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Tuck in Your Shirt, You Look Stupid.

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You Look Dumb
Details magazine is usually objectionable in the way that mahogany is objectionable  for building stages at strip clubs. Know what I mean? Of course you do.

But this month Details has a good observation, regarding an unfortunate trend detailed  in the New York Times, that is; tuck in your shirt - even if you are wearing a sweater - it makes you look stupid to have your shirt tails hanging out.  

The other, equally misguided motive for treating a button-down shirt like a baby-doll dress: It conveys nonchalance, a casual indifference to those tired old rules of dressing—like tying your shoes and zipping your fly. You roll L.A.-style. Sure, you look relaxed. A little too relaxed. A collared shirt billowing over jeans isn’t merely cheesy but vaguely vulgar—like you just came from a quickie with a table-waiting actress wannabe. And maybe that’s what this breed of shirt manipulator—Josh Duhamel and Carson Daly among them—is trying to convey. Alas, rather than attracting ladies, the untuckers are more likely frightening them. - Katherine Wheelock

I confess to sporting this look when I was in high school (even with a banker's collar).  And you can be forgiven if you have been doing this up until recently and you are only twenty four years old. But stop now. While the late 1990's were quite confused and arguably worse than the recent past -- everyone seemed caught somewhere between the post grunge look (random boots, bizarre shapes for jeans) and the weird international gay male tight polyester shirts -- it is obvious that we are going to be horrified by the fashion conformity at our bars from say 200 until 2004. Every young man on the make wore a stripey collared shirt (diagonal stripes being the WORST offenders) with their stovepipe jeans and their black thick soled Sketchers. Even reciting these, I wince.

And the ladies haven't been much better. For a time it seemed that the black pant had disappeared for $200 jeans and their $65 imitators. Just above the jeans would be an unsightly roll of blubber hanging around on all sides. This look is topped off with the shiny, slightly slutty  "going out shirt." No little black dresses, hardly any decent skirts - just everyone in their uniforms. It got bad enough that you could tell immediately if the person (boy or girl) was shopping at the Gap, Banana Republic, Express (or the now defunct Structure) or at some higher end department store (Ah,  she shops at Nordstrom's, man.  Good for fooling around, but probably looking for a guy with a better job than I have. Think her dad bought her that billboard I mean Yves Saint Laurent bag?)

  Thankfully these brands are starting to separate and I'm seeing the return of the sport coat among men. Herringbone is nice - but wearing a herringbone jacket with Chucks is the equivalent of smearing prime rib with store brand ketchup. It reminds us of the inanity and bad taste of youth.

Back to the point at hand. Tuck in your shirt, losers.  You don't like the poof around you when you sit down? Buy a better shirt and wear it under a jacket.

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References (2)

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  • Source
    Draped over khakis or jeans or expensive dress pants, the tails-out look appears to be the default for a generation still searching for a middle ground between the traditional coat-and-tie uniform for the workplace and the Internet-era alternative of outfits best suited for mowing the lawn. And, although retailers insist that the style is pitched mainly toward the young, the trend has obvious benefits for male Baby Boomers forced to confront, conceal and, if possible, flatter what an advertiseme
  • Source
    A friend of mine, an ad guy and utter sartorial snob—custom-made suits, cashmere sweaters—fancies himself an unmovable rock of personal style. He was wearing his shirttails hanging down the front of his pants long before this look got tagged as a trend, and my friend swore, with conviction usually reserved for damning unfaithful girlfriends, that he would never, ever tuck in his shirt. Turns out he was just going through a phase, much like a teenager who has a brief but passionate affair with De

Reader Comments (12)

Though I find your fashion observations typically spot on, I need to note an exception, which I believe has merit, to your rule regarding the sloppiness of the "untucked." It is a specific exception that must meet certain requirements in order to make sense aesthetically.

May be this is nitpicking, but I do believe the untucked has a proper place when wore in the context of a tropical environment.

However, the shirt must be environmental appropriate-

Fabric: linen (no cotton polo shirts);
Structure: 360 degrees symmetrical at the base, and somewhat loose and breathable
Sleeves size: short or long (agnostic).

