Jean shorts, or jorts, are flying off shelves.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Full disclosure: I have two pairs. Mine are the factory-made jorts, with hems. I've had them for years. I've gained some weight since I bought them. I wore a pair last week. They were clean, and I had to put on something.

Complete list of who can wear jean shorts:

1) Wrestlers

Jean shorts, or jorts, are flying off shelves. Here’s why the uniform of the barbecue dad is now seen as high fashion. https://on.wsj.com/3yY4NXG

Link to tweet

LIFE & ARTS | STYLE & FASHION | ON TREND

Jean Shorts—A Dad Style Staple—Are Suddenly in Fashion

From scrappy DIY versions to extravagantly expensive designer models, once-mockable jorts are a big summer trend for men. Here’s why.

By Jacob Gallagher
https://twitter.com/jacobwgallagher
[e-mail]
June 28, 2021 11:21 am ET

IN THE WORLD of men’s fashion, what was once mockable is now covetable. The polarizing fanny pack, traditionally worn by cheesy tourists, has been elevated to a men’s “It Bag” on the runways at Prada, Fendi and Gucci. Crocs, the risible shoes favored by chefs and families vacationing along the Jersey Shore, have morphed into a hot-ticket item thanks in part to collaborations with Balenciaga and Justin Bieber. And now, jorts—those frumpy jean shorts worn by beer-clutching dads behind the barbecue—have wormed their way into style.

“Jean shorts are definitely making a comeback for summer 2021,” said Janine Chilton-Faust, the global VP of men’s design at Levi’s, which offers jean shorts in a range of fits from slim to baggy. Currently, the youth-leaning retailer Asos sells over 200 styles of men’s jean shorts online for as low as $10. Store-bought jorts (as opposed to homemade ones) can be either cleanly hemmed or tattered and frayed in the style of traditional cutoffs. If splurging on the latter is in the cards, consider an $850 gray-black pair from French haute-house Saint Laurent or a $595 wan blue pair with appliqued skeleton bones running up the side from Japanese label Kapital. Act fast on those Kapitals though—they’re low in stock on e-tailer Mr Porter.

Handup Gloves, an outdoor gear company in Chattanooga, Tenn., sells $40-ish jorts that “fly off the shelves,” according to head of marketing Troy Stewart. It was nostalgia that compelled Handup to create jorts. Mr. Stewart and his coworkers fondly recalled wearing jorts all summer back in the 1980s and ’90s “to cruise around the neighborhood,” he said. Despite being an outdoor company, Handup builds its cotton-blend jorts more for leisure than performance. “It’s not a pair of Lululemon shorts,” said Mr. Stewart. (With that said, jorts are actually a surprisingly popular choice for athletic activities. If you search #jorts on Instagram, you’ll uncover a lot of he-man gym rats bench-pressing in tattered denim cut-offs.)

Nostalgia is also what pushed Aaron Levine back to jorts. “They harken back to a simpler time,” said the 44-year-old menswear designer who until recently worked at Abercrombie & Fitch . Jorts are “a bit of a ’70s situation, worn with a Faith No More T-shirt or a big polo,” he said. Mr. Levine did stress that his chosen homemade cutoffs are a bit longer now than they would’ve been in the ’70s when Daisy Duke-esque skimpiness prevailed—even for men.

Mr. Levine recently wore his fraying jorts to dinner at the Odeon in New York City, a see-and-be-seen restaurant that sells $35 lobster rolls and $16 cucumber martinis. Yet, Mr. Levine didn’t hear a disparaging word about his fraying cutoffs from the management or otherwise. Instead, his dinner mates just asked where they could get a pair.

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[Shermann]

1. Only wrestlers?

I reject that. They are a cost-effective way to get another year or two out of a pair of ripped pants. I've been rocking those for years.

[krispos42]

2. They mean cut-offs

That's what my family called them at least. Convert a worn-out pair of jeans into shorts, use them for playing in the summer. I still do this, actually, for working around the yard. But I don't wear them when I'm supposed to look nice.

I used to have regular denim shorts (factory made as shorts) but those are long gone. Hmm, maybe I could get new ones now.

[Diamond_Dog]

3. I will be glad

To see cargo shorts retired. Those baggy, below-the-knee garments with the 20 pockets and tabs and zippers that look like the wearer sleep in them for a week.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. I like cargo shorts.

