July 13, 2008

Another entry in my continuing series: Men in shorts.

Man in shorts

So... maybe he's an actor, playing a child, and this is his costume. I really don't know. But do you see my point?

And don't tell me the weather is hot, because: 1. He's wearing long sleeves, and 2. The temperature was about 72° at the time.

45 comments:

ricpic said...

When he got dressed this morning his right brain was all "oceanic" and "in the moment" but his left brain was anticipating monday at the office.

Alan said...

People dress very casual where I live (a beach community in Florida). But I swear I've never seen anyone dress like that. :)

XWL said...

It must be 'performance art'.

Anonymous said...
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Methadras said...

I wear shorts. I think I look good in them. They are comfortable and I can certainly pull the look off. However, some guys just can't and they don't get it and just shouldn't do it. Men in pants is first priority, however, sometimes shorts, especially here in San Diego is a must.

lurker2209 said...

I'm now inspired to watch the Sound of Music. I wonder if that's available on netflix watch instantly...

john said...

I take back every snarky comment I ever made about your men-in-shorts riff. You are right. You are always right.

Ann Althouse said...

If you click on the "men in shorts" tag and scroll, you'll see that I did approve of one guy in shorts. There's another one beyond what is displayed on the front page that I approved of. So it's not impossible for a man to wear shorts successfully, but I just want you to think about whether you are that man and those are the shorts.

Steph said...

I knew a guy in Madison, when I lived there during graduate school, who wore shorts 365 days a year. In Madison. We all thought he was crazy but I never saw him not wearing shorts. I also didn't think he looked bad in shorts, but I agree that this picture is ridiculous.

jimbino said...

Í will now take to wearing shorts in order to distance myself from all small-minded men and women like those who have posted here.

walter neff said...

lurker2209 is right. That is the Von Trapp sister they don't talk about.

Diesel.

Ann Althouse said...

Oh, the other one didn't have a "men in shorts" tag. So now if you click the tag and scroll, you will find 2 examples of men in shorts that I approve of.

I'm only trying to help!

al said...

I'm now inspired to watch the Sound of Music. I wonder if that's available on netflix watch instantly...

Nope. Not there...

The guy in the pic - that's spooky. He's not representative of those of us guys who look good in shorts.

IgnatzEsq said...

I do want to thank you for giving me the courage to give up shorts in public. I'm dead serious, here. I always thought that shorts didn't look that good on me, but the idea of actually giving them up - that didn't occur to me until reading this blog.

Does anyone else recall the episode of David Letterman where he invests in a scissors and creates a new segment - "May we turn your Pants into Shorts?" By the end of the episode both he, Paul, and Mel Gibson are wearing newly created 'shorts.' I imagine that episode playing over and over again in one of Ann's nightmares.

It's too bad I can't find it anywhere on youtube...

rhhardin said...

I wear shorts even when it's below zero F. I just wear sweat pants over them as necessary. That's below 38F for me, on a bicycle anyway.

There's a lot of cooling skin area down there. Who cares how it looks.

Godot said...

And you have the nerve to suggest that Matt Drudge is an oddball.

Elliott A said...

When the temperature is always in the 90's it is very uncomfortable to wear anything but...
However a good t-shirt or polo adds a bit of normalcy.

AllenS said...

Men who wear blue jeans shorts, are only trying to prolong the investment that they made on the original purchase of the jeans. The first thing to go, are the knees. Nothing worse than having a good pair of jeans, with the knees area missing . And, it happens when the jeans are having that worn and cool look.

Balfegor said...

And they're not even real braces! That man is wearing clip-ons! Gah!

Anonymous said...

OK, what's the exception to the Thou Shalt Not Have Men In Shorts rule O' Hammurabi of leg wear?

I agree no shorts, or flip flops, sandals, retro lame tennis shoes or loafers.

The only exceptions on the shorts would be knee length biking shorts worn only when biking. No cheating.

XWL said...

Speaking of "Stuff White People Like", I'm thinking three things in this picture could serve as illustration for such stuff:

Leather shoes with no socks (his appear to be bike shoes of some sort, rather than deck shoes, but close enough)

Suspenders

(and of course) Navy-colored Chino Shorts


Come to think of it, it's possible that those 'bike shoes' are practical and he is just off a bike at this moment, still doesn't explain the suspenders (or long sleeved shirt), but might explain the shoes and shorts . . .

On looking at those shoes again, the funky part is on the back, not the front, so those aren't meant for bicycling, they're just ugly, really, really, ugly.

Anonymous said...

This is wrong in EVERY way.

And yet this works!

Ann Althouse said...

The exceptions are:

1. You're doing a sport where shorts are the classic style. Biking... but not golf.

2. It's extremely hot.... over 88°... and you're not in air conditioning.

3. You've got the right kind of shorts and physique (like the 2 guys I approved of).

Paddy O said...

This picture makes me want to change out of my shorts and swear them off forever.

