Videos and photos of Paul Mescal have flooded my TikTok feed all weekend. He and his extra-short shorts, which he wore to the Glastonbury Festival. The love affair of the Normal People actor (also known for All Of Us Strangers, the upcoming Gladiator II, and many other films) with short shorts has been going on for quite some time, and GQ has traced an extremely detailed timeline of it. If we identify Mescal as a trendsetter for short shorts, we then wonder how short shorts can be and if they can also be worn by ordinary people.
Visualizza questo post su Instagram
It’s hard not to think of a clear parallel with one of the strongest trends of this year (but also last year), that of boxer shorts – decidedly popular even in women’s fashion. The timeless reference for this trend remains, now as then, Nick Kamen in the Levi’s commercial, which we also mentioned here – while he undresses in a 1950s laundromat. In short, we have seen Paul Mescal wearing sporty shorts at Glastonbury and more elegant short shorts during Milan Fashion Week (impeccable as a Gucci Ambassador). Respectively, the actor paired the short shorts with adidas sneakers and loafers – in both cases wearing white socks.
The actor’s charm is undeniable and – along with this – his versatility in dressing. At this point, even Barbara Ellen in The Guardian wonders if ordinary male mortals (specifically English) are ready for this trend. In this article, Ellen opens an interesting discussion: if women are – often and willingly – under pressure regarding the swimsuit test, are men also ready? Her answer, according to the English journalist, is «probably not,» but if men are more indifferent, we can categorize this issue in the magical world of patriarchal social conditioning.
Gender issues aside, if you’re here for some styling advice regarding short shorts, you’re still in the right place. In general, if we’re talking about short shorts, we can recommend making a conscious choice, starting with comfort. TikTok recommends various lengths (always with a look shorter than the usual now-boring bermuda shorts) and colors. After all, you can have fun with color variants, high and low waist as we have also seen on the runway from Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Dsquared2 (where in the latter case, the shorts were really short).
