Wow! SO MANY Americans wear those long baggy shorts that go below the knee.

Men wearing culottes look retarded.

Those are their bathing suits, OP. We're more body-phobic than Iran, but only as it applies to men. Women go around practically naked.

[quote]Those are their bathing suits, OP.

They're wearing them around town.

If a man is going to wear shorts after turning 50, the shorts should be long enough to cover his kneecaps.

Like this.

3/4 of American men wear them and you act like you don't know what I'm talking about.

DL can be so bizarre sometimes.

Cargo shorts?

like this

Oh, you

They're just shorts. They come longer than normal.

This isn't Europe where the trousers are all skin tight and made of Spandex.

[quote]They come longer than normal.

OK.

I don't see any problem with the Gap cargo shorts in R5, nor do I see what's wrong with the fuller cut Bermudas in R7. I bought an identical pair of those in R7 during my last trip to Cayman, and I'm British. When I see the short shorts with a short rise, I wonder how men can even move in them. Perhaps some of us have bigger bollocks. Comfort is important for casualware.

[quote]I don't see any problem with the Gap cargo shorts in [R5], nor do I see what's wrong with the fuller cut Bermudas in [R7].

I didn't say there was anything WRONG with them.

[quote] I bought an identical pair of those in [R7] during my last trip to Cayman, and I'm British. When I see the short shorts with a short rise, I wonder how men can even move in them. Perhaps some of us have bigger bollocks. Comfort is important for casualware.

You say your "British" yet you talk like an American.

Nearly all the men are wearing them in this picture

[quote]3/4 of American men wear them

Is this more or less than the proportion of people on the Internet who pull statistics out of their ass?

I live in the states, and have for a little over twenty years R13. Please learn the difference between your and you're. That isn't proper even for an American!

R15 >

[quote]They come longer than normal.

I HAVE THAT EFFECT ON THE MINZ!

They’re definitely cooler than long pants. And they have a ton of pockets so men and butchy lesbians who go hiking love them.

The word "short' is a misnomer of a description for something that covers 60% of the leg.

These are genuine shorts.

(the English deputy Prime Minister in the 1980s)

[quote]I live in the states, and have for a little over twenty years [R13]. Please learn the difference between your and you're. That isn't proper even for an American!

It's The States.

and only common British people call America "The States" - so you must be low class.

Cheers R19, I'm an avid hiker, backpacker, and walk everywhere around town... they're practical as well as comfortable.

Strange that cargo shorts are still everywhere (not just hikers) and yet nobody wears cargo pants anymore.

[quote]I live in the states, and have for a little over twenty years [R13]. Please learn the difference between your and you're. That isn't proper even for an American!

Proper? I don't think the British Mary should be correcting anyone's English.

[quote]Cheers [R19],

Yes, definitely common.

They're called gauchos. A bad line.

R21 only people of the wrong class point up class differences. Please go study your English grammar, and loosen up those tight shorts, as they're cutting off your circulation.

r20 here in the good ole’ USofA we call those “booty shorts”

...coochie cutters if you’re she/her/hers

To cover up the fat knees...particularly in Vermont. We have some BIG people strolling around here this summer.

The Chinese and Aldi are pushing those so-called, misnamed "cargo" "shorts".

The sewing-machine-operators in China get paid half a cent for every pocket they add to bags and clothes. They have more pockets that normal people need.

[quote][R21] only people of the wrong class point up class differences.

What's "the wrong class"?

and it's point out, not point up...

Gee - I don't know what you're talking about, OP

I saw a young guy enter my therapist's office wearing those. So it's not that men wear them in the city in the summer, they're appropriate summer wear. But a doctor's office... ugh.

I thought those longer shorts were called boardshorts, which have their origins among surfers. They eventually became mainstream. They're still much cooler than long pants, and I see plenty of guys wearing sandals with them instead of traditional shoes and socks. I used to wear quite skimpy shorts when I was young and trim and my legs were sexy and tan. Since I'm now old, non-sexy and non-tan, I prefer dressing more modestly, so I tend to wear longer shorts now, when I even wear shorts.

“Men never wore shorts when I was young. There are few things I would rather see less, to tell you the truth. I'd just as soon see someone coming toward me with a hand grenade. This is one of the worst changes, by far. It's disgusting. To have to sit next to grown men on the subway in the summer, and they're wearing shorts? It's repulsive. They look ridiculous, like children, and I can't take them seriously.”

