The north has the men who are the slimmest

Men in the south have the largest waistlines in the UK with southerners also boasting the biggest feet, while northern cities are home to the slimmest males.
Have Doncaster men got the slimmest waists?Have Doncaster men got the slimmest waists?
Have Doncaster men got the slimmest waists?

Analysis has revealed that the locations where men have the largest average waistlines in the UK; eight out of 10 are cities in the south of England and Wales, while the slimmest cities are found in the north. However, more southerners have bigger than average feet compared with their northern counterparts.

Research from Suit Direct’s study, Sizing up the UK, has revealed a range of interesting insights in to men’s sizes across the country with jackets, trousers and shoes analysed across the last three years.

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The study into male clothing across the UK has investigated more than 60,000 sales from the suit retailer as part of Suit Direct’s commitment to cover all men’s sizes including slim, athletic and tailored to their range of big and tall products.

And the research reveals that it is southerners who are more likely to need wider trousers with Swansea taking first place. Men from the city have an average waistline of 38.5 inches with Portsmouth the second-largest with 37.9 inches, followed by Aberdeen (37.4 inches) and Plymouth (37.4 inches), Bristol (37.3 inches), Chelmsford (37.3 inches) and Norwich (37.3 inches).

The smallest waists can mainly be found in the north of the UK, with the slimmest males coming from Scotland’s two biggest cities.

Men in the Scottish capital average 36-inch waistlines, just ahead of Glasgow who average 36.1 inches followed by London (36.2), Gloucester, Manchester and Bradford (36.3), and Leeds and Leicester (36.6).

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Looking at other parts of the body where size matters, there’s a variety of men in southern cities that can be smug with their above-average results on shoe size.

It’s those in the Portsmouth who are sat with the biggest smiles with gents from the south coast city boasting the biggest feet in the country. Sixty-five percent of men from Pompey are above the UK’s average shoe size of 10 with second-place going to Nottingham (61%), followed by Glasgow (57%), Plymouth (55%) and Oxford (54%).

However, despite the common belief that big feet are common in taller people, the results of the study suggest there’s no clear correlation between the two.

The country’s tallest cities feature a number of locations in the Midlands with Wolverhampton the joint-tallest alongside Edinburgh. Research shows that 28 percent of blokes in these cities have legs that are longer than the average leg length followed by Brighton, Nottingham and Gloucester (27%) and, Chelmsford and Coventry (26%).

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Bradford gains the title as the city with the shortest legs, with 28 percent of gentlemen shorter than average, followed by Southampton, Worcester and Cardiff (27%), Glasgow, Gloucester and Norwich (25%).

While those with the smallest feet lived in Leeds, with just 16 per cent with feet over size 10, with Wolverhampton in second spot, with 18 per cent, with Coventry in third, with 22 per cent.

And it’s not just waistlines where Swansea is the biggest with the Welsh city proving to be the UK’s location for the biggest chest with 79 percent of male residents above the national average size of 42 inches. Similarities with the waist size and chest size continues with Portsmouth (76%) coming second followed by Bristol and Newcastle (both 75%), and Chelmsford, Leeds and Plymouth (all 73%).

The study also revealed what the most popular style choices were, including the UK’s favourite suit colour. Twenty percent of the country selected navy as their colour of choice for jackets, followed by grey with 19.5 percent and blue 19 percent.

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The UK’s most-popular trouser colour choice was also navy with the shade taking up 20.5 percent of sales, followed by grey at 20 percent and blue 19 percent.

And black shoes are the shoe colour of choice with 44 percent of the country opting for them ahead of tan, the second-biggest seller, at 29 percent.

A spokesperson for Suit Direct said: “The research shows that the UK’s shapes are changing with taller and bigger men becoming the norm, but this means that some men are missing out on finding their clothing because of sizing restrictions.

“We’re keen to promote our range of suits which fit a variety of shapes and sizes, from slim and skinny fit to big and tall. Suit Direct are committed to providing men more options, brands and fashion choices that they might not get elsewhere.”