My phone fits easily in one front cargo pocket, a notebook and my wallet in the other, with coins and housekeys going in the upper front pockets.

I find them exceedingly practical.

{edited}

I can wear them when I go out running errands on a bicycle. I can put them on over bike shorts. I have all my stuff, and I can go into stores without showing off all my stuff.

Thanks for your input.

[Diamond_Dog]

6. Yes I suppose they are practical.

My thin hubby puts them on and when he puts anything at all in his pockets they fall down on him constantly. Like the younger males a few years ago.

[ret5hd]

9. Uhhh...a smaller size?

[Diamond_Dog]

13. He is

5’9” and 125 lbs. he has a hard time finding any pants that fit. He’s always been thin. 🙂

[TexasBushwhacker]

14. Has he tried an XL in the Boys department?

Seriously, guys pants are guys pants. The ones in the Boys department would be cheaper too. I had a friend in college that normally wore a Juniors size 5, but she could wear a 16 from the Girls department too.

[Diamond_Dog]

17. Don't know how he feels about that

I raised 3 boys .... and they do seem to cut boys’ pants very slim fitting. Especially recently. I can always suggest it to him.

[TexasBushwhacker]

22. Well, a lot of boys clothes still come in regular and "husky"

[I_UndergroundPanther]

8. I like cargo shorts

Can carry all my stuff and not have to carry a satchel to hold stuff like my phone my notepad when it's too hot to wear my leather vest.

[underpants]

10. Sorry that's partly my fault since I anonymously set so many fashion trends

Last edited Sun Jul 18, 2021, 04:22 PM - Edit history (1)

I had a couple pair of BDU pants hemmed into shorts when I first got out of the Army and well American culture followed me again.

I also made a pair of golf shoes out of running shoes, soft spikes, a drill, and Kraft Glue out of necessity years ago. Now that’s all you see on the PGA tour.

[ret5hd]

15. Things I am now blaming on you:

1)tying a t-shirt in a knot off to one side
2)man buns
3)white socks with shorts (jorts?) and flip-flops
4)that “beer cap” thing with a can of beer on each side of the ball cap

Anyone care to add?

[underpants]

19. 😆

I wholly reject those items.

[ret5hd]

20. AND ALSO, lest I forget...

that speaking style where everything sounds like a question. That I am definitely blaming on you!

[underpants]

21. Iknowright?

[LakeArenal]

11. Mr Lake and every male Ex-pat in Costa Rica wears cargo shorts.

They are hard to find under 34 waist because Costa Rican men are small like Mr Lake.

[MuseRider]

4. I wear them

but only to work in the barn. So, some farmers can wear them too. They do not have to look good to the horses and goats.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

7. I have two.pairs of jorts

From when my jeans got old.

They're called jorts now?
I see them as just shorts.

Cut my old jeans off slightly above the knee.

Makes an old pair of ripped at the knee or stained jeans still wearable.

Weird how fashion goes,been wearing jorts for years,since I was a kid.
I was fashionable before it became fashionable,heh story of my life.

[Tikki]

12. I have been purchasing 4" inseam men's denim shorts

for my husband from work-wear online stores in Australia for years from Brands like KingGee and Hard Yakka.
These shorts are tailored to be that short and fit him correctly.

My awesome husband is shorter than average and does not feel comfortable in the longer denim shorts.

Yes, I make cut-offs sometimes from jeans he wears out ..but those are just to knock around in.



Tikki

[Midnight Writer]

16. I'm wearing jean shorts right now. Comfortable and thick enough to protect my lap from cat claws.

If they get dirty, throw'em in the wash. They wear and wear.

[TexLaProgressive]

18. If they become a fashion thing

Then the price will rise and the quality will diminish. In the late 70s my preferred work shirts were long sleeve chambray in light blue. Then they became a fashion and I couldn't afford them and the quality sucked. Then they fell out of fashion and I couldn't buy them at any price.

I see L.L.Bean has them for $60.00 a pop, too rich for me.

[TexasBushwhacker]

23. Kevin Smith has worn them for years

He wore them with hockey jerseys when he was fat, not that he's lost weight, he wears them with a t-shirt and jacket.



I thought they were always popular with skater dudes.

[Rhiannon12866]

24. Those aren't shorts, they go below the knee

At least back in the day those were known as "pedal pushers" or "clam diggers."