[JBierly]

Another famous picture of Ali:

Skinny suit for sure - and look how short the jacket is! Just shows that you can pull it off if you are ripped!

 

[JBierly]

You really think he's "pulling it off"? Looks to me like he's having fun in an ill-fitting costume. Ali certainly had a fine physique, but he was never really "ripped" (at least in the bodybuilding sense of the term).

In that picture at that time I think he was pretty lean. I agree that when he got up to 235 not so lean but earlier in his career he was as low as 190 pounds. And I actually do think he is pulling it off pretty well. But even the umbrella is skinny by modern standards!

 

[JBierly]

I agree - I think it only "works" as a costume or an over-the-top affected look. He's Ali and has the personality and presence to pull it off, but on a pure tailoring / proportions basis, it looks awkward and off to me.

That's the reason I called it out - the jacket is pulling a bit and the quarters are open. You start getting granular and you realize that it is a bit tight. But by "modern" standards it looks pretty normal. I didn't live in the 60s but clearly there was a skinny suit phase then also. The fact that at first glance Ali looks pretty decent may be just that it's Ali, or it may be that someone who's fit and lean can do better in that fit. Regardless, he looks pretty decent for a skinny fit.