Untucked shirt

[Peter Crowe]

I always tuck in a 'dress' shirt (i.e. one that has irregular tails front and back designed to be worn with a tie). When in the kilt I always tuck in the top garment, shirt, polo-shirt etc. except for a knitted jersey or sweater.

However, if I am wearing what I call a cuban style shirt, which has a shorter bottom edge all of the same length, short sleeves, and a collar designed to be worn open I keep it untucked from my chinos, as that is how the shirt is supposed to be worn. I don't wear that style of shirt with my kilt but I would imagine if you did it would need to be untucked.

When I was a wee boy (under seven years old), my kilts had a cotton bodice and were designed to be worn with shirts which had a very short bottom edge (no tail) untucked.

Anyway just my two bobs worth!

[xman]

For me it's a matter of where the waistline sits. Wearing a traditional 2" rise kilt, especially as a smallish guy, can make the line between upper and lower garment look a little high. This is a good reason to wear a belt or waistcoat, but untucking a tshirt or maybe a polo shirt can drop the waistline down for a better overall if more casual profile. Untucking a button down shirt with a collar can present the opposite problem. These days such shirts tend to have short 'tails' intended to help keep them tucked and this shirt will hang too far down and look sloppy in the same way that a sport coat with a kilt looks too long and sloppy. These issues become less relevant with a more 'modern' profile of contemporary kilts. Of course the level of formality in dress must be considered and I would never untuck if I need to be perfectly presentable.

[Java]

When wearing jeans or shorts, my shirts are normally untucked. When wearing slacks or dress pants, they normally are tucked in. I don't have many rules as far as "fashion" is concerned, but the 2 I am most adament about are;
1) All shirts are always tucked in when wearing a kilt. Even my Amerikilts I wear up around my waist, like a traditional kilt. This makes all shirts too long and sloppy looking. (sweaters are not shirts. Olive kilts and black wooly pullies were made for each other )

2) Hawaiian shirts and Guayaberas (the afore mentioned "Cuban shirt") must never be tucked in. They aren't meant to be, and it looks ridculous.

These 2 rules I just can't break, therefore, I just can't wear these shirts with a kilt.

Have Fun,
Java

[Detroitpete]

Ugh...I'm either old or old fashioned--or both. The only thing I don't tuck in is a sweater. I even tuck in my T shirts in my kilt when I throw cabers, stones, weights and hammers. Of course I shine my shoes too.

I've become my father.

[James Hood]

This past summer in metro Chicago, a new Stillwater Thrifty Kilt (read velcro fasteners, synthetic fabric, light weight, made in Pakistan, about $35) was worn quite a lot around the homestead.

Experimentatively, it received untucked polos and tees and even Hawaiian shirts. Yes, sloppy, yes, tres informal, yes, irreverent, quite likely crossing deep into the land of Tacky.

It was fun, comfortable and liberating. Wear it out in the world like that or at all? Likely not.

[Newfoundlander]

It seems I'm on the same page personally as many here... Especially with the sweater, I never tuck those in. It just doesn't feel good to me. However, when I do have an untucked sweater I don't wear a buckle belt either to avoid the bulge in the front.

If I'm working out on a rig around machinery, than no loose clothes is a no brainer (and also the rules). No kilts there, I value my life too much

[flyrod6057]

I usually tuck in whatever I'm wearing. However, as many have stated already: less formal might well go untucked. Sweaters and henleys never get tucked. Everything else usually does, unless I'm wallowing in ale in my back yard (unlikely until next summer!)

[CopperNGold]

Looks like the consensus is for tucked-in shirts. It looks more dignified, put-together. And why would anybody want to cover up the fell with a shirt? Show the fine work that has been put into a quality garment. I like the look of an untucked bulky sweater with a kilt for casual outdoor wear, but there is also the option of a tucked-in shirt with a cardigan.

Cheers, Jocelyn

[Tobus]

Wearing any kind of shirt untucked with a kilt looks wrong to me. It throws the visual proportions all off. I can make an exception for sweaters, but only if they're short at the waist with a well-fitting bottom (not a long saggy bottom that folds over itself and droops).

I always tuck my shirt into my trousers as well, even the square-tailed ones and t-shirts. It just doesn't feel right wearing an untucked shirt.

[Jack Daw]

During the summer, I usually wear cotton cargo shorts with a belt. This article of clothing is not as comfortable when I don't tuck my shirt in, even when I infequently wear a T-shirt. Tuck, tuck, tuck.