The Icons - Mens Shorts

Men have practically been wearing shorts for as long as they have been wearing clothes. Cut-offs were supposedly the brainchild of Nathaniel Coxton, who ran a tea shop in 19th century Bermuda, where the British Navy was based. The sailors, who weren’t used to the climes over there, complained about the intense heat and Coxton’s solution was to cut their uniform trousers three inches above the knee, et voila, Bermuda shorts were born. Today, we owe much of our modern day short-wearing to those guys who consequently brought the look, function and comfort of shorts back to the UK.

Historically, men’s shorts have been – and continue to be – polarizing. Famed British designer Hardy Amies wrote in his book, ABC of Men's Fashion, that “the natural desire to relax is often the cause of the abandonment of all standards of taste”, adding a man “should never wear shorts except actually on the beach or on a walking tour”. Yet while I respect Amies, I disagree. I simply cannot get enough of the leg-flashing, thigh-skimmers (I am with the TikTok crowd in that I enjoy a short that falls way above the knee, rather than anything below it). Denim, cotton, linen or hemp, you name ‘em, I’ll wear ‘em.

I haven’t always been like this. Sure, when I was a kid, I loved to slip on a pair of shorts (usually because my mum was dressing me), and go about my business, playing with my Action Man figurines or building yet another Lego Harry Potter model. But as I got older and entered my teens, my love affair with shorts fell, well, short. I think it had something to do with the fact that I didn’t know how to style them. I went through a regrettable phase where my sartorial uniform comprised Abercrombie & Fitch hoodies and jeans, or a Jack Wills polo shirt and pair of chinos.

Today, I am well and truly a shorts guy, and have been for the best part of 10 years, or since I left school and discovered, in a sales assistant role at Topman, that there was a life beyond A&F hoodies and slouchy jeans. Shorts – and by shorts I mean anything around five inches or less in length – are now a mainstay in my wardrobe, through summer and winter. I’m that person who wears them until the very last days possible in mid-November. I even wear them to the office, although I do appreciate this is an advantage of working in a creative industry. I’m sure that if I rocked up to a bank or law firm in a pair, I’d be quickly told to revert to trousers. I’ve never understood why more formal workplaces find them so unacceptable – shorts can be very smart when tailored and worn with a pressed shirt and a lightweight jacket.

I’m not sure why I love them so much. Perhaps it’s because some of the best-dressed men in history have made shorts their own. A young Harrison Ford arguably wore them best, cut high up to the thigh and with a tucked-in, open polo shirt. Elton John in his formative years also knew how to wear them and is likely on the moodboard of Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele’s most recent catwalk collections. Indeed, it was for Gucci that pop star Harry Styles sported a thigh-high pair of Daisy Dukes a couple of seasons back, which naturally ignited my flaming fire for shorts even further. 

I like to think I’ve got to grips with styling shorts. I always tuck my top layer (T-shirt or polo shirt) in, as the aforementioned Ford taught me, but shirts are allowed to hang loose. Hoodies can indeed be worn with shorts – not A&F ones mind – and these I prefer oversized. Brands I look to for inspiration when it comes to styling are Gucci – where they’re worn in a sleazy-preppy way, cut short at the thigh and worn with long socks and sweater vests; Acne Studios where they’re paired with white shirts in a sort of grown-up schoolboy way; and Prada, where shorts are striped, miniscule and barely there – reminiscent of those worn by the Beatles on their beachy jaunts. During the colder months, crazy as I am, I love to wear the same shorts that I wear in the winter, just with a thicker sock, a pair of Birkenstock mules or low top chukka boots and up top, a heavy, oversized knit or hoodie.

Regardless of how keen you are on shorts, there comes a point where it’s impractical to wear anything else. When it gets really hot, trousers are nothing but punishment. This summer, give yourself a break and take things shorter.