The Story Behind Why Dads Tuck Their T-Shirts In
For many Irish dads, tucked in T-shirts are merely a fashion statement that also helps prevent belly draught – a condition all-too-familiar with overweight men with distended torsos.
According to a recent study, the majority of men are unaware of the actual meaning behind the bizarre, yet acceptable behaviour.
“I just tuck them in to stop the breeze,” said one dad we stopped outside Woodies hardware store earlier, whose faded tee was tucked neatly into some ill-fitting jeans. “It also looks tidier. Nothing worse than a T-shirt just hanging off your protruding belly. It’s more respectable I suppose”.
Opinions vary on the origin of the tuck-in movement, but truth be told; it’s far more complex than one might think.
In the 1970s, T-shirts made the transition from underwear to everyday clothing, sparking outrage across the world. Many religions, including the Catholic religion, urged young people not to wear the garment on its own, claiming it was perverted and no different than wearing your underwear over your pants, or indeed, not wearing pants at all.
“The wearing of T-shirts promotes homosexuality and should not be practiced by those of faith,” Pope Pius XII was quoted in 1954. “No man will be allowed into the house of God wearing such an item”.
The Pope’s claims caused outrage in both the homosexual and heterosexual communities. Men who continued to wear the new fashion accessory became outcasts in their own communities, forcing them into a strange dilemma; should they adhere to their religions call and face being branded as gay, or continue somehow wearing the T-shirts in defiance.
As tensions grew, world and religious leaders got involved for fear of a worldwide rebellion and the first ever Bilderberg conference was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek, Netherlands, from 29 to 31 May that year.
After an intense three days of talks, it was decided by all parties that T-shirts should be allowed worn publicly by men and women, like jumpers, on one condition: that men of faith and devoid of homosexuality should tuck them into their pants to differentiate them from homosexuals, who they said may continue to wear them loose and free, “for obvious reasons,” coining the phrase “shirt-lifter”.
Following the announcement, millions of heterosexual men worldwide agreed to the condition, and a new, albeit forced, trend was born.
It wasn’t until the mid-eighties, when the box-office smash Ferris Buellers Day Off hit cinema screens, did the idea of wearing one’s T-shirt outside the pants took off again, thus re-breaking the mould.
Although there are still many people in the world today who tuck their T-shirts into the pants, the homophobic reasons behind such a move have since abated.