When to tuck

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ChristineB

Active Member

I've been pondering this question for a couple of weeks.

Do any of you tuck in your shirts? If so when? With pants? Skirts?

I've realized recently that my proportions are a little off, I'm long waisted, but my legs are 'normal' length, but they sometimes look proportionately short because of my long waist. I was thinking that tucking in shirts probably will help my torso look shorter & my legs look longer? However, how does that work when shirt length for pants is only a couple of inches above the crotch? Also, is the general rule of thumb for the shirt length for pants really apply to someone who is concerned about the length of their torso? Wouldn't a longer shirt make your torso look longer?

What do you guys think?

17 years ago

Dressing

11 replies

Latest reply was from ImogenL

merry77

Active Member

I'm looking forward to the answers given because I have similar problems and questions.

17 years ago

Anonymous

It seems to me that tucking would emphasize what you are trying to hide. When the top is hanging out we cannot see how long or short the torso is. I think that making the legs look longer happens on the other end at the feet with the length of pants and higher heels, and possibly the vamp of the shoe.
Since the crotch of the pants is stationary, tucking will not make the legs look longer, but it will show exactly how long the torso is. Am I right here? Or wrong?
Skirts may be another story altogether.

17 years ago

Anonymous

I'm not sure what the rule is either - I realized after reading your post that I never tuck in shirts - I prefer to have shirts that are long enough for pants/skirts. Tucked shirts always manage to get un-tucked anyway.

17 years ago

shiny

Veteran

I stopped tucking decades ago. Makes my waist look way too wide. The only thing I might tuck is a shirt into a high-waisted skirt.

I am guessing San has it right... but I still wear tops and jackets that hit on the high side (high hip) because I get the sense they somehow do make me look more proportionate. It could all be in my head though.

17 years ago

Ariadne

Veteran

I'm interested in this, too. Has anyone ever explained how to tell if you have a long torso? I suspect I might. I do know I have a very long rise. Is that the same?

17 years ago

ChristineB

Active Member

Hmm, see, I though that breaking up the torso would make it appear shorter, kind of like what happens when you wear the wrong length of capris? Wearing one color on something makes it appear bigger/longer, right? That's why we wear dark jeans at PPL - to make our legs appear longer? Maybe I'm getting this totally mixed up. I did a search on what to wear if you're long waisted, and the advice was always to make sure your shirt isn't too long.

Brianna - what I did was print out a picture of me in my jeans & a fitted Tshirt. Then I measured my head. The ideal body is on head length from chin to bust, one from bust to natural waist, one from natural waist to crotch one from crotch to mid thigh, one from mid thigh to knee, one form knee to mid shin, one from mid shin to floor. I can't remember where I read this, but I'm looking at the picture I drew on, and that's what I get. Actually, looking at this picture again, my legs ARE proportionally short. Now that I think about it, maybe it was on Imogen's blog.

Sounds like a lot of us are wondering this. Maybe Angie can help clear things up for us?

17 years ago

lwc

Active Member

I am short-waisted with long legs, and I stopped tucking years ago. I look waaaay out of proportion with tops tucked in. Oooooh, it makes me cringe just thinking about it.

I think that Imogen, breaks it down perfectly on her blog:

http://insideoutstyle.blogspot.....stion.html

Hope this helps!

17 years ago

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

When I wear a lower-waisted pant, or if I am wearing a jacket/open cardigan that runs long, usually down to my thigh, I will often tuck to give my waist the right proportion. Also, if it is a button-down, it tend to look crisper tucked in.

For other tops or when I have medium or regular rise pants, I keep it untucked. I often try both styles when dressing to see which one looks right.

17 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I like Imogen’s reasoning. In theory it makes visual sense.

However, in my experience with dressing women, it does not always work in practice. Tucking a top into a bottom can be VERY unflattering - showcasing all sorts of lumps and bumps that you are not happy with. The cold hard fact is that it will only work sans the bumps or when you wear a bottom that has some type of girdling effect, like a high-waisted pencil skirt. You’ve got to get the proportions right when sporting the un-tucked look with other parts of the ensemble. Over to you – does that make sense?

17 years ago

merry77

Active Member

Angie, that makes sense to me. I love the detail of the pants Imogen used in her pictures. Those are great for tucking, as would be a high-waisted pencil skirt. I used to wear those often, but have stopped since I've worked in much more casual environments for many years now.

I'm not sure it is always the best look but sometimes I tuck because my shirts aren't long enough because I'm longwaisted. I think I'm an hourglass with pear tendencies, but because the narrowest part of my waist is so high, the pants waist hits at a much wider part of me. So I either look like I have no waist or my tops don't hit my sweet spot. This is an area I need to work on in my wardrobe, obviously.

17 years ago

ImogenL

(website)

Active Member

There are so many variables - height of waistband, length of top, fabric, construction, love handles!

Each needs its own solution. Basically though if you have a longer body tucking is more of an option, whilst if you have a shorter body it's usually less flattering.

Just because you have a longer body doesn't mean you 'have' to tuck! Depends on all these variables.

16 years ago

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