There are few sharper looks than a well-fitted shirt tucked crisply into a well-cut pair of slacks.
Unfortunately for those of us who like to keep our shirts looking tucked and tidy, it’s far too easy for our shirt tails to creep out from underneath our belts, causing our slim and sharp silhouette to look slovenly and unkempt when we stand in front of the mirror.
Making matters worse, by the time the bottom of your shirt pops out it tends to look all wrinkly and crinkled, making you look even sloppier.
That’s where shirt stays come in.
While they come in different styles and types, shirt stays– also known as shirt garters or shirt straps – hide underneath your pants and use an elastic strap to keep your shirt crisply tucked throughout the day.
They’re popular with law enforcement, military personnel and other guys who wear a military uniform shirt (e.g. security guards) because they help them maintain the tight military tuck demanded by strict dress codes.
But they’re also great for civilians who pay close attention to detail, and want to maintain a put-together and professional appearance.
To help you find the perfect shirt stays to suit your needs (and the best price to suit your budget), in this post I’ll round up some of the top shirt stays on the market, and break down the pluses and minuses of each style so you can make a well informed choice.
Our Top Picks↓
You can read more about our top picks below, but here’s a quick summary of our findings:
- Best Y-Clip Shirt Stay: KK & Jay Solid Black Shirttail Garters
- Best Sockless Shirt Stays: NV Holders “S-Holder”
- Best Stirrup Dress Shirt Stays: Comfy Clothiers
- Best “Heavy Duty” Shirt Stays: Shirt Stays Plus
Who Wrote This Article
Irreverent Gent Founder and Editor-in-Chief Dave Bowden has been a style-obsessed service journalist for more than a decade.
A lifelong clotheshorse with a passion for style, he’s been covering men’s fashion, grooming and lifestyle since founding Irreverent Gent in 2016, and his style advice and shopping recommendations have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, and Men’s Health, among many others.
How We Created This List
Personal
Experience
Materials
& Design
User
Reviews
For this post Dave leveraged his knowledge as a style blogger and his personal experience wearing shirt stays.
He took a close look into each pair’s materials, design, sizing and style, and combined it with a deep dive into user reviews and online ratings to find the shirt holders that offer the best combination of high quality and great value.
To learn more about how we rate and review products, check out our product review and round up policy here.
OK, preamble over! Let’s (finally!) get to the shirt stays…
The Best Shirt Stays for Men
Breaking Down the Best Shirt Garters for a Good Hard Tuck
(Relax! We said “tuck,” with a T. Get your mind out of the gutter…)
Best Y-Clip Shirt Stay ↓
KK & Jay Solid Black Shirttail Garters
Features:
- Handmade in Brooklyn, New York
- Adjustable to fit all sizes
- 1″ Wide Straps
- Solid Black Twill Premium Jacquard Elastic
- Full Grain Leather
Why We Like ‘Em:
After trying these y-clip dress shirt stays from KK & Jay, I found them to be a damn-near perfect combination of quality, craftsmanship and value.
Inspired by the y style shirt stays often worn by military personnel, this is essentially a high-end version that can be worn not just with a uniform, but with business attire or casual wear as well.
Quite possibly the most dapper shirt stays on the market, the elastic material of the straps are held together by a genuine leather joint (as opposed to the cheaper synthetic material you’d commonly find on a similar product).
But the best part is probably the price tag:
While this is a much higher quality version of a y-style strap, it’s not a particularly expensive version.
When you compare prices you find that it only costs a few dollars more than some of the more cheaply made alternatives, while offering the kind of quality and craftsmanship that will help it last for a (damn) long time.
Why Some Might Not:
Y-style stays that connect to your socks aren’t for everyone.
Some guys like the shorter “sockless” style that wrap around your thighs, as opposed to the Y-clip, which requires a belt to run all the way down to your socks.
If you’re going to go with a Y-clip style then these are your best bet, but if you prefer the shorter kind you might want to consider the model form NV Holders below.
Best Sockless Shirt Stay ↓
NV Holders “S-Holder”
Features:
- 4.3 Stars on Amazon
- 1,394 Reviews
- Three sizes available
- High quality, handmade in Europe
Why We Like ‘Em:
NV Holders’ S-Holder shirt stay uses an elastic band that wraps around your thigh, then has three other straps that extend upward and clip to the bottom of your shirt.
