When I'm working with a client, I've found that they're often wearing the wrong size of certain tops (tees, dress shirts, jackets, etc.).

It happens for a lot of reasons.

First, men like comfort, so they'll size up too big. What they don't know is that you can still wear the right size, but with certain types of stretch fabric and be just as comfortable as you would be otherwise.

Second, many guys buy the same size for every item, thinking that because a certain size worked before, it will work across the board.

The trouble is that clothing does not have to be consistent across different brands. I wear everything from a Medium to an Extra Large, depending on the brand.

Remember, you are not a set size. The clothing manufacturer determines how a size will fit you. So, make sure that if you haven't worn a particular brand before, you're trying on sizes before you buy.

So, how do you know if you're wearing the right size item?

Well, there's an easy trick to determine whether a size fits you correctly or not. I use this when I'm working with clients in person a lot, among many other things, explaining how they can find good-fitting clothing based on this one trick.

Before you look at anything else, pay attention to the shoulder seam.

That seam should fall right where the shoulder bone ends and the "meat" of your arm (muscle and fat) begins. Usually, you'll start to see the shoulder slope a bit at that intersection where you want that seam to be - the end of the shoulder bone (give or take 1/2 an inch or so).

The shoulder seam will largely dictate how to rest of the shirt will fit you, provided that you have somewhat standard proportions as a human being.

The shirt is built from the shoulders on down. So, if the shoulder seam isn't where it needs to be, the rest of the shirt won't fit appropriately.

An easy example is to think about how the shirt would look if the shoulder seam were too far down off the shoulder. The length of the shirt sleeve would be too long as well. This is just one example, but the entire size of the shirt is based upon the shoulders, so it affects far more than you might think.

If your shoulder seam is too far off the shoulder, you'll need to go for a size smaller. If the shoulder seam is too high on the shoulder, you'll need to go for a size larger.

So when you're buying any type of top, take a look at the shoulder seam and adjust your size up or down based on that seam. That's how you find your correct size.

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x Patrick