I haven’t flown recently, but when I did I often saw members of the military flying as passengers. I knew this because they’d wear uniforms. What has always struck me is how perfectly a Marine tucks in their shirt (other branches, too, but that’s the uniform I’d most frequently notice).
My dress shirts inevitably billow, and I spend the day trying to shove them back into my pants (especially when I get out of a seat).
Is there something that is taught in boot camp about how to dress? Some special folding technique? Or an old fashioned garter system? I don’t want to look like a shlub, so is there a secret to impart?
More broadly, do you have this issue, or am I the only one who struggles with the dress shirt not staying nicely tucked in (especially the back)?
And even if you have no military experience, do you have a solution for me?
(My dad - former marine at that - used to tuck his shirt into his underwear. I did that until my wife made fun of me. We are going through a divorce. This isn’t why. I mean, I don’t think it’s why).
Based on Googling and hearing an old friend of mine complain about them, they use things called “shirt stays” that are basically like little elastic things that clip to the shirttail and top of the sock and basically put tension on both, holding socks up and shirt tails in.
That, and a technique of basically tucking the shirt in a specific way that hides the loose material (the “military tuck”).
They’re fucking awful. There are also silicone ‘hip belts’ that grab the shirt tails and sort of do the sane thing but not as well. These combined with enough PT to keep a flat stomach allows maintaining a good shirt tuck.
Tucking shirt tails into your tighty whiteys is disgusting for multiple reasons.
As others have noted, it is true that shirt stays are a thing. Not sure if they ir use is taught in USMC recruit training, though. I was commissioned, not into the USMC, but the Navy, and not through OCS, but NROTC. That’s where I was turned on to short stays.
However, I “turned off” to shirt stays after a couple years in the Navy. Maybe less than that. Still, my shirt did not billow. Mostly because I did not allow it to billow. I just regularly adjusted my tuck. Plus, I think my body type (and the body type of most people in the military) helped.
I should also note that, yes, there is a particular way of tucking in one’s shirt that is taught as well that may help, but I can’t say how much. It would be with folds visible from the back, not the front.
I’ve heard of collar stays (those little plastic or metal things that slide into a small sleeve on your shirt collar to keep it from curling), but I didn’t know shirt stays were a thing.
Ignorance fought!
(But, yeah, they don’t look very comfortable. Alas, isn’t that just true of fashion generally?)
ETA: Incidentally, do they set off the metal detectors they use at airports (or courthouses!)? I can see an awkward conversation trying to explain why you have clips under your pants).
I thought this thread was about military uniforms. If we are talking about fashion, there should be alternatives, e.g., ISTM a man’s suit worn with (possibly elastic) braces that button onto the trousers plus a vest would keep the shirt pretty much contained, for that classic look. Or look at this guy
I never had to use shirt stays when I was on active duty. For one dress uniforms were a once or twice a year thing. I was also very skinny.
I used them in my police uniform. The combination of wearing a vest under the shirt, wearing a gun belt pulling down the waist and not being skinny anymore made the shirt tuck not look as good. I stopped using them because inevitably one would pop off of my sock (sometimes painfully) and it would require me to go back to the locker room and get undressed to fix it.
That looks like someone took Black Ken, wrapped him in aluminum foil, and put some Morpheus glasses and a stupid hat on him. I’m not sure what that is supposed to illustrate but if he pulls up his neck gaiter over his face he’s probably cloaked to IR imagers and ready to take on a Predator.
My solution was the address the problem at its source: I had my shirts tailored to my actual waist size, getting rid of the extra material they include to make them one-size-fits-all. Eliminated the billowing, but if your sitting and standing a lot you still need to re-tuck.
Isn’t this most of it? If you have a flat stomach and stay on your feet billowing won’t be a big problem. Note the thumb tuck method noted above. If you have to suck in your gut to do it when you exhale the shirts going to pull right up again.
