It’s every man’s nightmare.
You’re dressed to impress and sitting at the job interview that could change your life.
You’re answering each question confidently, and your would-be boss is nodding along.
You shake hands and part ways, left with a promise of a call within a few days.
But when you step out the door and look down you see a crumpled, un-tucked shirt staring back at you.
All that hard work potentially ruined because of one sloppy mistake.
And I know we’ve upped the drama there. And it’s a small mishap that really shouldn’t cost you the job.
But the truth is, it could. Because it conveys a message about your personal presentation.
And either way, one thing is for sure. It gives a bad first impression.
Dressing properly is all about eliminating tiny imperfections. One of the most common style mistakes we see by men is getting fit wrong. And coupled with poor tuck execution, this leads to guys having trouble keeping their shirt tucked neatly below the equator.
Keep reading to learn how to eliminate the problem and get the right tuck that sticks all day long.
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Buy Shirts that Fit
It sounds obvious, but it’s included in this article as one of the most important steps because dress shirts are fitted a little bit differently than most other casual wear.
T-shirts, polos, and casual button-ups tend to break near the waist of your pants. Dress shirts don’t follow these same rules.
Let’s do a little experiment.
If you’re at home, go ahead and grab your favorite dress shirt out of your closet.
Don’t worry, we’ll wait.
Got it? Okay, now notice how the front and back of the shirt are longer than the sides?
This extra material is supposed to be tucked. That means when you’re trying on shirts at the store to gauge a good fit, these two sections should fall around your crotch and butt.
That’s normal and means that once you tuck them into your waist you’ll have a ton of leeway to bend and stretch without pulling at the hidden material.
The second part of gauging fit is to feel how the sleeves wrap around your arms. They should feel relaxed and give you a solid range of motion if you were to move your shoulder in a circle.
If it’s too tight it’s because too much material is piled under the waistband, creating tension on your upper body.
Learn How Pants Should Fit
This tip works together with our first.
Naturally, if your pants are hanging too low then that means there’s limited space for the shirt to rest.
This typically happens to guys who have ill-fitting trousers and try to compensate for a short length on the leg by wearing them lower than usual.
That’s a no-no.
A good rule of thumb is to follow your tie, where the tip should meet your belt. From that starting point, the break of the pants should sit just above your shoes.
It’s better to buy longer pants and get them tailored than to buy a slightly short pair and try to improvise.
Really, when it comes to fit at least, these two rules should clear up about 99% of your problems. If they don’t though, there’s one more thing you can try before turning to the retail market.
Learn How To Tuck A Shirt
It shouldn’t be complicated, right?
You grab excess material and just start pushing and shoving until it’s no longer visible.
This doesn’t always work. This standard tucking method works for most shirts, but when you’re in a rush in the morning you can wind up bunching too much material together.
It ends up being uneven and naturally begins to resettle throughout the day.
For example, too much tied up around the back will make its way up and around your waist as you move, resulting with a visible creased and crinkled shirt.
Learn How To Military Tuck
A good way to solve this problem is to try something like the military tuck, where the sides are folded into themselves before being tucked into the pants (see the video above).
This distributes the material evenly along the waist and helps eliminate the problem, all while keeping clean lines.
Really, you can get creative here. Just find a way to keep the material evenly spaced and staying put.
You can even tuck it into your underwear if you have to. Your good underwear. Not the ones from 1997 with the weak waistband that are literally begging to be binned. For quality underwear, we recommend Tani USA and Separatec. Click on each for our reviews.
These three steps will solve a lot of your problems moving forward. Still, we know it can be expensive to buy a whole new wardrobe if your current clothes don’t fit well.
Enter, the shirt stay market.
The 4 Best Shirt Stays
I always pay close attention to fit whenever I’m buying new clothing. But I still keep a shirt stay in my wardrobe.
Why?
Simple. For insurance.
For major life events like a make-or-break meeting, job interview (in my past life!), or a wedding, I’d rather focus entirely on the event at hand and not dedicate any brain power toward the presentation of my shirt tuck.
It gives me additional peace of mind, and provided you get the right stay, effectively guarantees tuck perfection.
These four shirt stays are worth checking out:
World’s Best Shirt Stays by Shirt Stay Plus
Last update on 2022-01-06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
You probably won’t want to be wearing these on a date, but for day-to-day wear around the office, Shirt Stay Plus’ suspender style clips will keep even the most ill-fitting shirt in place.
This popular model clips to your sock or wraps around your feet, and then attaches to the underside of your shirt.
The elastic band is thick, and the clips are very secure, so while they’re not as attractive as the FancyBoys below, they certainly work.
This American made and Amazon Choice product clearly earns it’s #1 place here with 1,000+ five star reviews.
Last update on 2022-01-06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Are you the kind of guy who prefers fancy socks to plain?
Then these are probably the shirt stays for you.
FancyBoy are a Kickstarter launched shirt stay brand that produce adjustable Y-Style shirt garters in a variety of unique colors and designs.
They’re comfortable, functional, reasonably priced, and their clips are nickle plated which means they’re corrosion and rust resistance (not rust proof).
While some customers reported longevity issues with the buckles, many equally reported excellent customer service from FancyBoy noting that they had their garters replaced after facing such issues.
The S-Holder By NV Holders
Last update on 2022-01-06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
There’s something about shirt stay brands and Kickstarter with NV Holders also launching via the popular funding platform over two rounds.
Handmade in Europe and crafted from high quality, skin-friendly, and natural materials, the S-Holder is a premium entrant in the shirt stay market.
The clipping and adjustments are intuitive and the holders feel great and work as designed. As a side benefit, some reviewers claimed the holders worked to make your thigh muscles tighten and appear more bulked up. This means you can effectively get that post-squat pump all day long.
Because there are additional straps on the S-Holder compared to other shirt stays, it may take a few wears to get used to the feeling. But eventually, due to the softness of the fabric used, you’ll forget you’re wearing them.
Magnetic Shirt Stays By Magnetuck
Last update on 2022-01-06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
For something a little more discrete, magnets such as these from Magnetuck are a solid option.
Instead of hassling with straps and clips, these work by giving you two little magnets that rest inside your pants, holding the shirt in place.
For most cases, they work pretty well. And if not, they offer a no risk 60 day money back guarantee.
Regular dress shirts are not a problem, but when you start getting into heavier duty uniforms they might not be strong enough to make it through the day.
The Final Tuck
Keeping your shirt tucked in can be a frustrating ordeal if you don’t know what the problem is.
Thankfully, it usually boils down to fit. Buying the right clothing for your body type in the first place will usually eliminate the problem.
Wearing your pants higher and tucking your shirt correctly will help for your existing ill-fitting wardrobe. But for for major life events, and for clothing that doesn’t quite fit, you can’t beat the assurance that a shirt stay provides.
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