Are we another person with a problem because we don't have unrestricted access to another person's body?

Ha ha, R36. I forgot that Fran said that.

*eyeroll*

R36 Fran says lots of silly stuff just to shock. She doesn't appreciate the male body at all

(She's looking and sounding like george Burns)

Girls over there seem to wear them very short and men very long.

Short shorts are back in fashion among teenagers. I prefer long shorts on men.

r41, it's how American's give the middle finger to those muslim countries that allow men to show skin and require women to wear sweaty head to toe potato sacks. We do the opposite.

OP is right here in the US. He trolls and tries to sound like he doesn't live here. He does.

You can slow down the self responses, OP. You're busted.

Once a man starts losing the hair around his ankles and shins, it's time to put the shorts away. By this point his skin in the area affected has become scaly and whatever muscle tone he had on his calves begins to deteriorate. Buy a pair of tropical weight pants to preserve your dignity and spare others from witnessing your decrepitude.

Preach Fran Lebowitz, preach!

No one's required to wear them. If they're not your thing, go shorter and tighter and stop complaining.

[quote]OP is right here in the US.

Oh, where am I exactly?

[quote] He trolls and tries to sound like he doesn't live here. He does. You can slow down the self responses, OP. You're busted.

Strange, so defensive about stupid shorts.

Lightweight cargo shorts are great when it's miserably hot and humid, as it's been around here for two months now.

[quote]and only common British people call America "The States" - so you must be low class.

Every British person I've ever known calls the USA "America."

[quote] Strange, so defensive about stupid shorts.

Strange, starting a thread about stupid shorts and trying to sound like you don't live in the US.

[quote]I saw a young guy enter my therapist's office wearing those. So it's not that men wear them in the city in the summer, they're appropriate summer wear. But a doctor's office... ugh.

/ / Great-Aunt Vivian, reaching for her smelling salts.

And ironically enough, r2, we are the mirror image of Iran: women there cover up and men don't; here men cover up and women don't.

Straight men in the US wear long shorts because they think that short shorts will make them look gay.

I love Fran, but I have to disagree with her about shorts. I don't know how she can walk around NYC in the dead heat of summer in heavy blazers and cowboy boots.

Yes men voluntarily wearing cargo shorts are the same as a government forcing women to cover up to their chins. Same thing.

You threw us all off with the "go below the knee" thing, OP

I was thinking those pants that hit mid-calf that lots of European men wear and I suspect many other Americans were too.

Cargo shorts hit at the knee and are way more comfortable than long pants and people wear them when traveling because lots and lots of pockets.

But let's go back a step here: why were you watching a webcam set up on the streetcorner of a random town in Vermont? That's weird AF. How lonely are you?

Oh please, OP is obviously talking about cargo shorts and the fact is that the fashion nazis on DL like me have been campaigning against them for years. They're stupid and tired. OP is making a perfectly accurate statement.

However, it's hopeless, just like the campaign against flip-flops. Cargo shorts will never go away because pockets.

R56, cargo shorts are still very much in style. Most designers have them. Upscale stores sell them. And I won’t stop including them in my wardrobe.

Your virginity is safe, r59.

Why are 'cargo' shorts called that?

Is the woman in R41's picture wearing Daisy Dukes?

Acceptance is the first step towards healing R58.

We need to bring back the short athletic shorts.

For R16, R21, R50

[quote] the fashion nazis on DL like me have been campaigning against them for years.

No, you haven't. You've been on here two years trying to normalize the word nazi, though.

R65 is that parody of Elton John in his earlier days when every song seemed to be American?

r11 Is plastic cutlery considered casualware?

Oh my stars R21!!

COMMON PEOPLE!!!!!

Flee!! Flee!! Flee at once!!!

Those shorts are baggy because American men are fat and also, Heaven Forfend if someone's eyes glance upon a Speedo or short inseam lest ye be GAY.

I wouldn't know R68, as I don't use or buy it. I don't even take it backpacking. You sound dreary and pretentious.

There's a straight line from this thread to the "why don't men shower nude together anymore" thread.

r69, it's "oh, my sides," not "oh, my stars." As in, I'm laughing so hard that my sides are starting to hurt.

Oh, my stars and garters!

I'm not surprised at the cargo shorts hate here, as many DLers prefer a more classic form of summer wear.

