untuck

Untuck is the act of removing a tuck or folded portion of fabric, most commonly referring to clothing. In everyday use, untucking a shirt or blouse means allowing the hem to hang freely instead of tucking it into pants or a skirt. The term can describe other textiles, but it is predominantly used in fashion and dress code contexts. The opposite action is tucking.

In fashion, shirts designed to be worn untucked tend to have a straight or minimally curved hem and a length that falls around the hips. Untucked shirts are associated with casual or smart-casual attire, while many formal shirts are designed to be tucked. When deciding whether to untuck, wearers consider the shirt length, the occasion, and the overall balance of the outfit; untucked looks are commonly paired with jeans or chinos and casual footwear.

There is a clothing brand named UNTUCKit that markets shirts specifically designed to be worn untucked. The brand emphasizes cuts and lengths intended to present a neat untucked silhouette across different body types and has contributed to the popularity of the untucked aesthetic within contemporary casual fashion.

Etymology and usage: Untuck combines the prefix un- with tuck, reflecting the removal of a fold or tuck. In modern English, untuck is used both as a verb describing the act and as an adjective describing garments meant to be worn without tucking.