Shirt Tuck - newbness turned up to 11

[migo]

Hey everyone,

so I've been trolling around these forums for a few months now and I've learned a lot and I feel like this might be the stupidest thing you style guru's have heard but here goes:

OK so for years now, when I tuck in my shirt it always balloons in the back (I try to get it so that the sides and front don't look like a mushroom, but the back is just impossible). I'm guessing it's because I'm really skinny (I'm 28waist), but I also want to know if I get the sides in my shirts brought in will it fix the problem? Is it even a problem? It just looks really odd (and not good at all, for that matter IMO). Whenever I see articles on fitted shirts or what not in magazines, I can never see the back, so I don't know what it should look like!

(keep in mind I live at university, and most people around me don't care/know about what a shirt should fit like)

 

[Bandwagonesque]

I feel your pain. If you like your shirts and they still have some life in them, take 'em into the tailor to get 'em darted in the back. That will cut down on some of the excess material and prevent some of the balooning. Cost is around $15-20 I believe. Still, it's all about proportions I think. A lot of cheap dress shirts are huge around the chest and upper arm area. While darting might cut down on the waist material, you're still going to have a lot of excess around your chest and biceps...

Or, you can just keep your eye out for slim fitting dress shirts that may or may not have darts in the back. Nicely fitted dress shirts are hard to find at lower price points, but easier if you have more cash.

And there are no dumb questions here.

Everybody here was likely a n00b at some point, unless they were rockin' bespoke when they came out of the womb.

 

[Aaron]

Not a dumb question in the least. I'm pretty slim with broad shoulders and the shirt balloning in the back is a problem I've always had, even on my Jantzen custom made shirts. For a ready-to-wear shirt getting it taken in the sides and darting helps.

A

 

[Mute]

You can always try a military tuck. That's what I usually do.

 

[migo]

sweet thanks...my shirts aren't uber cheap...they're brooks bro's boys unfortunately they don't make the slim fit in boys, and that was really embarassing :-|

Mute, whats a military tuck?

 

[a tailor]

for a small reduction of the excess fabric, have the back darted.
for a larger reduction have the sides tapered.
for an extreem use a combo of both,
with side tapering,it may be extened into the sleeves.
always do a test with one shirt. dont do all of them at one time.

 

[Mute]

Military tuck - wrap front of shirt tight and smooth against torso, pull excess material to the side and fold towards back, like a pleat. Do the same on the other side (try to have even amount of the shirt on both sides) and while holding the shirt in place, button up your pants to hold the shirt in place.

I've seen some people smooth the shirting all the way around the side and fold the pleats in the back. Either way, try it and see if it works for you. It would be nice to get all your shirts tailored to fit properly, but that's not a problem for me since I don't wear off the rack dress shirts. However, I do the military tuck with my casual shirts and it works fine.

 

[itskub]

I used to have nearly all my tops tailored, but I realized it was costly as hell. So my solution, I picked up a sewing machine from K-Mart for $35. Pick a shirt that fits you prefectly, lay down on top of the shirt you want to alter (inside out of course), and stick some pins in around the sides or trace the fit with white soap and sew on that line.
Doing the sleeves under your arms is the only tricky part, I take away a cm at a time until it looks right, then cut off the excess fabric.

I still try to pick out shirts that are labeled as "Slim" or "Modern" fit, because the less fabric you have to alter, the easier it is.
Ive done a few button-ups, 2 polo's, and T-shirts, I plan on moving onto sweaters and a wool coat.