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Affordable Men's Style

How to show less chest hair: Secret button #2.5

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Magnets & Plackets: Keeping your shirt from drifting wide open.

Above:  Shirt by BR – $59.50, Blazer by GAP – $108

Sometimes undoing just the collar can look a little stuffy.  But unbutton that second button, and a few hours later you risk looking skeezy if your shirt has drifted open and you’re hosting a chest hair parade.  If only there were a button half way between your second and third, so you could prevent showing all of your sternum.

There kinda is.  Here’s what you’ll need:

  1. A couple of small disc magnets.  Either extras for your wurkin stiffs, or something like these, or these which are even smaller (credit to Avisha in the comments for suggesting even smaller magnets).
  2. A shirt with a french placket.  Meaning, the side with the button holes simply folds over so on the inside of the shirt you’ve got a little flap, some space, and then the underside of the shirts exterior.  They’re pretty common.  The Express 1MX, BR Stretch Poplin, and most Target Merona’s have this style.
    .

Step 1:  Put your shirt on, button it except for the top two buttons, and leave it untucked.  Take two disc magnets and hold one in your right hand.  Keep the second magnet nearby on a table or something.

 

Step 2:  About halfway between the second and third button holes, flip the placket over.  Think of this flap on the underside as two slices of sandwich bread (or more accurately: a pita).  The magnet in your right hand is the meat.

 

Step 3:  Make the sandwich.  Place the magnet in that fabric pocket made up of the placket’s flap and the inside of the shirt’s chest.

 

Step 4:  As soon as your right hand has inserted the magnet, use your LEFT HAND’S thumb and index finger to hold the magnet between the two pieces of shirt fabric.  It’ll want to slide around since there’ not a lot of friction between the metal magnet and the smooth shirting fabric.

 

Step 5:  Grab the second magnet off the table with your right hand, and go up the inside of your untucked shirt from the very bottom.  Line it up on the button side of the shirt across from the sandwiched magnet that your left hand is holding in place.  This is what it’ll look like from the outside just before you make the merge.

 

Step 6:  Make the merge.  Slowly bring the two magnet backed areas of fabric together.  This is what your shirt will look like from the inside, with the first magnet hidden between the placket fold on the left, and the second magnet holding your shirt closed on the right.  Here’s an interior shot of what it looks like from the side.

And that’s it.  It takes a little practice.  While they don’t slide around as easily as wurkin’ stiffs do, you can re-adjust after you’ve made the merge.  Is this over-thinking it?  Probably.  Does it work?  Absolutely.  Could you use a safety pin?  That’s what the ladies do if they’ve got a top on that show’s too much cleavage for their liking, but this is easier, smaller, looks more natural, and won’t scratch up against your sternum all night.

WARNING:  People with implanted chest devices (those who use pacemakers, Tony Stark) might not want to screw around with sticking magnets so close to their heart.  So yeah, know that.

Comments

  4. And yet again I appreciate my relatively hairless genes. Also jeans, but those have less to do with my parents.

  6. I have another handy suggestion Joe: The company that
    makes Wurking Stiffs also makes a solution for polo shirts called “Polo
    Stays”. I have been using them in combination with the small magnets from
    my Wurking Stiffs to accomplish basically the same thing you did here. And it doesn’t
    require a french placket, which I don’t particularly care for. I just attach
    the Polo Stay to my button down shirt roughly where I want the shirt to “separate”,
    put the magnet on the inside and pow, problem solved 😉

  8. I have this blazer….i like it, but what do I pair it with besides jeans?? Thanks Joe!

  9. Ha,

    I find it impossible to get the correct “V” shape in most shirts.

    With one button undone, they often look too stuffy and closed.  2 buttons open works on some shirts, but for others the fabric is too stiff and it doesn’t separate properly.

    Anyone else have this problem?

  10. ^^ To clarify, regular point collar shirts usually aren’t too bad, but for some reason button-down collar shirts almost always have this problem.

  11. I tried this once on a shirt that didn’t have the French placket, so the outer magnet was visible, which looked a little too affected for my taste. So, I had given up on the idea, but I didn’t even think about sliding it under my placket shirts. Genius. Thanks for the tip Joe.

    DaveS, your tip about the polo stays seems like a great solution for non-placket shirts. I was on the fence about picking up the polo stays, but I think I’ve found a reason.

  12. why are the arms of your suits always wrinkled? I’ve noticed they never hang. Just curious and felt inclined to ask, since this website is all about the minor details and all…
    Best,
    Matt

  13. Most of them are cotton which doesn’t “drape” anywhere near as smooth as wool, I move around in them (while taking pics and otherwise), and I don’t know if this site is all about the minor details (there are other sites that are much, much more about the minor details.)

  14. How many guys clicked on the “too much cleavage” link to see what was behind door number one?  I know I did….

    Great tip Joe, I have a lot of problems with this because of my short neck and hairy chest.  I more drastic solution is to have a tailor sew in a very small clear plastic button attachment that doesn’t show on the outside.  It usually only costs a few dollars and has also worked well in the past.

