State & Liberty Tailoring For Athletic Builds 2024 | FashionBeans

To acquire an athlete’s build you will have to train like a beast. That means hours of grueling practice, weightlifting, cardio, diet restriction, harsh compromise, and a laser-like focus on the goal. It’s grinding work.

But, that being said, you don’t also deserve the punishment of ill-fitting clothes in your everyday life. With a bulkier frame, clothes tend to feel uncomfortable, they can be too tight or too loose in the wrong places, and that ends up skewing the whole aesthetic and what you worked for.

Through the years, the fashion industry hasn’t been hot on alternative body types despite having the resources at its disposal. And tailoring is even worse. While the fabrics may be lovely to feel, and look at, and are durable, they are awful designs for men with larger rigs. They don’t stretch to cater to wider muscles and they’re designed for the beanpoles you see walking down Paris Fashion Week runways. Plus, the fabrics are wrinkle-prone, meaning travel and day-to-day management is a chore.

And, yet, thanks to State & Liberty that suffering is now a choice. This brand takes athletic physiques seriously and I want you to know about it. Throughout this article, I’ll introduce the range and innovative solutions they’ve thoughtfully created. So, put down the David Byrne suit and come join the gang.

State & Liberty – The Brand for an Athletic Body Shape

Co-founders Steven Fisher and Lee Moffie launched State & Liberty in 2015 and named it after a famous intersection in Ann Arbor, MI, where the pair met. Moffie and Fisher are both University of Michigan alumni, with Moffie also playing for the hockey team. After graduating, they both found themselves in jobs that required conventional office dress. However, their beefier dimensions quickly became a problem. After spending thousands of dollars getting custom shirts made, they thought that there must be a better way and suspected they weren’t alone in this plight.

That’s when the athletic fit was born.

The Athletic Fit

When Moffie and Fisher launched State & Liberty, it was initially a range of shirts with the now renowned athletic fit. The shirts feature a v-shape with tapering darts at the rear to usher the shape at the waist and a more spacious fit around the shoulders and arms. But, the athlete’s body doesn’t end at the shirt.

Dylan Larkin, captain of the Detroit Red Wings, has a chronic condition. Its symptoms include a small waist, big quads, large thighs, and a voluminous butt. He calls it: Hockey Butt. But there are others too: Swimmer’s Shoulders, Footballer’s Thighs, Weightlifter’s Lats, Shot Putters Neck, etc., etc..

There’s a whole community. And for Larkin, his condition has made buying smart pants a taxing ordeal. The State & Liberty range has, therefore, expanded the athletic fit and funneled the same desire to create athletic proportioned clothing through casual wear, tailoring, and more. But, even for the “normally” proportioned man (if there’s such a thing), the unique athletic shape can help create a stacked silhouette for the gym-shy.

The Fabric

Larkin also noted that tailored fabric itself doesn’t have the necessary stretch to provide comfort and ease of motion. So, State & Liberty addresses this by using a one-of-a-kind Athletic Performance Fabric, an intelligent blend of 90% polyester and 10% spandex. The material is performance-ready. Meaning you could do a morning workout in full office attire due to the impressive sweat-wicking, crease-resistant, and lightweight properties.

It’s not recommended, of course, for hygiene and sanitary reasons. But, even if you are sensible and separate your tailoring from your gym wear, the fabric is ready for when someone (grr, Eric) spills green matcha tea all over you. You can be safe in the knowledge it’ll not be ruined thanks to its spillage-defiant properties.

On that note, all State & Liberty garments are machine washable, saving time, stress, and stress (did I mention stress?). While it’s hard to find reliable statistics, it is generally suggested that the average male in the USA spends over $500 annually on dry cleaning, which is a healthy annual saving switching to State & Liberty.

All of Your Wedding Needs

But there is one very particular occasion in life where it is paramount to avoid bad tailoring. Whether it’s your own wedding or not, you don’t want bad tailoring to be a memory focal point. Suppose you’ve ever shimmied into a rented suit as a groomsman or groom only to find either, a) the suit rips with every movement, slowly revealing the Superman costume below, or, b) the only size that fits you looks like a Zoot suit.

On top of that, renting involves the aggravation of collection/drop off, the high expense for a temporary item, nasty-feeling fabric, having to source accessories separately, and a limited range of styles. State & Liberty looks to correct all of these avoidable pitfalls and guarantees a perfect fit, both in style and size. A bold claim, isn’t it? Well, there are certain systems in place to ensure this.

First is the “Made to Measure” package. Here, the customer can choose from fifty or more different stretch fabrics and customize with adjustments to button color, stitching, and lining. There are thirty-plus baseline sizes to gauge the best fit, and then the suit is adjusted to precise measurements. If you are unable to make the second fitting, the cost of a tailoring session can be used in-store as credit instead.

Second is the “Made to Order” package. There are the same fabrics and off-the-peg sizing as the Made to Measure service. However, only the arm length and jacket length can be adjusted here, and there’s a more limited customization list on buttons, stitching, and lining.

For the fittings themselves, State & Liberty have cultivated a very chilled atmosphere. There is a hangout zone with beer, bourbon, and TV for you and the dudes to soak up. Aaand relax. Alternatively, you can do a virtual try-on where you detail your sizes, have a garment sent, and then take a photo of you wearing the suit for a tailor to adjust and send back.

These systems are in place to make buying a wedding suit the most pain-free, stylish, and personalized decision possible. That’s why there is a full accessories store with belts, ties, cufflinks, and socks. Plus, a free concierge service.

And if that wasn’t all, there are also some tantalizing discounts available for wedding parties (including generous gifts!) Why not treat yourself to less hassle and book yourself in for a free 10-15 min initial consultation to discuss the best State & Liberty wedding options for you?

Performance Golf Clothing

For a company that has built its reputation on providing formalwear for sportsmen, it makes complete sense that it would confidently stroll out onto the green to produce performance golf clothing.

Golf clothing is some of the most formal sportswear in the world, after all. The beauty of this range is in the way it combines the versatility of styling with performance function. The stretch, athletic figure-hugging fit, and practical moisture-wicking features make it ideal for the pressures of golf. But, equally, the mock turtle necks, polos, chinos, and shorts will look athleisure chic when worn to the local café.

Athletes Agree

While I’ve been banging on about how State & Liberty are advocating for the athletic build, I’ve neglected to mention that actual athletes are doing this work, too. Among its all-star fanbase, there are 500+ NHL customers and 300+ NFL customers. These include the mighty UFC Hall of Famer, Daniel Cormier, ex-NFL quarterback turned commentator Brady Quinn, and current Toronto Blue Jays right fielder George Springer. These are athletic men who know the value of looking pin-sharp on screen.

The Verdict

The brand has been built in a reassuring way, slowly and methodically, much like how the most elite physiques are attained. Eight years since launching, and there are 22 stores across the USA, two in Ontario (Canada).

Through its ingenious off-the-peg shapes and specialized fabrics, State & Liberty has engineered a viable and suave solution to ill-fitting clothes for the athletic shape. The range is deep enough now that it can extend to suit all your needs. So, if you have a bulky frame, then State & Liberty is your brand. You can be safe in the knowledge that the brand gets you, your shape, and your needs. Now, that’s a weight off your shoulders.