Tuck in Your Shirt, You Look Stupid.
You Look DumbDetails 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.
Michael Brendan Dougherty
in Fashion
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12 Comments
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2 References
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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: Tuck Your Shirt InA 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)
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.
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.
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.
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.