  15. Hey Joe… sorry to be so late to the party, but that Original Penguin waffle hoodie at Park and Bond is available at the OP website.  Many colors and all sizes for $31.50 ($45.00 and 30% off of all sale merchandise).  I cannot make the link work but you must bring up all the sale items (not just look under “hoodies” or “knits”).

  17. That’s an awesome idea – wish I already had the magnets because I have that problem all the time

  18. Is there a reason why you chose the magcraft magnets you did instead of smaller ones like http://www.amazon.com/Magcraft-NSN0566-16-Inch-Magnets-100-Count/dp/B000SJ7IPS/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1338478056&sr=1-2 ? I feel like in this case the smaller the better as long as they hold it shut properly.

  19. uhhhhhhhhh… nope, just grabbed those because someone had suggested them in a previous post.  They used those (the larger ones) to make their own wurkin’ stiffs.  But yeah, the smaller ones would be great.  Link has been added.  Great call.

  20. In NZ there are no button downs. But my standard and spread collar shirts always give me a magnum PI look when I go just two buttons down. Stiffness doesnt seem to be a problem

  23. This could work really well to keep ur tie together if the band that holds the smaller tail in place breaks

  24. I’ve always assumed that sometimes he takes pictures of the jackets/coats/blazers as he recieves them, before tailoring, and pushes the sleeves up just ever so slightly to show how they would look at the correct length.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t do the same thing every time I try on a blazer.  It makes more sense than tailoring to exact length every sports coat/suit he reviews.  Good eye though!

  25. Over-thinking it. Either the moment is right for opening up those buttons, or it isn’t. There’s nothing carefree or easy about sliding tiny magnets into your clothing to create surrogate phantom buttons. Too fussy, gentlemen. 

  27. After looking at Joe’s reply, I’m wondering if these also work for the Wurkin’ stiffs.  Are they too small for those but right for this solution?  Or would they work with the collar stays also?  Thanks for the info!

  28. I’d think that they’d only really work as Wurkin stiffs if you had a really stiff collar to begin with, or may put it under a plastic collar stay. It might still be too thick for a lot of shirts though. I’ll be ordering set to test out and will report back.

  29. not exactly in the Dappered price range…but Ledbury claims that they’ve placed their second button lower to create the perfect “V” when only the top button is unbuttoned. unfortunately, I’ve bought a suit and had it tailored before for less than one of their shirts costs!

  30. This is overthinking it. Either buy shirts where it just doesn’t look weird (Land’s End Canvas shirts are perfect for leaving the second button undone), starch when ironing (so it doesn’t open too much), or let your freak flag fly. A special magnet that keeps your shirt open but not TOO open seems a little ridiculous.

  34. Just wanted to add this: wouldn’t recommend doing this in a house with children.  Kids have swallow these things and wound up needing surgery to get them out.

    Hate to be a bummer on a decent idea…  Sorry!

  37. I found those smaller ones to be too small to hold. I’ll be returning them.

    Joe, how well do the ones you have hold? Do you lose them every time you take your shirt off?

  38. I use my magnets from wurkin stiffs, and they’re crazy strong.  Nope, no chance of losing these guys unless I’ve had one or three too many.

  40. Sorry, the former. With a shirt that fits me correctly, all I have to do is stretch, flex, or merely lean back and these littler duders pop.

  41. I guess a handful too many is not all that rare, so I should worry about where these puppies end up.

  42. I just got my set of the smaller magnets and yeah, while they do work to hold the shirt together they’re not quite strong enough to be practical. I was able to improve on them a bit by combining multiples of the small ones together (e.g. inblocks of 2, 4, or 8) but at that point it might just make more sense to use the larger ones.

    I’ll be ordering a set of the larger ones shortly to compare their relative effectiveness and will report back on my findings.

  43. Okay, I think I just made a breakthrough: instead of magnets, one can get the same outcome with those metal clips that come with dress shirts nowadays instead of straight pins:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/cromely/2809968197/lightbox/

    Since they’re made specifically for holding clothing in place, they won’t damage fabric. Since they’re not magnetic, they’re much easier to install and adjust, and they won’t interfere with pacemakers or any other electronics. And since you get a few for free with every shirt (at least from certain brands like Banana Republic), you won’t mind when you inevitably lose them during amorous, drunken disrobing.

    Oh, and they’re easily stored by clipping them all onto one clip that acts as a master keychain.

  44. Why not just use TopStick? It’s double-sided tape that bald men use to hold their hairpieces in place… but wardrobe stylists use it all the time to hold garments in place. I use it to keep collars from creeping down, to keep handkerchiefs in place in a suit pocket and to close the gap as you’re doing here with magnets. Simply, easy, adjustable. Just remember to remove the tape before you take your shirt to get it cleaned.