--- description: With 'Magic Mike XXL' hitting theaters this week, a look back at the proper method of undressing according to LIFE Magazine in 1937 title: Here’s How a Man Should Strip, According to Advice From the 1930s image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f85d02b49646c5d/698853ea428a9e5761ccda38/150610-how-a-man-undresses-1937.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [curiosities](/tag/curiosities/) ## curiosities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here’s How a Man Should Strip, According to Advice From the 1930s  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 1, 2015 12:00 PM CUT  From the March 15, 1937 issue of LIFE magazine. Photos by Carola Rust. From the March 15, 1937 issue of LIFE magazine. Photos by Carola Rust.LIFE Magazine  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 1, 2015 12:00 PM CUT If history repeats itself—based on the success of the first _Magic Mike_ installment—Americans this week will spend, collectively, tens of millions of dollars to go to the movies and watch a gaggle of chiseled men take off their clothes. The proper way to strip, many would say, is however Channing Tatum does it. But back in 1937, LIFE Magazine offered its readers a more specific set of instructions for how a man should disrobe for the night. The two-page spread was largely published as a gag, after readers complained that a recent [feature](http://time.com/3456965/how-a-wife-should-undress-dubious-advice-from-1930s-strippers/ "undefined") about the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing for Women should be matched by the same instructions for men. LIFE dispatched a female photographer, Carola Rust, to take the photos so that “the score of the sexes is kept even.” The magazine started with what not to do, using pictures of a portly model it called “a comedy character”: --- > “” --- As an alternative, LIFE presented a “perfect undressing type.” The fit model is photographed carefully folding his trousers, neatly removing his shoes and properly unbuttoning his shirt before yawning “triumphantly, conscious that his undressing for the evening has been expertly done.” Not all of LIFE’s readers were pleased with the photos. One reader, F.F. Peterson of Portland, Me., made LIFE’s editors well aware of their vulgarity: “But who is that fat cheese undressing? I have torn out these vulgar nonentities before my family and their friends see them. It is an insult to all decency to have such pictures in our homes.” We’re just glad F.F. Peterson is unlikely to be around to watch the [trailer](http://time.com/3850007/magic-mike-xxl-trailer-channing-tatum-2/ "undefined") for _Magic Mike XXL._ ### 'How a Wife Should Undress': Dubious Advice From 1930s Strippers  Professor Connie Fonzlau at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing in New York demonstrates "the worst possible method of disrobing," 1937. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Professor Connie Fonzlau at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing in New York demonstrates "the worst possible method of disrobing," 1937. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  School of Undressing professor Connie Fonzlau demonstrates the "unpardonable sin" of "working on two sides at once," 1937. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Burlesque star June St. Clair and Professor Connie Fonzlau demonstrate the right and wrong ways to disrobe at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing in New York, 1937. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Burlesque star June St. Clair and Professor Connie Fonzlau demonstrate the right and wrong ways to disrobe at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing in New York, 1937. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Burlesque star June St. Clair demonstrates "how wives should undress in front of their husbands" during a class at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing in New York, 1937. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Burlesque star June St. Clair demonstrates "how wives should undress in front of their husbands" during a class at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing in New York, 1937. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Burlesque star June St. Clair demonstrates "how wives should undress in front of their husbands" during a class at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing in New York, 1937. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Burlesque star June St. Clair demonstrates "how wives should undress in front of their husbands" during a class at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing in New York, 1937. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Burlesque star June St. Clair demonstrates "how wives should undress in front of their husbands" during a class at the Allen Gilbert School of Undressing in New York, 1937. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images   LIFE Magazine, Feb. 15, 1937. Peter Stackpole—LIFE Magazine  LIFE Magazine, Feb. 15, 1937. 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