What do The Rock, Harry Styles and Milo Ventimiglia have in common? They have all been seen showing some thigh in short shorts
- The fashion press is full of reports of skimpy shorts, a trend that started during the pandemic
- A photo of US actor Milo Ventimiglia leaving the gym wearing short shorts recently went viral
This Is Us star Milo Ventimiglia wouldn’t ordinarily be classed as a fashion trendsetter, but a viral photo of the 43-year-old actor leaving the gym in a pair of short shorts last month shook the internet and focused mainstream attention on the hottest and skimpiest trend in menswear.
Until very recently, shorts with an inside leg that was shorter than seven and nine inches (18cm and 23cm) were considered the preserve of the shameless and the socially unaware, a style neatly embodied by Steve Coogan’s comic character Alan Partridge.
But the likes of Ventimiglia, Dwayne Johnson, Normal People actor Paul Mescal and the more bankable fashion maven Harry Styles all showing more leg has got the fashion press abuzz, with many declaring summer 2021 as “Thigh Guy Summer,” where the rallying cry for confident men will be “sky’s out, thighs out.”
Ventimiglia broke his silence on his new-found viral fame last week, posting on Instagram a picture of a pair of shorts with the simple caption: “Ride ’em high kids.”
The press may be awash with stories of short shorts, but on social media, the campaign for men to sport a five inch inside leg has been ongoing since the start of pandemic-related lockdowns last year, with the pro-flesh hashtag #5InchSeam racking up almost 29 million views so far on TikTok.
Driven by social media, and mainstreamed for the masses by popular celebrities, short shorts are having a moment with brands such as Dior Men, Etro, Bottega Veneta, Ami and Zegna all jumping on the trend. “Some of this conversation can be pinned to Milo Ventimiglia’s donning of short shorts, but much of the credit can be due to the fact that there are so many short shorts in the market, and good ones at that,” says George Archer, a senior buyer at luxury online retailer Mr. Porter.
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Archer says that the trend for more brands to offer short shorts, also known by the more grown-up sobriquet micro shorts, likely emerged as an extension of tailored swimwear shorts from brands such as Orlebar Brown.
The all pervasive popularity and influence of streetwear and activewear has also had an impact, says Chris Kyvetos, menswear buying director at Mytheresa, the luxury fashion e-tailer. Pandemic lockdowns and the consequent need to work from home have led to an explosion in demand for activewear for men and women over the last year and people are not yet ready or willing to transition back to less comfortable but smarter clothing.
Moreover, millions of men around the world who remained disciplined and did not skip leg day while stuck at home during lockdown will be itching to show off their shapely calves as restrictions ease. “Nowadays, and especially as a result of the pandemic and the lockdown months, fashion is driven more by ‘activewear thinking’ and the recent rise of the short shorts is a good example,” says Kyvetos.
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Providing further impetus to the trend, and attracting more men towards it, has been the rapid diversification of styles, materials and designs from the Patagonia’s 5” Baggies shorts, which have become a cult classic already, to the renaissance of jean shorts and everything in between. “Saint Laurent and Isabel Marant have presented some short denim shorts for a designer approach to the ‘Jort’ [jean short],” says Archer. “There are arty and craftsman versions, with laid-back appeal from Bode and Jacquemus … Apart from athletic shorts that we offer on Mr Porter, we have also introduced more shorter shorts from various fashion houses this season [including] Amiri, Casablanca, and our own-label Mr P.”
Although short shorts are outwardly quite simple items of clothing there are still plenty of ways to wear them wrong, says Kyvetos. “Footwear is a key element in men’s fashion in general, but with short shorts it has to be taken even more into consideration. Ankle boots with micro shorts would definitely be a don’t, for example.”
Adds Archer, “It is very important that your top is not too long, that it covers your bum and makes your legs look shorter. Other than that, stick to dress codes and avoid wearing shorts to obvious occasions that call for formal attire. And as many parts of the world return to office culture again, best to leave your short shorts for when working from home.”
Short shorts are not new, of course; much like everything in fashion, their popularity has been cyclical. Watch any archival footage of men’s matches from Wimbledon from the 1970s and 1980s and you’ll see the likes of Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Conners and Ivan Lendl sporting high, tight and immaculately white shorts. Their popularity waned in the 1990s as slacker and grunge culture mixed with hip hop styles, which all favoured looser clothing, took over.
Given the cyclical nature of trends, the question, inevitably becomes, does the short shorts trend have legs?
“It definitely has legs!” says Archer adding that men are “trying to look their best for their ‘post-pandemic peak’” and that there’s “nothing wrong with a bit of body positivity.”