The three straps are adjustable so you can set them to whatever length you want, and have non-slip, fabric-friendly clips that won’t damage your shirt.
Why Some Might Not:
Some guys think the Y-style shirt holders featured above have better designs, since they simultaneously hold your shirt down and your socks up.
(Plus, these ones might not work for every body type, particularly for big guys who have thicker thighs.)
But this style is still a very effective way to make your shirt look like it’s the perfect fit, and some guys prefer it since you don’t need a strap to run all the way down your leg.
Best Stirrup Dress Shirt Stays ↓
Comfy Clothiers
Features:
- 4.4 Stars on Amazon
- 1,472 Reviews
- Adjustable strap
- Made in USA
- Stirrup stay
Why We Like ‘Em:
Stirrup style shirt stays are similar to the y-style, only instead of clipping to your socks at the bottom they include a loop that you slide your foot into.
These ones from Comfy Clothiers are great because they have a slim-profile belt that’s easy to hide underneath your pants, which helps ensure that no one can see the outline of the straps.
Why Some Might Not:
Stirrup style shirt stays don’t pull double duty by keeping your socks nice and high, the way Y-clip stirrups do.
But the stirrup shirt stay is a little more secure since you only have to worry about the clips on one end, so it’s really a matter of personal preference and comfort.
Best “Heavy Duty” Shirt Stays ↓
Shirt Stays Plus
Features:
- 4.4 Stars on Amazon
- 919 Reviews
- Made in USA
- Garter-style
- Available in both white and black
Why We Like ‘Em:
These Shirt Stay Plus shirt stays are similar in design to the NV stays above, and offer a garter-style stay that wraps around your thigh then clips to the bottom part of your shirt to maximize elastic tension.
Why Some Might Not:
Unlike the NV model, which has three clips, these are straight shirt stays that clip in just two places: one in the front and one in the back.
The straps are thicker – hence the “heavy duty” label – so the hold is still pretty strong, but some guys might prefer having three separate clips to better disperse the tension between the shirt and the straps.
The Best of the Rest ↓
The four shirt stays listed above represent our top picks for each of the four main shirt stays categories: Y-style, Sockless, Stirrup and Heavy Duty.
But they’re not the only ones on the market, and our research turned up a number of other models that might be worth considering.
Shirt Stays Plus Y-Style Shirt Stay
Features:
- 4.5 Stars on Amazon
- 3,456 Reviews
- Made in USA
- Clip closure on both ends
- Adjustable buckles with nylon teeth clips
- Available in black or white
Why They’re Worth Considering:
Designed by a veteran police officer, Shirt Stay Plus Shirt Stays claims to make “the world’s best shirt stays.”
(And as alluded to above, if there’s one group that needs an effective shirt keeper, it’s law enforcement officers.)
In addition to being one of the best-rated shirt stays on Amazon, these Shirt Stay Plus y stays are their most popular model.
As the name implies, they use a long y-shaped design to connect the bottom of your shirt to the top of your socks, which is one of the best ways to keep both pieces in place all day.
Why They Didn’t Crack Our Top Picks:
At the end of the day, I just find the KK & Jay Y-style garters pretty hard to beat.
Their use of genuine leather and wide variety of colors make them both the highest-quality and highest-style option, in my humble opinion, leaving this model from Shirt Stays Plus in a close second place.
KK & Jay Sockless Shirttail Garters
Features:
- Handmade in Brooklyn, New York
- Adjustable to fit all sizes
- 1″ Wide cotton blend elastic straps
- Full Grain Leather
Why They’re Worth Considering:
Another model from KK & Jay, these have the same high-quality craftsmanship as the y-clip dress shirt stays listed above, but secure to your legs in a different manner.
These come in a garter style, which wraps snugly around your calves rather than clipping to your socks.
Why They Didn’t Crack Our Top Picks:
As mentioned, a lot of guys find that the y-style clips provide more ease of use, but the garter style is a great option if you want your shirt to keep a slim appearance while you’re going sockless.
These ones were a very close second to the Comfy Clothiers stirrups listed above, and no doubt make a great option.
But for stirrup style stays I ultimately preferred the low-profile simplicity of the Comfy Clothiers model.
FancyBoy Signature Shirt Stays*
*Yes, their name is seriously “FancyBoy”, and no, I don’t blame you for laughing. (But you can’t deny that their shirt stays look pretty cool.)
