SHORTS, SUITS & SUMMER: DO YOU EMBRACE TREND OR TRADITION?

Now that’s it is unofficially summer with the passing of Memorial Day, the wardrobe question arises of how shorts fit into the picture.

Short have been making a buzz recently and seem to be hitting a crescendo this season

Seen on the runways the past few seasons (here, here, here, here, here and in the form of tights here) they are now in full bloom. And apparently the trend is toward short suits, the mixing of shorts and tailored suit. The Telegraph points out the latest issue of GQ magazine which hails:”Shorts are becoming a natural summer staple for those who dress well in the city…a bold fashion statement that’s totally tied to 2008″.

But the pairing of shorts with tailored jackets is a precarious situation for most guys. Aside from the obvious awkwardness to the unadjusted eye, many men may not take well to a monkey wrench being thrown into their tried and true wardrobe staple suit.

Some of us have yet to grasp the severe cuts Hedi Slimane influenced or the shrunken suit aesthetic of Thom Browne. For many men the suit is a no fuss, idiot proof uniform that comes with no required directions for wear.

GQ’s associate editor Charlie Porter tells the Telegraph, “Many men use suits as their default, no-thought wardrobe, so if you do anything to them then you’re changing something sacred. Combine that with shorts, which a lot of men find a problem anyway, and you’re going to double the difficulty.” Porter also says, “I think it’s a great look”.

Are shorts really that troubling for most of us!?!

We’ve been wearing them since time immortal when the summer is in effect. Granted it has been normally paired with casual top-wear, not tailored jackets. We can understand the caution of the pairing that makes the short suit. But is it the striking boldness of the short suit that hits the unadjusted eye with it’s fashion forward proportions, or are shorts themselves the problem? Indeed the article goes on to ask “Most of the men [talked] to focus on the thorny issue of the socks – should they be knee-length, pulled up, or simply absent? Yet among the women, the problem is not the shorts suit or the socks but showing any leg at all.”

What the eff is that! What do these women think of basketball shorts? (But we forget, sports is such an uber-masculine area that even men wearing tights was pulled off.)

As far as we’re concerned it’s hot, shorts are cool and it’s summer. So take comfort in the short look if you want, just strictly adhere to the most flattering cut for your body.

Also, check out the bonus video (below) of one reporters journey into the short suit.