All of these rules about how long your shorts should be or to what age you should stop wearing shorts, what color, what kind of pockets, blah blah blah. Wear anything you want and let them roll their eyes. Represent your brand. Be a rebel, own it.

[quote]Straight men in the US wear long shorts because they think that short shorts will make them look gay.

no shit.

Anything that isn't popular is considered "gay".

Cunty truth fairy is lucky. Bitch doesn't have to deal with that.

THE worst are the guys wearing those nylon heels basketball shorts that go below the knee. Usually they’re fat.

By the power of Lesbos, cease this fuckery!

Once men realized they were being ogled by women and homosexualists, they decided to cover up.

They are called homophobia shorts.

R7 More like this...

I'm probably in the minority, but loose shorts (or whatever you call them) is fine with me. Mainly because these "homophobic" guys don't realize you can practically see their crotch when they sit down and cross their legs the "manly" way

No one should ever wear cargo shorts. It's not 2003 - you look foolish. Especially older gay men who wear them with tank tops thinking they look like the Abercrombie models they used to ogle back when A&F still printed their homoerotic magazine. You look foolish! Wear pants or Flat front chino shorts - you don't need those stupid pockets and you'll never use them. You look poor

to add to R85. Don't let your weight get out of control so that you are over 400 lbs and you have to wear giant shorts below the knee and 6X t-shirts. I see this on a daily basis.

R8 : He can cover himself up as much as he wants.

r83 rather

R88

I wouldn't call that "covering himself up."

Like we don't notice that he is super-sized and wearing ridiculous clothing?

I'm saying that because of the douche that he is.

Speaking as an American, I'd say knee-length cargo shorts are common for multiple reasons:

* shorter shorts just scream "queeny gay twink from the 1980s" to anyone between roughly 30 and 55 (older guys don't seem to automatically associate them with gayness). Just about the only way short shorts could look gayer is if you wore them with a neon tank top, tucked it in, and wore a belt (shudder). Add knee-length black socks and sandals, and then you'd look like a queeny gay EUROPEAN twink.

* we don't like to get our balls crunched and mashed up whenever we sit down or bend over, regardless of waist size.

* our phones' batteries only last through 3 or 4 hours of continual high-brightness use on Scruff or Grindr, so we also have to carry around a 10,000mAH external battery and a USB cable to keep the fun going. Cargo shorts are awesome for this... I definitely prefer to carry my 1-2 pound battery brick in one of the lower pockets.

R90 lol

Why does it matter if you don't wear them? Why do you have to see guys in shorter shorts?

It's not like they're going to bang ya. Who cares?

Cooler heads prevail, and prove not every gay man on this thread is a superficial fashion maven. Thank you, R93, R91, and R76. There are by far more important things to worry about in this world.

"So it's not that men wear them in the city in the summer, they're appropriate summer wear. But a doctor's office... ugh."

Why would you dress up to impress a doctor? Do you think you'll get better health care? I'm pretty sure you won't.

My grandmother wore her "Sunday" clothes to the doctor, and I'm sure my mother dressed up at least while I was still living at home.

But I don't see the point. The doctor's office is not a job interview, a social function or a first date. Appointments are usually during the work week. Whatever you wear at work seems to be more than reasonable.

If you're making the statement that we should all aspire to dress like the upper classes you have fucked up priorities and little sense of reality. I go to the doctor's office for my health. That's it. I don't have to impress my doctor. My doctor needs to impress me with his medical expertise. If he's withholding that because of the way I dress, he needs to be sued and his licence to practice medicine revoked.

That whole upper class twit thing that may have gotten you respect on the internet at one point, but it seems like a pile of Trump-like bullshit these days.

Another smart fellow thankfully @ R95

^Not really. People such as R95 and his admirers are just more evidence of the standards of good taste slipping away. Naturally, he managed to introduce Trump into his discourse, as if he has anything to do with the subject. Such intellectual heavyweights here. I'll bet you people wear pajamas to the airport.

NoHomo shorts

It was about time for good taste and it's accompanying 'rules' to fade a bit. Not totally, but past the point of snobbery. I don't get upset seeing someone's wobbly bits in the summer. I look away if it does....and that's what my gran always referred to as imposing your standards of good taste. Staring at someone's wobbly bits and doing the 'tsk tsk' bit is far more tasteless than a pair of shorts in a doctor's office.

