Cuff your shorts
There’s a longstanding prohibition against short men cuffing their trousers. The idea being that you thereby interrupt the “lengthening” vertical line of your pants by a precious inch or two. Not bad advice, really. But would a similar problem arise for short men who wanted to cuff a pair of shorts? Last week, The Sartorialist snapped a photo of a natty beach bum in the South of France and mused:
I have been seeing cuffed shorts slowly popping up on cool guys around the world. I hate when my shorts flair out at the bottom and cuffing them is a good trick but it is one of those funny things about menswear – either you’re a shorts cuffer or you’re not.
I can’t tell whether the man pictured is short but it doesn’t really matter. I think cuffed shorts for shorter guys could really work. The main problem with shorts and the short is that they (surprisingly, given the name) don’t often go together very well these days. The current style favors long and/or baggy shorts. Nothing against that look, but it often ends up looking way too long on guys like us. Besides visually dragging us down, they can also make us look more kid-like sometimes, I think.
Cuffing a pair of shorts not only adds a subtle debonair flair to your casual summer wardrobe, but you fix the whole my-shorts-are-too-long issue while you’re at it. I think the Sartorialist is right, though. It’s a tricky business. You run the risk of looking like a dork is you do it wrong — or cuff the wrong pair of shorts.
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Speaking of shorter shorts, I spotted some likely contenders recently at H&M (6″) and French Connection (both of which also had a bunch of the too-long variety). Anyone know of any shorter shorts out there?
May 12th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I have had some success with golf shorts, with a few important caveats:
The trouser leg is no more than 2 inches wider than the circumference of my leg.
The trouser leg stops at about 3/4 of my thigh, not at or under my knee.
No cargo pockets or flaps (makes my leg look wider than it is).
As straight of a leg as possible, no flaring if I can avoid it.
Flat front, dear lord in heaven, flat front.
Ankle socks only.
I can’t recall ever having a cuff on such a short; I’ll have to give it a shot. I seem to recall somewhere in middle school that a very short fad of people pegging their shorts came and went and everyone looked like dorks for a summer. I’d like to avoid that.
May 12th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Banana Republic has 2 pairs of “tailored” shorts in the Monogram collection
May 13th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I know that birdwell beach britches and patagonia both offer short swim trunks. I’ve been useing them for years. Patagonia does shorter shorts too!
May 14th, 2008 at 7:40 am
JCrew catalog has some very nice plain-front khaki shorts with a 5″ inseam that are perfect…
http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod62948171&catId=cat302091
May 14th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I’ve relied on J.Crew for the past 10 years for shorts. Their catalog carries one style of chino shorts with a 5″ or 6″ inseam that work ok for me at 5′4″
May 14th, 2008 at 11:46 am
JCrew offers shorts with shorter inseams: 5”, 7” and 9” I believe — for me at 5′6”, the 7” are the perfect length. Problem is, they flare a little. Maybe I’ll buy the 9” and have them cuffed.
For bathing suits I heartily recommend Parke and Ronen and, as someone else said, Birdwells.
May 14th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
LL Bean offers shorts with varying lengths, bathing suits w/a 6 in. inseam for instance, and conventional shorts with 7,8 and 9 in. lengths.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
My best shorts weren’t always short. As I favor tighter pants, the pairs I’ve had that wore out went to the tailor and became shorts, as shorts can often be more casual.
May 14th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Thanks, guys. Great advice all around. I knew about Parke and Ronen but not Birdwells. Will have to check them out. Funny about the L.L. Bean. I grew up in Maine a couple towns away from Bean’s and always got dragged there on shopping trips with my parents. Never found any clothes that fit all that well, but I’ll have to stop by next time I go home to visit! Ha.
Those J. Crew shorts are classic. I did a post on them last year: http://shortshrifted.com/index.php/?p=59
Keep the great suggestions coming!
Cheers,
Josh
June 11th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Sears/ Covington Twill Hiker Short
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_041S0949000P?vName=Clothing&cName=Men%27s&sName=Swimsuits+%26+Shorts
(In store, they have 2 inseams for these. I believe these in the link are the shorter ones.)
JCPenny/St. John’s Bay Hiking Short
http://www2.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=53006&CatID=54420&GrpTyp=SIZ&ItemID=132ea0d&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CmCatId=EXTERNAL|53919|54420
Cabela Trail Shorts
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0012449901057a&navCount=1&podId=0012449901057&parentId=cat601787&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat21082-cat601787&catalogCode=8IS&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601787&hasJS=true
I don’t have the inseams for the 1st two offhand – I could measure them later. The Cabela’s are 5″.
June 9th, 2009 at 1:28 am
Corey, that’s the way to go! I was so fed up with finding a decent pair of shorts. I consider myself a somewhat athletic guy but too many shorts have leg holes so big and the bottom of the shorts flare out as if I’m wearing a skirt. I suspect that the shorts manufacturers never take proportionality into account; I thought it’s common knowledge that a 5′5″ person with a 28″ waist probably doesn’t have thighs as big as a 6 footer with a 32″ and the circumference of the bottom hem probably should be adjusted. I resort to buying a regular pair of pants and have it hem to shorts length. I have never been happier since. No more worries about inseams, etc.