# Tucking shirts Questions



## drew1 (Jan 17, 2011)

I'm in my mid 20s and almost never tuck a shirt in. I know you are supposed to tuck a dress shirt otherwise it would look sloppy. But if you are wearing dress pants or chinos, you should ALWAYS tuck in your dress shirt correct? 

My other question is... is it wrong to tuck in dress shirts into jeans? I think it looks very funny and i googled it and many people say it looks bad. I enjoy wearing button down casual shirts with jeans and never tuck it in the spring and summer. Those shirts are like Lacoste/Armani Exchange though so those aren't suppose to be tucked ever right?

And during the fall, i like wearing my blazer with jeans with a dress shirt untucked. It's those blazers where you can wear with anything unlike a suit jacket where you need to match the pants otherwise they look tacky as people call it. But if you are wearing a blazer with jeans, untuck is the best thing right? 

Would i be correct to say that you should only tuck a dress shirt in if you are wearing dress pants? I think anyone that wears t shirts or polos and tucks it into jeans look horrible.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

drew1 said:


> you should ALWAYS tuck in your dress shirt correct?


Yes, regardless of style of trousers.



drew1 said:


> is it wrong to tuck in dress shirts into jeans?


No, of course it isn't wrong. Wherever did you get such a ludicrous notion from?



drew1 said:


> Those shirts are like Lacoste/Armani Exchange though so those aren't suppose to be tucked ever right?


Wrong!



drew1 said:


> But if you are wearing a blazer with jeans, untuck is the best thing right?


Wrong again. That said I never wear a blazer with jeans. I think it looks bloody awful.



drew1 said:


> Would i be correct to say that you should only tuck a dress shirt in if you are wearing dress pants?


No.



drew1 said:


> I think anyone that wears t shirts or polos and tucks it into jeans look horrible.


I think that way of dressing looks horrible yes, but not the person as you wrote.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^
+1 regarding the Earl's response!


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## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

Having just recently turned 30, the tucking in of the shirt was one of my biggest hurdles to overcome in my journey towards an adult wardrobe. When I was a kid, I resisted tucking in anything and everything, and thought my father was intentionally trying to embarrass me by forcing me to wear my shirts that way.

Now, I tuck in all of my button front shirts that have shirt tails, regardless of the pants I'm wearing, and have grown to appreciate the clean, neat look it presents. The only exception is when I wear an old OCBD to the beach with my trunks. The only shirts I always wear untucked are those that have a straight hem and are designed to be worn that way. These are usually summer shirts worn with shorts or wool work shirts worn outdoors in the winter.

As for the blazer and jeans look, if you must wear it, tuck the shirt in. Otherwise, it makes the blazer look that much more out of place.


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## DoghouseReilly (Jul 25, 2010)

I'm in my late twenties and never used to, but now always wear my button-downs tucked into my jeans. Granted, I only wear them with jeans if I am going to wear a sweater and can't say that I like the look on myself otherwise. Maybe my shirts are just ill-fitting? Another thread.

If you want to wear something untucked, consider a rugby or polo shirt. I am sure some members tuck those in their jeans, but I think that might be a bridge too far.


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## David V (Sep 19, 2005)

The only shirt that need not be tucked in is the short sleeved camp shirt with a straight bottomed hem


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## dwebber18 (Jun 5, 2008)

I'm pretty much right there with the Earl, if its a button down it needs to be tucked in no matter what the designer thinks. Tuck it in with dress pants, khakis, and jeans. If you are wearing a coat then tuck in your shirt, no need to mesh dressy with sloppy and try to look put together. As to polo shirts, I'll tuck it in with khakis and with jeans sometimes while at work. If I wear a polo outside of work with jeans I typically don't tuck it in, but always with khakis. As for a t-shirt, I don't ever tuck those in because I only wear them for exercising, playing baseball or working in the yard or something where it doesn't matter. As a point of reference I'm 5 days from 26 and have been tucking in dress shirts since high school. We had uniforms and you were required to tuck it in and it sort of stuck that if you left it untucked you look sloppy. Occasionally I'll leave a shirt out with khakis or jeans and look in the mirror to see what I think and it just doesn't look right so I'll tuck it. I will however wear a navy blazer with nicer jeans and a tucked in shirt, maybe its more of an American thing.


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## harvey_birdman (Mar 10, 2008)

I tuck everything, with the exception of t-shirts into gym clothes. 

I don't wear t-shirts outside the gym.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

DoghouseReilly said:


> Granted, I only wear them with jeans if I am going to wear a sweater


You raise an extremely good point here, and I am the same. I NEVER EVER wear a long sleeved button up shirt with jeans without a jumper on top.


