Shirt tucked in or out?

[6cuda6]

Does it matter if one has their shirt tucked in or not? Im thinking Utility kilt here not traditional.....opinions?

[Father Bill]

Well, I'll be pounced on for this I'm sure, but the fact is that there are some individuals, including some XMarks members who would question the validity of the X-Kilt in the first place, so how you wear it can certainly not be linked to any long-standing tradition. For that reason, to ask how it is "normally" worn may be a contradiction in terms.

I'm not much of an historian on the topic, but I think it was developed on the U.S. west coast, and fairly recently, so whether it's in any way Scottish is a matter of real and proabably reasonable skepticism in many quarters. Its inventor used to be an active member here on the forum but we haven't seen him in the last year or so, so I don't imagine Allan is here to answer your questions about his intent in person.

I'm sure that others will offer their thoughts, but frankly, all opinions on such a recent garment are probably equally valid.

[Manu]

I agree with the padre, the utilikilt has no Scottish background whatsoever, so rules of traditional kilted attire likely not apply to it. The way I look at It, Utilikilts in particular can be worn either way. Shirt tucked in as if wearing Dockers, or t shirt tucked out as if you're wearing a pair of shorts.

[MNlad]

To me the utilikilt is the equivalent of a pair of cargo shorts in the pa**ed world. As such, anything that goes well with one will do so with the other. There just aren't any conventions since, by nature, it is a casual garment—although I draw the line at wearing a tie with one. Tucked or untucked depends more on length and type of shirt and your own sense of style.

[6cuda6]

Interesting takes on the subject.....

[Tobus]

I have a Utilikilt, and I always tuck my shirt in when wearing it. Not out of any sense of tradition or decorum, but just because the entire visual aesthetic is thrown off with a shirt hanging down. Proportions matter to me when it comes to kilts of any type, and loose shirt tails mess with my sense of proportion.

Plus, to be honest, I want that layer of fabric between my skin and the canvas.

[FossilHunter]

I have a Utilikilt, and I always tuck my shirt in when wearing it. Not out of any sense of tradition or decorum, but just because the entire visual aesthetic is thrown off with a shirt hanging down. Proportions matter to me when it comes to kilts of any type, and loose shirt tails mess with my sense of proportion.

Plus, to be honest, I want that layer of fabric between my skin and the canvas.

I agree. I do not wear a utilikilt but I think that aesthetically they look better tucked regardless of shirt style. I think it has something to due with them being open at the bottom.

Untucked you kind of have this:

O
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And tucked just looks sleeker to my eye:

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[tripleblessed]

Warning: personal opinion follows close on. Mine, by the way. Never untucked. Never. Ever. If I run out the door in the middle of the night
to break up a dog fight, my shirt is tucked by the time I get there. Go out to get the paper off the lawn, tucked. Check the mailbox, tucked.
Which is why I would never buy a guayabera. But that's just me. Or maybe it's just my long gone parents still offering good advice in my head.

[Tobus]

Yes, FossilHunter, it may have to do with the inverted triangle shapes like you described since the kilt is open at the bottom. But it also has to do with proportions of the visual lengths of each segment and where the separation between the two is placed. With a tucked shirt, it seems to let the chest be emphasized, tapering in to the waist where the kilt starts (for those with an ideal body shape), then flaring back out a little as it goes down. The separator is well-placed. But with an untucked loose shirt, it just becomes like a hanging sack overlapping another hanging sack. There's no clean separator between them, and the shirt takes up more than its fair share of the space.

Strangely enough, the last few years I have gravitated towards wearing untucked shirts in the summer when I'm wearing shorts. I consider it a function of decreasing tolerance for the Texas heat, and I'm starting to heed the advice of experts who recommend loose-fitting light clothing to avoid heat stroke. A loose linen button-up shirt, untucked, is a great relief in the heat. But I don't have any problem with the visual aesthetic when paired with shorts. If I did it over a kilt, though, it would just look all kinds of wrong to my eye. I can't really explain why.

[6cuda6]

Although im a total newby at this i'm getting the visual....something tells me i need to trim my waistline to make this all look "proper".....lol.