Should the Shirt Be Tucked or Untucked

Marc, Macon, GA asks
Question: Recently I’ve been told that it is wrong to tuck button down shirts into jeans. Since I always tuck shirts into jeans, it really bothers me. So, should the shirt be tucked or untucked?

Answer:

As everything else in world of fashion, it always depends. It depends on the type of shirt, on your height, on occasion you wear it, on how you wear it, on how old you are, etc.

If the shirt is European cut, which is slimmer, fitted, our suggestion is to wear it untucked. On the other hand, if the shirt is classic American style button down, our suggestion is to always tuck in, preferably with classic 501 style jeans. Never tuck into low-rise jeans. It would look really bad. Also, make sure that shirt is not too long when sporting untucked look.

If you are thin, tucking in is a must. Tucking out will make you look only thiner. On the other hand, if you are very short, tucking out won’t help much, either.

In general, more formal occasion – tucked, more casual – untucked. Older you are – tucked, younger – untucked. Classic jeans – tucked, low-rise jeans – untucked. On the other hand, since anything hardly can be generalised, wearing tucked or untucked shirt is more a matter of achieving a certain “look”. Either of this isn’t wrong considering what kind of jeans are you pairing you shirt with, when you are wearing it, how you are wearing and what look you want to emulate.