Tucked, Half-tucked or Untucked?

That’s the question I find myself asking most every time I put on a casual shirt.

When the shirt isn’t part of a suited look, I really love how the untucked look conveys effortlessness and casualness. But despite my wish to dress effortlessly chic with an untucked shirt, sometimes I’d find myself looking like a) a girl trying to pull off the oversized-boyfriend-shirt look (petite/short men are very prone to this aha), or b) a young man who seems to have an abnormally long torso, or c) a school boy who desperately needs a belt.

I wanted to wear my shirt untucked, but I want to look smart and chic at the same time.

I thought I found the solution when I saw Mr Beckham’s half-tucked. But there’s a fine line between “yay” or “nay” when your surname isn’t Beckham – it just doesn’t work for me (I tried). Be it side-untucked or back-untucked, I guess I’ll just leave it to the ladies.

That brought me back to the opening question today. Would you rather tuck-in, half-tuck or completely untuck your casual shirt?

After going through a considerably long time of trial-and-error, I’ve come to a conclusion:

1. When the length of the shirt isn’t perfect, do not go untucked.
2. I think I look funny, messy and undecided in half-tucked, so I’ll never go there again.

And then the next question – how to look smart when it’s untucked?

It turns out there’s a fairly simple guideline: it’s all about the perfect length and the perfect width/fit.

A perfect length means the shirt tail should fall within the area framed by the 2 white dashed lines in the image below:

As general rule of thumb:

1. The shirt is too long to be worn untucked when the shirt fully covers your bottom,
2. The shirt is too short to be worn untucked when the shirt tail is above the mid of your bottom.

In terms of width and fit, a slim fit shirt looks better than a normal fit when untucked, as normal fit shirt tends to look like a poncho when the wind blows (ok kidding, but really).

Comparison: Which one looks better?

Poncho

Having said all that, it still boils down to your personal taste and preference when wearing a casual shirt. So do you love to wear your shirt tucked/untucked/half-tucked?