areas in shirts being designed to have more space and breathing room depending on the style, jeans and pants are the same.

Athletic-fit jeans more shapely and comfortable compared to slim fit ones.  

These jeans are tailored below the knee and give off a more natural shape, providing breathing space for your thighs.

In other words, if you have muscular thighs and don’t want to wear something that feels disproportionate down your leg, choose our athletic-fit jeans.

You want jeans that have space for your thighs that don’t look too baggy or relaxed. True Muscle Fit jeans fit these criteria well.

Slim-fit jeans, on the other hand, do not.

These jeans are cut slimmer in the crotch and thigh region, with the waist being lower too. The slim fit however isn’t completely skintight. These jeans are tapered, allowing you to show off your sneakers.

If you want something that sits tighter in the thigh area but has more breathing space along the legs, then you should go for slim-fit jeans.

Athletes need athletic-fit jeans to compensate for the increased muscle mass in their thighs and legs.

If you’re wondering about the difference between slim fit and skinny jeans, areas where your body can breathe isn’t present in the skin-tight skinny jeans.

Athletic Fit vs Slim Fit Pants

The same differences found in athletic fit and slim fit jeans are present in pants. However, the fabric plays a key role in comfort.

Slim-fit jeans might be the same style as slim-fit pants, but the former is made of denim and sits heavier on the body. Whereas something like cotton slim-fit pants give you more freedom in how you move around.

Either way, these pants aren’t going to sit comfortably on you.

Athletic jeans and pants work similarly. Pants are always more comfortable than jeans.

If you’re choosing between athletic fit and slim fit pants, the same logic in choosing between the jeans applies here.

Having thicker thighs and needing breathing room in that area means you should be choosing the athletic fit pants.

If you want to be stylish and formal by having pants that follow the natural shape of your leg, then athletic-fit pants will work best. For example, check out our Everyday Tech Trousers for a fit that’s both flattering and comfortable.

Slim Straight vs Athletic Fit

Before we can decide which of these two contenders will work best for you, we need to distinguish the difference between slim fit vs slim straight.

We already discussed slim fit, but what’s slim straight?

Well, it’s quite like a slim fit, but where they differ is looseness. Slim straight is looser than a slim fit.

Slim straight makes your legs flare out more but stick to the knee just like slim-fit clothing.

If we’re putting slim straight up against athletic fit, they each have room to allow your legs to breathe.

From the knee down, your legs are given breathing room in a pair of slim straight, but the thigh region is tight.

In an athletic fit, you won’t have that same breathing room below your knee, but your muscular thighs will be taken into consideration.

It all comes down to your physique, how you want your clothes to sit on your body, and how it makes you look. 

Did you find our blog helpful? Then consider checking:

• Slim Fit vs Fitted: Who Are They for?
• Trim Fit vs Slim Fit: How Are They Different?
• Slim Fit vs Classic Fit (How to Choose Your Best Fit)
• Muscle Fit vs Slim Fit - The Difference Tailoring Makes
• Slim Fit vs Extra Slim Fit: Is It for Me?
• Tailored vs Slim Fit: Which Looks Best?
• Contemporary vs Slim Fit: Which Is for Me?
• Sharp fit vs slim fit (Differences + Who should wear it)
• Extreme Slim Fit vs Slim Fit - What’s the Real Difference?
• Classic Fit vs Regular Fit (Differences + When to Wear)
• Traditional Fit Vs Tailored Fit (Fashion Guide)
• Regular Fit vs Relaxed Fit: Major Differences
• Straight Fit vs Relaxed Fit (Breaking Down the Clothing Fits)
• Classic Fit vs Relaxed Fit (Comparing the Clothing Fits)
• Comfort Fit vs Regular Fit (Fashion Guide)