March 8, 2017 Article

The Old Coot is in style, sort of.

By Merlin Lessler

One thing (some) old coots (like me) have in common with young bucks, is we often don’t tuck in our shirts. Why? A lot of reasons: It’s too hard to reach around and tuck in the back - It helps disguise the size of our beer bellies. - We simply forget. - It hides that we belt our pants at the bottom of our rib cage. - It’s easier to hide the ketchup, mustard and sugar packets we take home from restaurants. But, despite all these benefits, some old coots go the other way; they tuck in everything, their undershirts into their boxer shorts, sweaters and sweatshirts into their pants, pants into their socks, but this article isn’t about them. I’ll leave them out and let them go about their tucking business as well as their habit of triple securing their pants with belts, suspenders and elastic waist bands.

Unfortunately, the fashion industry noticed us “chic” old coots, but more so, the young bucks, who go around with their shirts untucked. They are coming after us, in an attempt to clean up our image, and of course, cash in on it. A new line of shirts, designed to be worn untucked, has been introduced to the market place. “Untuckit” is one of the companies wading into the untucked, untapped market. They say they started the business because, “People have trouble finding shirts that look good untucked, that it’s a deceptively difficult look to get right.” (Yea right; it’s difficult; don’t tuck in your shirt and walk out the door!)

So what did they do? They squared off the bottom of their shirts and launched a sales campaign to sell what they call, a casual shirt, fit for comfort, not convention, and designed to fall at the perfect length. They extol potential untuckers to, “Go ahead and untuck it!” (Untuckit stores have opened in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco. Their shirts are also available on line.)

You get a $20 shirt, minus some fabric at the bottom for, $78, $88 or $98, enabling you to project a neat, untucked image. (Not that of a lazy slob, like me) You’ve got to love free enterprise. My problem? MY gripe? I didn’t think of it first, and now I have to rethink my fashion statement. One thing for sure, I’m not going to buy a $98 Untuckit shirt, nor am I going to cut the tails off my shirts to achieve a politically correct, untuck look. What is happening to my world? First, the Duluth Trading Company comes out with a long-tailed T-shirt aimed at the plumber butt-crack problem and now Untuckit is going the other way with a short tail shirt. The fashion dilemma imposed on old coots by modern society never ends.

Comments? Complaints? Send to mlessler7@gmail.com