This just in: Nobody under – let’s say – 35 ever tucks his shirt in unless he’s wearing a suit, or adhering to some sort of dress code. This is mainly in reference to guys, since women’s tops are frequently too short to make tucking an option. But guys are wearing their shirt tails out even when the shirt is designed to be tucked in, that is, it’s not a flat bottom. It reminds me of how we felt about the subject up until oh, about 8th grade, when we felt that tucking your shirt in was like dressing for Sunday school.
What’s brought this home to me is that I get mistaken for a store employee. Even though I’m wearing jeans and a tucked in Gap t-shirt, rather than bland beige khakis and a polo shirt with a nametag, people come up to me and ask me wear things in the store are. It’s mind boggling. Even though the clothes I’m wearing are totally against the dress policy for employees of just about any store, they think I work there. It must be because I’ve got the shirt tucked in.
Is it really just now becoming the in thing not to tuck in your shirt, or has it always been that way and I just haven’t noticed?
I’m almost 46, and the way I was brought up was to tuck in my shirt. And to wear a belt. I’ve been doing it for so long that not to do either just feels wrong. If you get it drilled into you for long enough about how you “can’t go around looking like a slob” - you eventually believe it. I don’t think anyone’s mom is quite that neurotic about it anymore, as they’ve grown up in a time when nobody was particularly concerned about whether your shirt tails were sticking out.
“And get that puss off your face! It’s just not right!”
It’s not about how you dress. Mature men dressed casually are often mistaken for store employees, as we exude an aura of competence and control. And Old Spice.
It depends. There are several looks that are popular. There are certain combinations of shirts and pants that should be either tucked in or hanging out in certain circumstances and to mix it up will make you either look like a dork or a slob.
I’m almost 46 (okay, only 42, but I wanted to continue the trend), and I like to wear my shirts untucked, but do tuck when it’s required. It’s mainly a comfort thing for me. It’s too hot down here to wear tucked in shirts anyway.
I don’t think it’s so much that you look like an employee. I think they can’t accept the fact that someone your age shops in the same store as they do. I’m older than you, and I get this all the time – except at A&F, where they assume I’m shopping for someone else.
Also: people of a certain age tend to acquire pot bellies, and they think (erroneously) that an untucked shirt hides that fact.
Maybe it’s just me, but I cannot stand to tuck in my shirt. For some reason, it just makes me uncomfortable. Not that the shirt itself tucked in is unpleasant, but I feel like some kind of mindless drone. I’m not the kind of person to “go with the flow”. I never tuck in my shirt, even at work. Tucked in shirt environments give off a stressful vibe to me. I like things to be casual and easygoing. I think untucked shirts give off a comfortable vibe. And being comfortable, I believe, gives you the best performance every time. It has nothing to do with being a slob.
Tucking shirts or not depends on a variety of factors, including where you are going, what kind of shirt we are talking about, the other clothes involved, your body shape and height among others.
Some shirts look ridiculous and sloppy when not tucked in, while others are explicitly made to be worn outside your trousers.
As a rule of thumb, tucking your shirt in gives the impression of a higher waistline and therefore longer legs, and helps to create the illusion of increased height and a more “streamlined” body. However some good untucked shirts can do wonders for masculine shoulders and the “V-shape” effect.
It all depends. If someone automatically wears all shirts either tucked or not, they are probably trying to make a statement or just don’t know very much about dressing.
If you guys aren’t tucking in your shirts these days does that mean the old 2nd grade joke “your shirt’s on fire [untuck victim’s shirt] now it’s out [roar with laughter]” has gone away? That was the height of humor when I was seven. :rolleyes:
I don’t think that’s it. The last time it happened was at a Borders Books. Before that, it happened at a Blockbuster Video store.
I’d say it helps hide a pot belly to wear your shirt tail out, and fat guys have long tended to do so. Lately though, I do notice more skinny guys doing it too.
Because I don’t have a pot belly…that’s one reason I like to tuck, and another reason is that if I need to put on a sweater, I won’t look like a slob with the shirttail showing below the sweater.
I’m not a proponent of “comfort = better performance”. I believe that people perform better when they dress the part. I’m 45 and have seen a lot of fashion come and go, but an untucked shirt (that are intended to be tucked) is simply a fad. Untucked doesn’t necessarily mean sloppy, but it sure doesn’t say, “professional”.
