# Just noticed major generational fashion divide: Shirt-tail tucking **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 18, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863 "2004-09-18T16:33:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/21 "2004-09-19T22:19:49Z")
Depends on the clothes. I’m 21 and people who walk around with their shirt tucked in look like…well…nerds. Having said that, they are usually wearing shirts that shouldn’t be tucked in. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/22 "2004-09-19T22:25:27Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Mature men dressed casually…exude an aura of competence and control. Until you start wondering where you left your teeth and demanding 2004 health care at 1970s prices. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/23 "2004-09-19T22:27:53Z")
Conversely, I’m 22 and people that tuck their shirts in aren’t any more nerdy to me than people that don’t. Posture, appearance, and type of clothing is more of an indicator to someone’s personality than something so trivial as shirt tucking is, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/24 "2004-09-20T04:41:58Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > 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. At my job this past summer (I’m in college), my workplace was “business casual,” meaning something like “wear pants that aren’t jeans, and at least a polo shirt, and would it kill you to wear shoes other than sandals or sneakers?” But I never really liked the business casual thing, since it’s like a capitalist version of Soviet worker clothing to me – eliminating not only comfort, but also panache. So I rebelled by wearing gaudy striped ties and paisley and floral shirts and striped belts. I think my co-workers thought I was weird. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/25 "2004-09-20T07:52:22Z")
I wear jeans and T-shirts practically all the time. If I absolutely must wear a tucked in, button down shirt, I’ll unbutton and untuck it at the first opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/26 "2004-09-20T12:42:23Z")
> [@Already in Use](#): > > So I rebelled by wearing gaudy striped ties and paisley and floral shirts and striped belts. I think my co-workers thought I was weird. Or blind. I pretty much always tuck. I think I started shortly after college. The only shirts I don’t tuck are my aloha shirts. There’s just something wrong with tucking an aloha. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/27 "2004-09-20T14:24:11Z")
My SO is 28 and tucks his shirt in to go 2 miles away to the Stewarts. He also never wears sandals, or too-casual clothes. His sneakers look like hell, though. He’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/28 "2004-09-20T19:01:48Z")
I’m 27 and I don’t tuck in unless I’m wearing a tie and/or jacket over the shirt. It’s not for any rebellious reason, simply that I apparently have a weird-shaped body and find it impossible to tuck in a shirt without getting a baggy frill-shaped protuberance emerging above the waistband of my trousers. Not a good look, I find. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/29 "2004-09-20T19:44:36Z")
Ardred is 30 (um, 29 until next Monday) and he tucks in his shirt when he’s ‘dressing up’ or working (he’s a door to door salesman). Dressing up for us is nice jeans with a collared shirt or a sweater and a belt. I almost never tuck my shirt in, but that’s not much of an option when wearing women’s shirts, as mentioned, and I think it looks silly in a beer tshirt. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/30 "2004-09-20T19:54:28Z")
> [@Trigonal Planar](#): > > Depends on the clothes. > > I’m 21 and people who walk around with their shirt tucked in look like…well…nerds. Having said that, they are usually wearing shirts that shouldn’t be tucked in. Nothing says uber-nerd to me like tucking in your Hawaiian shirt. You’re trying to look all cool and laid-back, so why are you tucking in your Hawaiian shirt? Bonus nerd points if you’re wearing shorts, and have tucked in your Hawaiian shirt. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/31 "2004-09-20T21:08:30Z")
As a young child I was taught by my father (who is from Eastern Europe) that having one’s shirt untucked is slovenly. So I always tucked my shirt in, no matter what kind of shirt I was wearing. I never paid attention to what others wore, so I never noticed that other guys don’t always tuck their shirts in. It wasn’t until my now-ex-girlfriend pointed this out to me when I stopped automatically tucking in. And that was when I was 38 years old. Ed ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/32 "2004-09-20T21:19:58Z")
48 here, and I untuck since I gained about 15 lbs (on an already chubby frame). However, I do only wear shirts with flat bottoms meant to be untucked. When I have to wear a true button-down shirt (funeral, wedding, interview) that does get a tuck. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/33 "2004-09-20T21:26:32Z")
My SO is 27 and, if left to his own devices, goes untucked. Until I see him and then I make him tuck. The arguement is “Hey - if you’re going to be see with someone looking as fabulous as me, you can’t look like a dirt-bag.” Miraculously, the SO agrees with this. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/34 "2004-09-20T21:40:20Z")
Yup. It was just a matter of time until it became the rebels who are the ones who tuck their shirts in, buy clothes that fit, shave, and eschew tattoos and multiple facial piercings. The only memorable part is how quickly it came to be. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/35 "2004-09-20T21:40:25Z")
I’m 43 and I… … always tuck my shirt in when I’m wearing a tie (shockingly enough, some of the guys here at work don’t follow this rule o’ thumb…) … almost always tuck when I’m wearing a button-down shirt … usually tuck most other types of shirt … refuse to tuck when wearing shorts under any circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![BytopianDream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@BytopianDream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BytopianDream)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/36 "2004-09-20T22:13:02Z")
I’m 29 and I tuck in my shirts nearly all the time. I always wear a belt. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/37 "2004-09-20T22:19:29Z")
If I want to look like a sloppy dirt-bag, I have plenty of old torn long sleave waffle-Ts I can wear. Certain shirts like trendy dress shirts from Express or Banana Republic look better out. Shirts that are usually worn with a tie make you look like you just got mugged if you leave them untucked. Even more so if there is a tag on the tail. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/38 "2004-09-20T22:39:15Z")
Heh. **available light** had to get on my case once for removing my tux vest and bowtie on the way out of a wedding reception. At my own wedding I even rolled my sleeves up, after an hour or two of being a dancin’ fool. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/39 "2004-09-20T23:25:25Z")
Tucking into jeans is touchy. Usually I want to leave it out. With dress pants, untucked looks unfinished and wrong. In between, it depends on the shirt. I’m 46. No I’m not. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863/40 "2004-09-20T23:33:24Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > The general rule for me is if the bottom of the shirt is flat or square then it is acceptable to wear untucked. Otherwise it looks sloppy, IMO. I feel just the opposite. I won’t even buy flat/square bottom shirts, as I don’t like the way they look untucked (unless they’re Hawaiian or some versions of short sleeved). For the record… 39 and never tuck, unless I’m dressed in a suit for a special occasion. Or going through the border. Addtional question for untuckers… buttoned or not? For me 50/50, although in late spring/early fall, I will more often wear an untucked, unbuttoned shirt as a light jacket. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-noticed-major-generational-fashion-divide-shirt-tail-tucking/264863.md?page=3)