Ideally, this shirt would be accompanied by a nicely tailored linen pant, topped off with a well structured linen (linen-cotton) blend sports jacket. I found the elements of such clothing at Brooks Bros circa a few years ago while summering in Maine.
3/21/2006 10:53 AM | Unregistered CommenterMichael J. Keegan
I think there may be an exception for tropical or summer mediteranean climes as wel (if you are on the boat). I'm thinking of the very thing short sleeved black shirt that Jude Law wears in the Talented Mister Ripley. He wears it without a jacket - and he looks great.
3/21/2006 10:57 AM | Registered CommenterMichael Brendan Dougherty
With the exceptions that Michael mentioned duly noted, I must say Amen to this one. Generally I can't work myself up to have strong opinions about fashion, but this one is so basic and is so routinely flaunted that it screams out for comment. I might have mentioned in my comments about Vigen Guroian's essay the other day that Hampden-Sydney guys were notorious for wearing the dress shirt half tucked-in with the back of the shirt hanging out over their belts. This would usually be at semi-formal occasions or public assemblies, but it was still pretty gauche. This habit was their way of saying, "Yes, I have to wear a nice shirt and I should tuck it in, but I'm not really going to make any effort to look presentable beyond what's absolutely minimally required." This is not kick around H-SC in particular, when this happens all over the place, but this post immediately brought that memory back.
3/21/2006 02:37 PM | Unregistered CommenterDaniel Larison
Ooooh, Larison on the dreaded half tuck. Most popular with upstanding Southern frat boys wearing polos, the half-tuck peaked a few years ago and has thankfully disappeared. I used to see Floridians half-tucking their sweaters during the 3 days a year when they could be worn. Yick.
3/21/2006 03:02 PM | Unregistered CommenterPeter
The half tuck is not nice.

I confined my remarks to collared shirts - mistakenly called "button down" by many. Polos are another animal.

"Button downs" are the ones with collars that button- political junkies would notice these on self-consciously New England types like William F. Buckley and Chris Mathews.
3/21/2006 03:11 PM | Registered CommenterMichael Brendan Dougherty
Bravo, Michael. I may not be the master of any particular subject-matter, but I recognize mastery when I see it - and this is it.
3/21/2006 05:38 PM | Unregistered CommenterMaximos
Gentlemen, there is even more good news: the narrow tie is back again. I noticed last week that Lands End is offering a small selection for the first time in years.
3/22/2006 12:35 AM | Unregistered CommenterVictoria
"I think there may be an exception for tropical or summer mediteranean climes as wel (if you are on the boat)."

I was going to say, here in Miami it is quite possible and not at all "stupid" looking to wear an untucked shirt with nice jeans and thongs or brown shoes. That is, as long as you are not at work and not over age 30.

"Gentlemen, there is even more good news: the narrow tie is back again."

That is not good news.
3/22/2006 04:26 PM | Unregistered CommenterNicholas G. Moses
THe narrow tie is fine- for some people.

Looking good is about proportions. I have a barrel shaped chest and the narrow tie can make me look like my head is being squeezed off the top of my body.

I think the narrow tie is not at all a bad thing. It was dignified in the 60's and rather spunky in the 80s.
3/22/2006 10:49 PM | Registered CommenterMichael Brendan Dougherty
Michael, your comment about proportions is perfectly correct. When my hubby was wearing them in the late 70s (pre Stray Cats) he was still tall and thin. He is now twice the man I married, God bless him, but our sons who are still tall and thin look great in them! Bodies, after all, come in all shapes and sizes. I often wonder, for instance, how a glamourous dress I'm eyeing in a catalog will look on the gal who is ordering the size W24. But perhaps we'd better not go there ...
3/23/2006 12:21 AM | Unregistered CommenterVictoria
Conceding Michael's point on the importance of proportion in fashion, I have to admit I'm no fan of the thin tie regardless of one's symmetry. Certain fads should remain in the past and the overtly thin is a fad that should remain in the past. Honestly, what's the point of a tie if it's going to be that thin? If ties are going to be worn, then it seems reasonable to posit that they should be substantive and marked by a nice weave.
4/4/2006 11:49 AM | Unregistered CommenterMichael J. Keegan
A few points. The belly/hip/back (shudder) pudge coming out of the jeans effect is called, I have on legal authority, a muffin top. The front-tuck is a nightmare vision straight out of Myrtle Beach, particularly when paired with a braided brown belt, vaguely distressed chinos, no-sox, beat-up Sperry Top-Siders and a red plastic cup filled with Jim Beam and Sprite. The dispositive factor concerning whether or not an untucked shirt looks stupid is simply tail length. Namely a shirt with no tails, no "seat scoop" in the back, bottom button undone, looks fine under a vest. Anything beyond this is a godless disaster. But worst of all is the white undershirt peeking out from behind the dress shirt. Please, please someone put out a memo on this.
2/7/2007 10:22 PM | Unregistered CommenterJames G. Poulos

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