Q. What's up with men and half-tucks?

The front tuck, the half tuck, the belt tuck. The mullet of the shirt to pant interfaces. Both inside AND out. A great example is Dave Mullen's (of Save Khaki) in his designer profile in GQ.

Polo players do it. Hockey players do it. Gretzky did it best! But off the ice, on the street, why do men wear their shirts in a state of dishevelled limbo?

And how is it done well? I talked on CBC's On The Coast with guest host Grant Lawrence of Radio 3 about those demi shirt hem insertions .

I also received a great email from Dave Tomlinson, colour announcer and hockey expert for the Team 1040 in Vancouver. He played for the Jets and Leafs, most notably, and had the following insights on the Great One's half tuck (this column's contribution to hockey lore).

Gretzky did the tuck when he was a youngster because the jersey's were large and he was tiny, so he tucked in the side on the top hand of his stick...because without doing that, the excess jersey would get caught up on his stick knob.

Then it became a comfortable superstition, then a signature move where he actually had velcro stitched inside his pants to keep the tuck attached.

If ever it came untucked, he could certainly argue for a holding penalty as someone would have to grab the jersey pretty good for it to come out!

I did the tuck when I played, but on the opposite side, as my large jersey when I was a little guy, would hang down onto the bottom hand of my stick...and then it became superstitious for me to tuck...looks good too...as a droopy, oversized sweater is NOT cool:)

Enjoy, Dave

Very cool, indeed.