Features:
- 4.3 Stars on Amazon
- 400 Reviews
- Adjustable
- Flat rubber grips with button slot; won’t puncture clothing
- Fits heights from 5’4″ – 6’8″
Why They’re Worth Considering:
While shirt stays aren’t meant to be seen by anyone, there’s no reason why they can’t come in cool colors and patterns.
That seems to be the (admirable) underlying philosophy of the (abominably named) FancyBoy company, which offers this well reviewed “Y” type of shirt stay in a variety of styles.
Why They Didn’t Crack Our Top Picks:
We appreciate the way FancyBoy infuses some flair into their shirt stays, but as with the other Y-style stays on this list, they just can’t quite compete with the overall quality of KK & Jay’s model above.
Kedofe Shirt Stays Upgrade
Features:
- 4.2 Stars on Amazon
- 2,055 Reviews
- Adjustable leg loops
- Stainless steel platypus clip with plastic teeth
- Available with extra strap for socks
Why They’re Worth Considering:
This model from Kedofe combines two different styles of shirt stays.
The base model is similar to the NV Holders model above, which wraps around your thigh and then clips to the bottom of your shirt.
But it also comes with a removable strap that you can clip downward to your sock, offering the same benefits as the y-style shirt stays above.
Why They Didn’t Crack Our Top Picks:
The addition of the extra strap is cool, but a little too high-concept for us.
Plus, it requires additional clips for the extra strap – one that clips down at your socks and one that clips to the rest of the stay around your leg.
This increases the chances that at least one of the clips will come undone throughout the day, which is a bit of a risk.
Shirt Stays Plus Tuck-It Belt Style Shirt Stays
Features:
- 3.9 Stars on Amazon
- 747 Reviews
- Available in two sizes
- Hooks on to bottom button of shirt
- Fully adjustable
Why They’re Worth Considering:
Also from Shirt Stays Plus, this model is a shirt stay belt that wraps around your waist just below where your actual belt sits, cinching the shirt tightly around your waist.
It features a plastic hook, instead of the metal clips used by most shirt stays, which loops over the last button of your shirt to help keep it in place.
Why They Didn’t Crack Our Top Picks:
It’s a great product for anyone who’s nervous about wading into the world of shirt tuckers, and nervous about the embarrassing looks they might get if your shirttail garters should somehow snap, and an elastic band suddenly comes shooting out of your pants.
But ultimately it doesn’t provide quite the same level of tucking as a y-style or stirrup style stay, which is why it didn’t crack my top choices.
FAQ
Do shirt stays work?
Yeah, shirt stays work pretty well—as long as they’re properly fitted. If you get the kind with adjustable straps, make sure that you’ve tightened them enough to keep the shirt secure, but not so much that they make your shirt look strained.
What is the best shirt stay?
As highlighted above, the best shirt stays on Amazon are KK and Jay’s Solid Black Shirttail Garters, which offer a a perfect combination of quality, craftsmanship and value.
Does Walmart have shirt stays?
They do indeed. Walmart has a pretty decent selection of shirt stays, the best-rated of which seems to be the Rothco Y-style stays, which are just $9.99 and have 4.6 stars after 8 ratings.
Plus, Walmart is a great place to shop online, because they usually have pretty cheap shipping rates within the U.S., although not as cheap as Amazon, where you can get free shipping if you have Prime. (I also find that the customer service tends to be better on Amazon, so keep that in mind as well.)
Does Target sell shirt stays?
Target doesn’t carry shirt stays. Nothing came up when I searched for both “shirt stays” and “shirt garters” on their website, other than some regular ol’ ladies garters, which won’t do much for your shirt (but depending on what you’re into, I guess could help your love life?).
Do people still wear shirt stays?
Shirt stay use as definitely declined a little bit as the world has gotten more casual, and they’re not as popular as other shirt accessories, like collar stays.
But as mentioned above, they still get a lot of play from guys who wear a uniform, and struggle to maintain even a slight pull with just a regular belt.
Wrapping Up
Summary
These y-clip dress shirt stays from KK & Jay are a perfect combination of quality, craftsmanship and value. Inspired by the y style shirt stays often worn by military personnel, this is essentially a high-end version that can be worn not just with a uniform, but with business attire or casual wear as well.
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