For Men, It’s Going to Be a Big Shorts Summer
Why bigger shorts are having a moment in menswear
Summer is a season of subtraction, of revelation. Hot temperatures yield fewer clothes and, thus, more skin. In recent years, shorts have been getting smaller, shorter, more abbreviated. Men like Donald Glover, Paul Mescal, Harry Styles, and Connor Storrie have all been the very embodiment of that seasonal thesis in their thigh-revealing shorts (or “slutty little shorts” to borrow GQ’s parlance) that make a meaty showcase of their toned quads. Labels like Prada, Tom Ford, and Saint Laurent, meanwhile, have pushed the very limits of propriety by showing itsy-bitsy little shorts on their runways, sometimes little more than a wisp of fabric. We were living in a golden age of tiny shorts.
But a marked shift is underway: on the streets of major cities (likely the cooler neighborhoods; Bushwick, we see you), on your social media feed, perhaps even on your very own body. Short-shorts are on the retreat. Big shorts are on the rise.
Welcome to Big Short Summer™—a season to embrace long, flowing, voluminous below-the-waist garments, hanging south of the knee or, at times, much lower. Shorts with dynamism, a hearty, confident shape, and sweeping gesture. Whatever shorts you choose to wear this summer, just make sure they have presence—which is to say that they are very, very big.
“There’s something deeply American about them,” says designer Willy Chavarria, who often shows shorts of Brobdingnagian proportions as part of his collections. “They connect to workwear, streetwear, Chicano culture, sports, skate culture; all these worlds that shaped how I saw style growing up,” he says. “The rejection of restrictive dressing. All of that filters into the silhouette.”
Chavarria believes the current embrace of them is, in part, thanks to a new generation of confident male dressers, unafraid to experiment with shape and volume. “For a long time, menswear became very controlled: slim, fitted, hyper-groomed,” he added. “Oversized shorts reject that notion, as they create movement, ease, and confidence.”
“To me, it’s a natural progression from baggy pants, which we’ve seen rise over the last few years,” says Sam Bolianatz, a content creator based out of Toronto. “Now that big pants have made it into the mainstream of menswear, I think there’s a new comfort level for guys to adopt big shorts.”
Bigger shorts may be having something of a moment, but Bolianatz notes they possess an enduring, nostalgic quality as well. He counts memories of his grandfather wearing big jean shorts to do weekend yard work and the continuing influence of 1990s J.Crew catalogues as lasting touchstones.
For himself, he prefers shorts with what he calls an “a-line” silhouette that are “fitted in the waist and widen at the hemline.” He thinks they look great with flip-flops or, if you want to dress them up, loafers and scrunched socks. His current rotation includes the Easy Short from Yoko Sakamoto and a green cargo pair from C.P. Company. “They just make any outfit look cooler.”
Bruce Pask, the AVP Men’s Fashion Office, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, has been a longtime big shorts enthusiast. “I’ve been wearing big shorts for a couple of years now, and I think it may be because they simply make a style statement,” he says. “They stand out.” Now, he says, his warm weather arsenal includes everything from “skort-y cargos that hit at the knee, to very large, oversized, cotton utility shorts that fall to the calf, and many in between.” Brands he enjoys include Dries Van Noten and Lemaire. And while tiny shorts may seem like the obvious choice to stay cool on hot days, larger styles, he says, “have an airy, breezy feel that makes them great for summer.”
Indeed, Pask is touching upon the animating spirit of big shorts: their rebelliousness. In warmer months, diminutive styles are the obvious choice—they kowtow to the whims of the oppressive heat. To pick a pair cut with bold length, breadth, and movement is to be something of a renegade. Yes, you are wearing shorts, yes; but not playing by their rules.
While longer shorts have been percolating for some time, it was perhaps Jonathan Anderson’s first show for Dior—a menswear show—that solidified their current status. Shown last summer, the collection opened with a tweedy, nipped-waist jacket and stockman tie on top, paired with a billowing pair of white cargo shorts beneath. Based on the undulating folds of an archival Dior dress from 1948, The Delft, it was a flag-planting, statement-making silhouette to usher in a new era at the brand.
As these things are wont to do, that new shape is trickling its way into the ether. Those Anderson-planted seeds are now coming to fruition. That his Dior look dovetails with the early-aughts Abercrombie look, which is also cresting, might have quickened the process.
The great thing about a long short is its sartorial flexibility. While some may see in them the hypermasculine sensibility of workwear, New York’s Henry Zankov sees something else. “I think big shorts on men and women feel sexy; they almost sometimes mimic the feeling of a skirt which I think is interesting,” he says. “I do feel there is an elegance to a more generous cut. And men are making more and more of an effort to feel and look more sophisticated.”
Maximillian Ryan, a Los Angeles-based content creator and stylist, thinks big shorts are a bridge piece between the current bifurcated menswear space, between a more “classy” style and the lingering effects of streetwear. “The cultural shift in menswear from super formal to casual has shifted dramatically in the last 40 years,” he says. “I feel the classy style is trending more this year, and menswear is now in a perfect balance of both. In simple terms, classy-streetwear is now trending for this generation of fashion. I think that baggy, longer shorts are the perfect piece for that style.”
Ryan also notes that the bigger shorts have deep ties to the West Coast—skate, surf, and Chicano communities. He name-checks surfers Mark Occhilupo and Andy and Adam Irons as touchstones, as well as his upbringing in a Cuban household. “[I was] influenced by my family and their love for the lowrider car community,” he says. “I learned and immediately loved the Chicano style. Dressed in the classic look of a flannel, baggy shorts or pants, Vans, and dark shades—similar to the style of surfers and skaters here in SoCal. Same thing, different font.”
While he owns and wears styles from smaller brands like G.N.G, Digit238, Elwood, and ERL, he says that Dickies is perhaps the best, noting that he likes the whopping 15-inch inseam. “In my opinion, you want the shorts to sit right at the mid shin,” he says. “And shoe game is also important. In the summer, flip-flops, Converse, and Vans are great light shoe options. Hemp clogs or bigger shoes also look great.”
Will you see short shorts this summer as temperatures spike and humidity hits? Sure, yes, of course. But don’t be surprised to see defiant long, baggy shorts also turning up as the season rolls on. All the cool guys know that when it comes to shorts, right now—climate be damned!—the undeniable mantra is: go big or go home.
