# Pants or Shirt First? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 8, 2000, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567 "2000-02-08T14:28:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carl\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@Carl\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Berry)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/1 "2000-02-08T14:28:00Z")
I’v noticed that most men put on their pants first then their shirt & laboriously tuck it into their pants.(I first noticed this while in the Army & see it in movies & on TV) The better way, I think, is to don ones shirt first. The shirt is then automatically tucked in & is less likely to be wrinkled. Do I have too much time on my hands, or what? * * * Zymurgist ---
**Author:** ![Stevie\_Rave\_On](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Stevie\_Rave\_On](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stevie_Rave_On)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/2 "2000-02-08T15:09:00Z")
Yes, you do have too much time on your hands. Although, I do it just like you said. Pants first, then shirt. I work out before work, and I shower and get dressed in front of a bunch of people. I just put my pants on, unbuttoned/unzipped and then put on my shirt and tuck it in. I think you look a lot more normal with your pants on, and no shirt, than with a shirt on and no pants. Plus after your pants are on, you can apply deoderant and…Damn, I have too much time on my hands. The important question, as Archie Bunker once pondered, sock sock, shoe shoe… or sock shoe, sock shoe? * * * Trying is the first step to failure ---
**Author:** ![ReservoirDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@ReservoirDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReservoirDog)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/3 "2000-02-08T15:12:00Z")
Pants. Generally, regardless of your living situation, a guy can walk around with no shirt on in the house. No pants can cause problems. My personal situation is that I stumble out of bed first thing in the morning and hit the showers. I have just enough mental clarity to grab a pair of pants before entering the bathroom. After clearing my head in the shower, I come back and pick a shirt. ---
**Author:** ![melanietarrant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@melanietarrant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melanietarrant)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/4 "2000-02-08T15:16:00Z")
i’m shirt, pants, sock sock, shoe shoe ## but, now that i think of it, i’m undies, first, bra second I’m pink therefore I’m Spam ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/5 "2000-02-08T15:19:00Z")
Heh… you’re an amateur, Carl. Here’s the deal, for a non-wrinkled shirt. I am assuming formal office attire. 1. Put on boxers and T-shirt. 2. Put on socks. 3. Put on pants and close them, button only. 4. Put on shoes and tie them. 5. Unbutton pants and put on shirt. 6. Close pants entirely, i.e. zipper, button, belt, whatever. 7. Put on tie. 8. Put on jacket. 9. Put on overcoat. 10. Head out the door. The key step is tieing the shoes BEFORE putting on the shirt. Tieing shoes whilst wearing a shirt will almost certainly result in serious wrinklage. Is that a word? If not, it is now 😉 * * * **Coldfire** * * * _ **"You know how complex women are"** _ - Neil Peart, **Rush** (1993) ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/6 "2000-02-08T15:19:00Z")
I put my pants on first, then my socks and shoes, then my shirt last. Reason? Because when I bend over to tie my shoes, it’ll wrinkle the front of my shirt. Since I iron all my clothes the morning that I wear them, I don’t like to get wrinkly right away. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/7 "2000-02-08T15:34:00Z")
Boxer shorts, socks, shirt. Stop to admire the ridiculous figure I cut in the full-length mirror. Pants, shoes, tie, vest. A few minutes of pottering about the house. Jacket, scarf, overcoat, and out the door. ---
**Author:** ![Pixoid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pixoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixoid)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/8 "2000-02-08T16:21:00Z")
Underclothing, pants, dry hair, THEN shirt. Suite bathrooms mean we do as little as possible in the bathroom, as others are in line. I hate getting my shirt wet while I dry my hair. So I towel dry, then pull on shirt, then comb and part. I don’t wear shirts that I need to tuck in, anyway. * * * Have you ever _tried_ to tie a cherry stem in a knot with your tongue? ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/9 "2000-02-08T16:22:00Z")
For work (on other than casual Friday): Boxer shorts. T-Shirt. Shirt. Pants. Tie. Socks (both). Shoes (both). Jacket (just before I’m leaving). Overcoat (just after the jacket). On other days, omit inapplicable items, but usually the same order. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/10 "2000-02-08T16:24:00Z")
Hm. A lot of male t-shirt wearers. I, personally, stopped wearin’ 'em after I saw Clark Gable in IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/11 "2000-02-08T16:30:00Z")
Apparently I’m almost alone in donning T-shirt, shirt, and socks before pants. Hmmm. I’m sure that putting on the socks before the pants is a vestige of my teen years when I typically wore knee-high athletic socks under jeans, it being nearly impossible to hoist the socks to their full extent if one is already wearing jeans. Not an issue these days, wearing jeans or khakis and casual crew-length socks, but I still do it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/12 "2000-02-08T17:25:00Z")
I go panties,socks,pants,shirt. I hate pulling my socks up under my pants, comes from wearing tight jeans back in the day when I was a dieheard headbanger. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/13 "2000-02-08T17:36:00Z")
A person’s gotta be careful about walking around with a shirt on, but no pants on. I did that once and got mistaken for Ted Kennedy. ba dump, crash! Enright3 ---
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/14 "2000-02-08T17:43:00Z")
I’m shirt, trousers, (sock, sock, shoe, shoe) for the reason given in the OP. As far as I can see, the only unvarying rule is “trousers before shoes”. ---
**Author:** ![meara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@meara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meara)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/15 "2000-02-08T17:45:00Z")
The problem is, when you pull up your pants over your shirt, the shirt will get bunched up and you’ll end up having to tuck it in anyway. What a waste! ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/16 "2000-02-08T21:56:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by TomH: > **As far as I can see, the only unvarying rule is “trousers before shoes”.** Not so. I guy that I know puts his shoes on before his pants (dress pants). He claims that bending to tie his shoes wrinkles the pants, and this helps that. I think it’s silly, but it’s what he does. As far as I can tell, however, it is an unvarying rule that one puts on one’s sock before the corresponding shoe. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/17 "2000-02-08T22:00:00Z")
Hey buddy, as long as you put those pants on one leg at a time, you are ok with me and the rest of the world. Am I the only one who noticed Poysyn doesn’t where a bra ? (hhheheheh, I said “bra”) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/18 "2000-02-08T22:02:00Z")
How about sweaters? When I wear a button-down blouse, I put it on first so I can tuck it into my skirt more easily. But when I wear a sweater, I put the skirt on first and the sweater goes on the outside. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/19 "2000-02-08T22:05:00Z")
Gabriel - Y’know I just peeked into this thread again and realized yes I did forget to list bra, sorry to wreck the fun big guy but I wear one 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567/20 "2000-02-08T22:07:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by meara: > **The problem is, when you pull up your pants over your shirt, the shirt will get bunched up and you’ll end up having to tuck it in anyway. What a waste!** Not really…I usually just leave my fly down, reach inside, and pull it down that way…takes a few seconds… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-or-shirt-first/13567.md?page=2)