On Tuesday, April 24th, The Wall Street Journal ran an article on men’s health. A key indicator of a healthy man, it turns out, is a waist size under 40 inches.
One of the doctors quoted said that men don’t measure their waists properly. As our bellies get bigger, he said, we lower our pants so they hang from our hips and buttocks and thereby avoid the ugly truth of the bulge and save ourselves from admitting defeat by going out and buying pants with a larger waistline.
As presenters, we used to have our suit jackets to hide this rude arrangement, but now with business casual dress the standard, many of us parade our protuberances in front of our listeners.
I know about this problem. I often engage in a fierce debate with myself–do I pull up my pants and tighten my belt around my real belly, or do I encourage them to slide down below the bulge, making me feel younger and thinner?
Younger and thinner usually wins, and even if I try to secure the pants up higher, the natural force of gravity, along with the rounded architecture of my well-fed front tends to drive the waist line below the navel.
This is why I wear a sport coat when presenting–one that fits well enough so that I can button it and still use my arms to gesture.
Also, two female clients told me last week that they don’t care for men who present in wrinkled pants. Who knew women were looking at our pants? I guess this rules out khakis, which tend to get wrinkled easily.
What we need is a great pair of pants that:
- doesn’t wrinkle
- is loose and comfortable
- has an elastic waist
We need a pair with cuffs and one that is cuffless. We need a light-colored pair, and a dark. They will be our Presentation Pants, and we will wear them proudly, whether we choose to take the low road, or the high.
And those of us who choose the old-fashioned way will wear a sport coat that disguises the whole mess.
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