Guide to choosing and wearing fashionable shorts this spring

In Europe, until the first half of the 20th century, shorts or shorts were worn almost exclusively by boys. The transition from adolescence to youth marked the time when they were allowed to wear long pants, a symbol of adulthood, seriousness and masculinity.

What does this say about our society, then, that today shorts are worn by adults and children, by sportsmen and civilians, for walking around the house but also in the street, in informal situations but also in the most elegant situations (as did Pharrell at an Oscar ceremony )?

Are we living in a childish age? Or are those old dress codes as far behind as the tie? In any case, what is clear is that shorts have long since ceased to be an exclusive summer garment, and today we see people — men and women — wearing them all year round, hot or cold. But now that spring has officially begun, the land season is also officially open.

The most similar antecedent to shorts, at least as we know them today, are the clothes worn by soldiers of the Nepalese army when they faced the English invasion, in 1880. The Himalayans used something very similar to those that would be the current khaki shorts, this semi-exploratory style but with large pockets and wide buckles, designed to wear a belt with weapons and clothing typical of a military uniform.

A garment similar to bermuda shorts, named after the islands again used as a base by the British army – clearly a fashion icon – during the First World War. Legend has it that there was only one tea room on the site, which of course was filled with English soldiers every day. The owner of the place, instead of buying new uniforms for his waiters – who were suffering from the humid Caribbean heat – decided to cut their pants at the knees.

Sin saberlo, iniciaron toda una tendencia: los militares empezaron a imitar el estilo y luego los turistas que llegaban a la isla volvían también a sus pays con esta nueva inspiration, que tiempo después fue adopted por los Boy Scouts, fundados justamente por un ex general English. It didn’t take long for clothing to become the norm for sports like tennis and golf.

During the 60s and 70s, the counterculture – especially the hippies – did their thing. Wearing shorts became a rebellion against established norms and bourgeois impositions. The garment has been adapted in different ways to different genders, styles and colors. In the 1980s, the fashion industry took over and shorts were permanently incorporated into shop windows as part of the normal wardrobe.

But trends, like everything else, have their ups and downs, ups and downs. For years, shorts that reached to the shin, full of wide pockets and with dropped hips, were all the rage. Then came cropped shorts, or extra short pants, with above-the-knee cuts, some looking even more like hot pants. In those years it was when the so-called Caszely, or tight sports shorts, in memory of those worn by footballers like Carlos Humberto in the early eighties.

What does this 2022/23 season have in store for us? Short, long, jeans, fabric, swimsuit, sport, fabric? Bring in the experts.

For this summer, Junice Roa of Chile Outfits He assures that “the skirt type shorts are coming, which are rather called skirt shorts, and you can find them either in jeans or more formal in other colors.”

It will also be a trend, he says, anything short, “is what you see the most now.” It’s a clear nostalgic throwback to the turn of the century, with hip pants like those worn by Britney Spears. “They can be short or long, but always with a short bang.”

For the fashion stylist Matias Amengual “the waver shorts for this season will be two: the one with cropped jeans, evoking that California summer look, and the other with a type of fabric Dockerswhich is the perfect fusion to maintain the formal aspect of work without looking too casual or informal”.

Amengual insists that the short guy Dockersespecially colors like brown or black, will be the to have to of this summer. “It’s super easy to combine and wear everyday: with sneakers it doesn’t look so casual and it can even work for the office,” she adds.

Mary Jesus Colomes lawyer and influencer of fashion, believes that the shorts “more wavy, but also formal, are the wide shorts . Even better if you add a belt or they have metal buttons. Be careful that they are made of fabric, so that they don’t look so casual”.

Another trend will be the flannel shorts, a fabric like that of the jumpsuit, which increasingly leaves room exclusively for sport or domestic laziness to settle in those of great style. Is it useful to cut the pants in which I did physical education 10 years ago? Only if enough is done by someone who knows, that the shorts aren’t full of lint.

What is not recommended when it comes to shorts for this spring/summer? All three reviews agree that it is not very subtle to judge tastes, however

Colomés believes that “very cropped, hip-length denim is very unflattering. I would never use them as they make the legs look 1mm thick and from the waist down everything falls off.

Amengual, for his part, admits he gets “a little angry” when he sees men wearing swimsuits outside of a pool or beach setting. Or are there women wearing swimsuits on the street?

“Fashion is dressing according to what is fashionable: style is being yourself,” said designer Oscar de la Renta at the time. So if your thing is shin-length diver bermudas, the ones Zamorano popularized while training for the national team in the late 1990s, don’t let anyone or anything stop you.

“I think we all know fearlessness when we see it. Nothing makes me smile more than seeing someone being totally themselves, with their style and individual character, whatever that is,” concluded the time the same Angelina Jolie .

*Prices for products in this item are updated as of September 22, 2022. Values ​​and availability may change.