*its*

The part of town OP was watching is a ticky tacky tourist street. You get what you're looking for.

Oh we're fighting about shorts today are we.

I like men who just wear pants

No, R102, but we will if you want to. That was yesterday. Today it's about how ugly you are.

I haven't been to Burlington since Bernie was mayor. I think I remember that place.

Are these shorts I'm wearing? Am I United Kingdomian or Amerikanisch? Am I a troll?

r91 is correct. Straight men won't be caught dead in a pair of short shorts. They are perceived as being feminine in America.

Proof of Tom Selleck's leanings, R107, or nah?

I believe they're just out of style and will be in again. Climate change is making it hot.

I hate people who try to tell me what to wear. That's my husband's job.

DL's Maiden Aunt Brigade is really out in full force on this thread. Thank god they're not in charge of what men should wear when it's ninety fucking degrees out or we'd all be sweating to death wearing shit like this....

But our Maiden Aunt Brigadeers live for the tsk, tsk, tsk, R99

It's a huge class insecurity thing that's part and parcel of the DL.

"I may be a salesman in the men's department at JC Penney, but at least I know not to wear shorts to the doctor's office"

The people who worry about what's "high class" and what's not ... are people who have to worry about what social class they are a part of. That's why they're so worried about creating and enforcing rules. Because if "people of good breeding" don't wear shorts to the doctor's office, no one can accuse them of being the opposite. (People of ill breeding?)

Whereas if you grew up in Darien, and went to Groton and Princeton, you don't really give AF what you wear to the doctor's office because it never dawns on you that anyone might see you as anything else based on your choice of doctor's office attire.

"But that IS what a gentleman should wear in summertime, R110. Not these low-class outfits they sport today! One could contract an STD wearing shorts!"

All we're asking is that you cover your ugly old man legs.

This doesn't look gay, does it?

[quote] it's how American's give the middle finger to those muslim countries that allow men to show skin and require women to wear sweaty head to toe potato sacks. We do the opposite.

Uh Gulf Arab men cover their arms and legs and hair as well. Most I know won't go outside wearing shorts or short sleeves.

"Not really. People such as [R95] and his admirers are just more evidence of the standards of good taste slipping away. Naturally, he managed to introduce Trump into his discourse, as if he has anything to do with the subject. Such intellectual heavyweights here. I'll bet you people wear pajamas to the airport."

You're delusional if you think your argument against wearing shorts to a doctor's office confers intellectual heft to your pathetic need to feel superior to others. It does mark you as someone who is fundamentally insecure. Insecurity is not the hallmark of intellectuals, no matter how much you want to convince yourself otherwise.

But I'm guessing this is the least of your problems.

Meanwhile, nothing you've said actually indicates good taste. It does say quite a bit about your need to employ shame in attempt to assert control over others. A control freak is merely that. Being a control freak doesn't make you the arbiter of good taste. It is however a strong indication of you being emotionally impaired in some serious way.

I hope this isn't true in your case, not because I give a shit about you. It's just that you come across as just another asshole spreading negativity. Just another troll pretending they're doing the world a favor instead of being a drain on society.

That attitude only makes you repulsive. Itdoes nothing to bolster your position that snobbery is important.

I totally agree, OP. They're ugly and ridiculous-looking. US basketball players now wear what look like skirts.

R117, Not only do bb players wear long, flowy shorts, but they also wear compression tights underneath them. Gone are the days when you could admire a player's muscular bare thighs.

Wow.

Shamed for showing skin. Shamed for not showing it.

This is mostly men talking, right?

Shorts and tights combo

R120, Dat is NOT da suck job!!!

I wished Ocean Pacific cords would make a comeback. They were wonderful to show off a great set of legs.

That's terrible, R120 and those shorts are so long and baggy they look like a skirt.

Gurl, NO!

Tom Selleck in short shorts was smoking. I love seeing a beautiful human being strolling around in all his/her glory. I think his appeal was universal and the shorts just enhanced it. JFK Jr. was another hot piece unafraid to show those beautiful, hairy man stems. I hope they make a comeback before I have to leave the planet.

I'll be the smiling granny on the bench in a handcrafted, custom caftan and huge silver, art deco earrings.

The chicken legs can continue to do as they please as long as they smile. Life is too short to get hung up on shorts.

Looking at OP's live webcam at 9:15 - not many shorts, but many girls walking along cradling their coffees.