Or, at least, swear off suspenders. Which might be easier to do.

XWL said...

Women are getting off way to easy in this thread, so for some balance in the unfortunate legwear competition, I present to you Lindsay Lohan's "Mr. President Leggings"

lurker2209 said...

Nope. Not there...

I know! I just looked it up. There's really nothing good on Netflix watch instantly, unless you want to see all 6 seasons of Law and Order SVU.

vbspurs said...
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vbspurs said...

Aren't suspenders something white people like?

...they have the "Stuff White People Like" applet on Facebook. You can take a test and see your whiteness score. Note, it's skewed. Apparently, you're thought to be whiter if you lean Lefty (the irony).

Those Farmers Market and Fox News answers were funny, but a total give-away.

Balfegor said...

Aren't suspenders something white people like?

Are they? I thought "white people" usually meant yuppies. As a not-quite-white yuppie myself, I fancy I possess a certain insight into the customs of the white-yuppie caste. And as it happens, I'm the only yuppie of any race I know who wears braces -- and that only occasionally (not all my suits have the buttons on them, much less all my trousers). I don't think my colleagues even wear braces with formal wear. There are some in the 50+ range who do, I guess. But they're not yuppies, on account of being middle aged. Or old.

vbspurs said...

Are they? I thought "white people" usually meant yuppies.

So, wait, hillbillies aren't considered white? Man, is Trace Adkins going to be spew.

Cheers,
Victoria

Donna B. said...

Seriously, all this guy is lacking is argyle socks.

Larry J said...

I dress for comfort (often in shorts) and don't give a damn what you or anyone else thinks about it. If a man starts ridiculing women for their appearance or how they dress, that's considered sexist. If you do it, it's also sexist and arrogant to boot. I'll wear my shorts and frankly, if you don't like it, who cares?

Asante Samuel said...

Y'all are wrong, that's just one of the many agricultural-looking women of Sissynavian heritage one sees on the streets of Madtown. She's in a hurry to get back to the barn for the evening milking.

Balfegor said...

So, wait, hillbillies aren't considered white? Man, is Trace Adkins going to be spew.

(a) Do hillbillies even wear braces anymore?

(b) how can hillbillies hope to compete in the whiter than thou status competitions that yuppies engage in? Would a hillbilly think to call himself Barack to express his fanatic support for a charismatic demagogue? Well, maybe one or two might. But not a whole lot of them!

vbspurs said...

Damn, Balfegor. You speak the Truth.

Cheers,
Victoria

Unknown said...

At least i don't have a mustache
bitch!




I will be seeing you around library mall professor.

Kev said...

It's extremely hot.... over 88°... and you're not in air conditioning

That first part describes Texas from June into September. But the "you're not in air conditioning" part confuses me; are you suggesting that people change clothes (and from more formal to less formal, at that) when they go indoors? Doesn't make sense to me.

(I just spent the entire weekend at a conference in Indiana where shorts and flip-flops were worn by over half the guys there.)

But I agree that the posted photo is ridiculous; it looks like a fashion designer's idea of what someone would wear, vs. what an actual (straight, non-European) guy would wear.

Anonymous said...

Once again Ann posts an off the wall proposition and the commenters toss her confection about in a most enjoyable way.
Sure beats pondering BHO in the Oval Office.

Unknown said...

"The guy looks like some sort of overgrown Amish boy reject."

Huh-uh.

1. Wrong haircut.
2. No hat.
3. Amish don't wear lederhosen (or lookalikes).
4. Amish don't wear shorts.
5. Amish do wear suspenders, but buttons are not allowed, so snap suspenders would be acceptable.

Amish picture here:

http://rightwingnation.com/2008/01/26/getting-it-done/

MadisonMan said...

I see no evidence that that is a man.

Age Appropriate said...

Isn't that Karen's queeny little Southern frenemy from "Will & Grace"?

Anyway, I've gone through the posts tagged with Men in shorts and I think I've worked out why Ann doesn't approve often - she only approves of the hot ones!

ron st.amant said...

It's the ACTUAL Buster Brown...

yeah I'm old

veni vidi vici said...

suspenders???

what a douchebag.

vbspurs said...

It's the ACTUAL Buster Brown...

yeah I'm old


I was going to quip about "Little Lord Fauntleroy", Ron, but your Buster Brown is better.

Eric said...

From the looks of his collar, he seems to be wearing a tie. Which means that he's probably trying to emulate the old prep school little boy look. But where is his school blazer? Where are his knee socks?

In the days when they dressed boys like that, the idea was that the parents would save money, because boys legs grew too fast. By age 14, they were ready for long pants -- a sure sign of incipient manhood.

I think the man in the photo symbolically rejects manhood -- and flaunts it. While it's a growing trend, I don't think it will ever have mainstream appeal.

You are right to criticize it as unmanly. Not only is that the whole idea, but it's wholly unoriginal -- even if it might have once worked for growing prep school boys.