“It just seemed like a good idea,” said Mr. Dougherty, a self-proclaimed “anti-shorts guy” (he renounced them at age 21 while studying abroad in Italy, where skin-tight Diesel jeans are the norm). “I’ve been enjoying them, but there’s definitely still a bit of a moral dilemma, and a few minutes of standing in front of the mirror asking myself, ‘Can I go outside like this?’"
Mr. Newman, the comedian, admitted that he does indeed feel sort of funny wearing shorts in public. “I think shorts in general look pretty ridiculous.”
‘VERY FREEING’
How short is too short seems to be the question of the hour. And if you ask John McSwain, who works as an assistant editor for Vice magazine’s online television network, VBS.tv, he’ll tell you that four to seven inches above the knee (or perhaps even higher!) is about right.
Mr. McSwain, 27, of Greenpoint, is a shorts enthusiast who loves all styles, from Fred Perry tennis shorts to those little cutoff jeans that, when worn by women, are sometimes referred to as “boom-booms.” (Mr. McSwain alternately calls them his “redneck cutoffs.”)
“They’re very comfortable but sometimes completely impractical. I definitely also have some fun with them,” said Mr. McSwain, recognizing the ironic aspect of wearing shorts that look like they belong on an episode of Welcome Back Kotter. “They can be very freeing.”
The L.A.-based chain store American Apparel has been at the forefront of the men’s short-shorts trend, offering an array of skimpy vintage designs ranging from tiny poplin running shorts to thigh-hugging corduroy stretch pants that rise just above the knee.
Mathew Swenson, a spokesman for the company, said the male audience for short shorts, once exclusively the attire of trend-setting hipsters, has widened to include more mainstream types of guys who’d previously limited themselves to the baggier cargos and board shorts dominating the market—these days considered, perhaps, a bit dorky. “Now you prove your masculinity by wearing short shorts or pink underwear,” he said.
Some women, like Mr. McSwain’s friend Melissa Burgos, a 24-year-old fellow Greenpoint resident, enjoy the look.
“I’m totally into the denim cutoffs. Like, well above the knee. Thigh-grazing,” Ms. Burgos said. “A guy who is able to pull those off is obviously a confident one.”
But for other gals, shorts are and always will be a turnoff.
“There are two types of guys. There’s the guy who would not find himself dead in a pair of shorts, and then there’s the guy who would jump at the idea of wearing them, and I’m probably more partial to the first type of guy,” said Victorya Hong, the Brooklyn-based designer and former Project Runway contestant. “I’ve just always felt that shorts on men in the city is a big no-no. I guess I’m trying to stay true to the old school
of thought that little boys are the ones who wear shorts, so the idea of an older man wearing them seems kind of juvenile to me.”
jpompeo@observer.com
