Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Get Ready to Kiss Cargo Shorts Bye-bye

The Star-Telegram (Dallas-Ft. Worth) published an article today titled, "Get Ready to Kiss Cargo Shorts Bye" today. I for one consider this welcome news. For nearly a decade, guys have been doomed to wear the most ridiculously over-sized monstrosities, nominally named 'shorts'--but in reality just very short flood pants. Now, it seems, we'll be able to opt for some cleaner lines in warm weather wear...


From a men's legwear perspective, there's little question it looks much better when paired with shorts that fit the wearer's body style, and size, appropriately. As many readers will certainly attest, it can be very difficult to find shorts that do this, when most of them are tailored more akin to clown pants.   While I, myself, do in fact wear cargo shorts (as can be seen in the photo at right), I always go for those that fit well, and aren't excessive in the number of pockets, zippers, etc.  I will probably wear them less often once these cleaner styles start becoming more available in stores. 

For what it's worth, I posted the following comment on the article's webpage: 
I'm sure I'm not alone in welcoming the demise of the ridiculously oversized, so-called 'shorts' that have been the scourge of menswear for nearly a decade or more. I'm about 5'-7" and have always had the hardest time finding shorts that look halfway decent on me, since they look huge even on larger guys.

The cleaner lines will be a huge improvement on the clothes we can wear in warm weather, now. They'll also be accentuated by another emerging trend that's slowly gaining some sway on the edges of men's fashion. That is, men's legwear. I've been a publicist for a company that's been selling sheer and opaque tights for men (aka, mantyhose) for more than 10 years.

Sometimes misconceptions get in the way of understanding, but the guys who are wearing them are basically regular guys who wear them for leg support and like the way they improve their look. Not so much about the wild patterns that often get featured in news articles, this trend is more about subtle shades that closely match skintone and will also add to the smooth lines referred to in the foregoing article.
I'd like to hear from you readers out there.  How do you feel about the slimmer style shorts discussed in the article.  What about the big, baggy style?  Anybody going to be pining for them once they disappear?  Also, one thing I noticed about the photos accompanying the article were that the guy pictured had very hairy legs.  Of course, that's not going to work well with sheer hosiery--so it'll be necessary to at least closely trim leg hair if you're among those with lots of dark hair.  In my mind, this would probably be a good idea even if the wearer weren't going to wear legwear.  What do you think? 

13 comments:

  1. Those style of shorts have been around a good while in Europe - and they go well with the leg-wear too

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  2. Tights for men are not doing enough advertising. we want to wear. But we are afraid of being misunderstood. Although greater accuracy in advertising companies and large advertising spread in countries that might Misperceptions and misunderstandings can be avoided. To be ridiculed by people, not very nice. Moreover, if you have a family. Could do with a sock that's masculinity? Please ensure that your spreading all over the world. You could also dress up as men. Trousers for women in the past was a nightmare, but it was adopted adopted. I hope it is acceptable for men in sheer hosiery.

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  3. Hi Steve,

    I think we stole a march on these guys; we introduced a shorter, less cluttered style of shorts to our catalogue almost a year ago - see them here in addition to a capri-length version (otherwise identical to the shorts) here

    We brought these stwo styles about in response to customer requests; many guys don't care for the 'baggy' shorts that have been on offer up to now.

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  4. Yes, I can confirm this has been around in Europe for some time now and I personally don't find it odd or anything, actually I have no problems at all since my wife is a seamstress and can make almost everything for me.

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  5. I've pretty much stopped wearing shorts.

    When you stop and think about it, "short shorts" actually function the best, but it looks awkward given the "short long pants" that guys have been wearing.

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  6. Yes, Darrell (Legwear4Men), I like those shorts you feature on your site. And, you correctly point out that decently styled shorts can be found out there. It's just that one has had to do some searching to find them. Hopefully, as the 'big baggies' begin to fade into fashion oblivion, it'll take a little less effort for guys to find them.

    Good luck with your line of shorts and capris.

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  7. This if for Anonymous, who said 'we want to wear... but are afraid of being misunderstood'.

    I would encourage you to flip that around backwards, because you may be putting the cart before the horse. The more you guys who are wearing legwear hidden away beneath trousers step up to the plate and wear them openly, the more people will correctly understand this trend. Advertising costs a lot of money, and there aren't many who can afford it, while waiting for this men's legwear market to grow to profitable proportions.

    That's one of the reasons behind 'guerilla marketing' activities like I engage in. They don't cost very much. However, you also have little control over the outcome. My hope is that one way my guerilla activities have influenced things for the positive over the past year or so, is to encourage and embolden you guys so you WILL get out there and wear them openly. Discuss it with friends when they ask why you wear legwear. Give them legitimate reasons for it, and you can count on most of them becoming believers (even if not necessarily wearers right away) if you do it with confidence and sincerity.

    Please don't wait for some magic advertising campaign to give you 'permission' to wear tights or hosiery. Just go out there and DO IT! That's what I've been doing in my personal activities, and I can assure you that I don't get any flack from the MANY of my acquaintances who see me wearing legwear all the time.

    Hope I don't come off as being harsh--I'm just trying to light a little fire for you.

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  8. SteveN
    I completely agree with you on the advertising issue, word of mouth seems to do a lot more good than sepnding a fortune on advertising.

    With our fellow LAUFers we can make a difference by not hiding our legwear and show the world that we are not ashamed to be wearing legwear.

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  9. Lots of shorts that are not cargo style shorts are overly long. I love shorts w/a short inseam- theyre much more comfortable but maybe its because straight men are afraid someone is going to think theyre gay if they wear a 6" inseam short in stead of 11 or 9" - hell if I know but shorts should be short and sexy in my view. AND WHAT THE HELL IS UP W/BASKETBALL PLAYERS AND THOSE UGLY ASS FLOPPSY-MOPPSY DRAGGING 'SHORTS"? I loved watching basketball when men that played the game wore shorts that looked tailored and showed what a man was all about! Sure there men that agree w/that and sure there are women that agree w that! :-) Jack

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  10. Well why not? In the 1980s, I had no problem wearing microfiber shorts, black and navy blue. Or at least I think that they were microfiber. Nevertheless, they felt comfortable and I kind of felt funny in them but like them. Unfortunately, everyone was picking on me so I gave up. I took some time to rethink where I went wrong on my lack of self-confidence that Steve told me about in my earlier posts. I'm almost thin except for my stomach which I'm working on fixing at Crossfit DC. If those heavy lifting guys could wear tights under their shorts, I guess there's no reason I can't do the same but first I got to get in shape and be tough like them I think?

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  11. About 3 years ago I made the switch to "real" shorts. In Australia its been the norm to have over the knee shorts for a while. So natrually thats all I had. Use to wear them to work and I was doing a lot of bending down and my knees kept getting caught and annoying the hell out of me. Ended up getting running shorts for work and then realised the shorter shorts are so much more comfortable and are actually real "shorts". Now I wear above the knee shorts out of work all the time have denim surf style ones plus heaps more. I think the first time I copped it from my mates but when I explained what they were missing out on they soon sported them too! They also know I really dont give a stuff what others think of my clothing choices.

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  12. I have always liked my shorts with a 4-5 inch inseam like we used to wear them years ago say in the 70s-80s,I never cared for the real long shorts that the clothing stores are full of,I usually by jeans shorts and have them altered to a 4-5 inch inseam, if shorter shorts are coming back in style it doesn't hurt my feelings any.

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  13. These shorts are very comfortable and they fit great.



    Cheap Mens Shorts firm

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