Yikes! Manhattan Men Bare Hairy Knees, Plump Calves
By Joe Pompeo
On a sweltering afternoon early last month, Adam Newman, a 25-year-old Park Slope comedian who works for CollegeHumor.com, made a life-changing decision: He took scissors to a pair of brown corduroy pants and fashioned them into shorts.
“It’s getting hot and I’ve made up my mind. This summer, I’m wearing shorts!” Mr. Newman blogged recently. “I’ve always been an exclusively-pants guy, but I’m ready for change. No more sweating under the jeans at the park, I’m letting it breathe this year!”
Mr. Newman is not alone. A growing number of style-conscious men are becoming more comfortable with the idea of showing some leg during the hot summer months. No longer does it seem remarkable to see men—straight men—dressed in slim-fitting shorts that hang well above the knee, from conservatively dressed 9-to-5 Manhattan types, to Williamsburg hipsters who wear their cutoffs so high, it evokes the lyrics to the 1993 R&B hit “Dazzey Duks” (or The Dukes of Hazzard, depending on one’s age).
Ladies Retort With—Good Lord!—a $990 Cocktail Short
By Irina Aleksander
It used to be that if a grown woman were wearing shorts, it would be for purely utilitarian, counter-style moments: jogging, errands on a hot Saturday, a trip to the Laundromat. That is no longer the case.
There is the return of the ’60s high-waisted hot pants, sent down the runway this season by Erin Fetherston and L.A.M.B. There is the Bermuda short that reaches right above the knee, from Tory Burch ($195) and BCBG Max Azria ($138), for the BlackBerry clutching gals in midtown, and the neat little cuffed and expertly tailored Fanciful Short by Alice and Olivia ($165) and Badgley Mischka ($138), preferred by those going for a Lower East Side look, like the actress Kirsten Dunst. There is even the Carolina Herrera Cocktail Short ($990) and the mid-thigh, pleated silk Duchess Short by Dolce & Gabbana ($1,450), for the uptown gala-goer. And Forever 21 carries 112 reinterpretations of all the above for under $25
