Ask Angie: How to wear button-down shirts

Hi, Angie,
I'm a first-time commenter on the forum, so perhaps you have already covered this, and I haven't seen it!
I was wondering about wearing button-down shirts casually (e.g., with jeans): what are the tradeoffs of tucking vs. untucking? I am a 5'3" hourglass-to-pear shape, and I've gleaned from much Internet research that my focus should be on emphasizing the slimness of my waist and secondarily, reducing the bulk of my lower-body.

My assumption is that tucking a button-down will lengthen my leg line while leaving it untucked will de-emphasize my hips (provided it is the 'right' length). However, when I do a search on Pinterest for 'collared shirt styling,' almost ALL the outfits are tucked, usually with a belt. Is there something unflattering that I'm missing about leaving it completely untucked? Why the preference for tucking?

Additionally, how does tucking/untucking work with accentuating the waist? I feel like it doesn't, unless the shirt is fairly tailored, so is this a case of stylish vs. flattering trade-offs?
Thanks so much to Angie and anyone else who can shed some light on this?

9 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Welcome, mls. Lovely to see you post a thread.

Tucking or partially tucking a button down shirt into a pair of jeans gives it the waist defining structure you are looking for. It also lengthens the leg line from the hips up by exposing the rise of the jeans. So actually, you're creating conventionally flattering proportions by tucking and adding a belt. Hope that makes sense.

If you're short waisted, you merely need to tuck into jeans with a lower rise, which also lengthens the length of the torso.

I hope our forum member Janet chimes in because she is very curvy and short in the waist, and tucks a shirt into a pair of jeans with great success. In fact, I think it's one of her best looks. Perhaps she'll haul out a few of her WIWs for you.

Suz

Veteran

Welcome, mls. I can't add to Angie's brilliant explanation but wanted to say hi!

harmonica

Welcome, mls. Great to have you here and looking forward to following your style. Here is some button-down inspiration :-):
http://www.popsugar.com/fashio.....n-20414010

deb

Welcome!

Janet

Howdy, and welcome, mls! How nice of Angie to mention me. It sounds like we have some similar body characteristics so I hope I can help. I am also quite hourglassy with pear-ish tendencies, a short torso, and long legs. My narrowest point is right beneath my bust, and silhouettes that give a hint of that shape, while streamlining my lower half, tend to be the most flattering on me.

I needed to dig back in my WIW's to find some examples, but here's one that came to mind right off. It's a quite tailored shirt, but it is silk and fluid, so I was able to do a partial tuck with it. I find that the partial tuck does two things for me: 1) helps mitigate my short torso, and 2) curves and softens the horizontal line across my hip or low torso, which has the effect of visually slimming my hips a bit.

http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....ok-current

It's hard to tell I've partially tucked here, but this is another one, with a roomier blouse:
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....et-an-icon

Another partial tuck with chambray and skinnies:
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....oundstooth

And a partial tuck even with a sweater:
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....w-navy-out

These outfits with more structured button-downs, and I've tucked all the way around, but loosely, with lower-rise jeans or pants:
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....-purchases

http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....mboy-plaid

And in these two posts (the second outfit in each one), you can see sometimes I abandon tucking altogether, but I do like this best on me when the hem is curved. I think it's usually pretty flattering on my body because it lengthens my torso and creates a (relatively) long lean line:

http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....iday-party

http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....sun-brunch

I hope this helps a little bit and maybe gives you some ideas. As you can see, I do this with a variety of fitted and roomier tops, both button-down and not. I think that the more fluid the fabric, the more successfully the shirt tucks and the less fussy it is.

Laura

Active Member

All well said. May I say I love wearing mine under clothes as coats, jackets, cardis and jumpers.
As posted earlier, a pop of the collar I think breaks the humdrum of a shirt. Also, sleeves rolled up or the cuff simply turned over a seater or cardi's sleeves shows off a nice pattern like Liberty floral or gingham. Weekend wear and way casual is a shirt knotted at the waist.
A white shirt with faded or ripped jeans is cute too.

Mimi

Member

Thanks for the warm welcome and tips, everyone!

retailgirl

I wear my shirts as Laura does. I wear one almost every day. I'm not sure about the knotting at the waist, but I might experiment!

sarah

Mimi-

Check out Angie's outfits in these two posts (one if a client post with Bridget, so you'll have to scroll down to find Angie's outfit)

http://youlookfab.com/2014/09/.....arly-fall/

http://youlookfab.com/2014/06/.....on-the-go/

For work, I often wear button downs with straight-leg trousers, tucked, with a belt and a jacket.

rachylou

Welcome and great question! I've bookmarked this thread. It's prompted excellent answers. I'm no good at wearing button down shirts.

Anonymous

I bought a few button-downs to wear like Laura does. With colors and prints, I think carefully about how I'm going to wear them before buying the shirts. For more versatility, I seek shirts that have collars.

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