I need your help. I can’t seem to find pants that look like they actually fit me. Maybe the problem is that I’m slightly shorter than average, but no matter how hard I’ve searched for pants the ones I buy always look baggy - making me look sloppy. Can you help?

- Jim, Lake Forest, CA

Thanks for the questions, Jim. There are several key areas that one should look for when purchasing pants. These areas apply to all men, but are especially important to men who are slightly shorter. First of all, most dress slacks and trousers bought off the rack are mass-produced, therefore they’re made with an average body shape and size in mind. Men who are shorter or men who like to wear their pants lower on the hip (most of us) need to buy pants with a shorter rise. The rise of a pant is the distance between the top of the waistband and the bottom of the crotch. Most of your better stores are going to have short-rise pants separated from regular rise. See my note at the bottom for and easy way to determine the rise of your pants.

Secondly, something that all men should look into doing is buying pants that fit the hip and seat and not the waist. I know that sounds crazy, but again, when pants are being produced the average body style is in mind. However, the problem with that is most men don’t have much of a hip or seat (butt). On average, most pants have a 7” difference between the waist size and the hip size. There are too many men with a 34” waist without a 41” hip causing a bunch of thin guys walking around in pants that look too baggy. A simple way of remedying this is to buy a pant that fits your seat and hip NOT your waist. For a simple charge of $10 or $12 you can have a tailor let the waistband out and, in return you’ll, have a pant that looks like it fits properly. Even better, if you’re purchasing slacks at regular price, most stores should alter those for free.

Last, but certainly not least, the length of inseam you choose is crucial for the overall look of the pant. Even if you follow the suggestions I’ve listed above but choose an inseam length too long or too short, it’s all for naught. For some reason, shorter guys always want to go with a longer inseam length (maybe it’s mental) but in actuality the shorter length will give the perception of a longer, slimmer leg. That same idea is applied to those guys with average to longer leg length, too.

Style Note: If you are curious about determining the rise of a pant or if you have a pant that fits perfectly and want to find one similar –here’s a quick way to do so. Start by laying the pant flat, long way on its side. Next, measure the outseam (distance between the top of the waistband and bottom of cuff/bottom). Then, measure the inseam (distance between bottom of crotch to bottom of cuff/bottom). A general rule of thumb is, subtracting the inseam length from the outseam length will give you and idea of what the rise is.

Got a question for GP’s Style Correspondent, Torrey McMurray? E-mail him at helpmystyle@gearpatrol.com. Your question (and its corresponding answer) might be included in our (somewhat) weekly Q&A series. Advance yourself.