I started wearing shorts this week for the first time in about a decade. Those who know me well know that I pretty much only wear skirts, except to the gym and if I am, say, doing a high ropes obstacle course, when my solitary pair of trousers gets their bi-annual outing. But last weekend I borrowed a pair of tuxedo shorts (with a cunning purple stripe) from Ben to wear to a gay icon-themed party in order to assume a sort of Marlene Dietrich look. When I put them on, I wondered if I didn’t look a bit like a boy scout, but it turned out to be literally my greatest fashion moment ever. ‘Great shorts!’ strangers said to me, clapping me on the back in congratulations. ‘Amazing shorts!’ This sartorial triumph gave me the courage to buy my own pair this week (£17 in the Reiss sale) and now I am rather pro-short.
Except for at weddings, which Simon Chilvers endorses here. Is a covered man-calf too much for a bride to expect? I think not. This is not because men don’t have nice calves, but because they tend not to shave their legs, and a hairy leg is less aesthetically pleasing. (Which is not to say, of course, that I don’t wholly support the decision of anyone who opts not to de-fuzz - hurrah for leg-shaving agency.)