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## Twinspeare (May 3, 2007)

Frankly, I do not understand why this question comes up every now and then, because to me, if a man (even a boy for that matter), regardless of his age, does not tuck in his shirt, he simply looks . . . well, like someone who forgot to tuck in his shirt, and only extreme distraction or some unforeseen disaster could excuse that. He could just as well walk round in his pyjamas, as far as I am concerned. However, I realise that, being in my late thirties, my standards are no longer those generally adhered to among the people around me, especially since I have always simply stuck to the standards I was taught as a boy. I now teach my boys the same standards, of which tucking in one's shirt probably is the least important to me, but I do teach them that as well. Somehow the stupid thing is that when a young man walks into the office with an earring or his shirt untucked, I sense that he automatically gets a bewildered look from me without me even wanting to give him a bewildered look. I simply can't help it, but the young man, poor chap, will think something is dreadfully wrong with him when really it's only his earring or his shirt!


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## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> You raise an extremely good point here, and I am the same. I NEVER EVER wear a long sleeved button up shirt with jeans without a jumper on top.


 This is interesting. I find that I also prefer to wear a sweater over an OCBD with jeans, but only when I'm in a casual social situation. Something about the way that area of the five pocket design looks makes me want to hide it. However, when I'm wearing "work" clothes (jeans and tartan flannel, chamois or chambray shirt) for surveying or being on site, etc. I don't care for wearing a sweater and I like the tucked in look just fine. Makes it easier to access the pockets, I suppose.


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## Leighton (Nov 16, 2009)

I agree with Earl.

But now I'm curious. What exactly does it look like to wear a button down shirt with jeans? I do it all the time, tuck them in, and think I look fine. My jeans are still deep blue indigo and not faded like the "in" stuff.


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

David V said:


> The only shirt that need not be tucked in is the short sleeved camp shirt with a straight bottomed hem


+1.

Otherwise, tuck in that darn shirt!


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## AMulls (Jan 6, 2010)

Agreed, I always tuck in all my collared shirts (button-down or polo), regardless of the pants I'm wearing. The only time I don't always tuck is in the summer if I'm wearing shorts. That's the only time I wouldn't tuck in a button-down. But, then I have the sleeves rolled up as well, so it's much more of a casual look.

Granted, when I was younger and in college, I'd do what was then referred to as the "frat tuck," meaning that I'd tuck in the front and let the back hang. Thought it was cool then, but looking back, probably wasn't all that great. And even that was primarily just with polo shirts. Button-downs would get just the sides tucked in.

Wow, I've come a long way...


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

AMulls said:


> Wow, I've come a long way...


I suppose I never really gave much thought to tucking, or not tucking, a shirt. Now that I think back over the years I can see a definite pattern.

As a child in the 50's my shirt was always tucked, the same as all of the other kids. By the early 60's we were often leaving our shirts untucked, but not at school since the school dress code required tucked in shirts, a belt, and socks.

The untucked shirts may have been more a product of our reaching adolescence rather than the fact that it was the 60's. I say this because there was a world of difference between the early 60's and the late 60's. The early 60's bore more of a kinship to the 50's while the late 60's were more like the 70's.

I can remember wearing untucked shirts off an on, extremely casual wear only, until I was in my mid-30's; however, somewhere about that time I again started wearing my shirts tucked in at all times.

Now that I'm in my 60's and semi-retired I once again find myself wearing untucked shirts with both khakis and jeans on lazy summer days when I'm just puttering around doing nothing in particular.

Wow, I've come a long way... :icon_smile_big:

Cruiser


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## CuffDaddy (Feb 26, 2009)

I disagree with those who say that shirts must *always *be tucked in. I think they only have to be tucked in during those times when you give a [email protected] about how you look. That's not as facetious as it sounds. If you want to throw a flannel shirt on over your t-shirt as you take the garbage out to the street, then you don't have to tuck it in.

And there are a very small number of exceptions that are actually based on the logic of my guideline: if you have to project the image of not giving a [email protected], an untucked shirt can be just the thing. If one were walking down the beach with a shirt tucked into your swimsuit, you would look a fool; in that case, an untucked shirt is practically required. But that's a tiny minority of the time for those of us who are not beach bums.


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## jean-paul sartorial (Jul 28, 2010)

Rules for regular people:

Are you wearing dress pants, always tuck.

If you are wearing jeans or chinos then:

-If you are wearing something over the shirt like a sweater or blazer, then tuck.

-If you are not wearing something over the shirt then you may go untucked
if the shirt is not too long or baggy, and the bottom is square or relatively square. This means that the vast majority, if not all, dress shirts should still be tucked.

-If you tuck, wear a belt.


Rules for the more "proper attire" minded who think that most people dress like slobs:

Wear nicer dress shirts of the kind that are definitely meant to be tucked in. Wear dress pants, or at least fine (as opposed to casual) chinos, and don't wear jeans. In this case, the answer for you is pretty simple: tuck.


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## triklops55 (May 14, 2010)

Remember the fad a few years ago where men wore jeans and flip flops with untucked button ups? Man, they looked awful.
Please tuck in your button ups. Thank you.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

As has been said, it depends. During the summer, with shorts, I often roll the sleeves on my shirt and leave it untucked. Chinos I always tuck my shirts into. With jeans, I wear slim fitting western shirts untucked and OCBDs tucked in with a navy blazer.

Overall, just use common sense.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

David V said:


> The only shirt that need not be tucked in is the short sleeved camp shirt with a straight bottomed hem


I'd add a Hawaiian and sometimes a polo shirt.


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