Shorts Season

Shorts season is upon us, at least for men who live away from the sea in California. And that resurrects a dilemma for me. You see, on the one hand I think of shorts as children's clothes. I still have photos of myself as a shorts-clad child, and few things made me quite as happy as my first pair of trousers. On the other hand, even the lightest trousers are a burden on a 105 degree (f) day on the golf course or the deck of a boat.

Compounding my objection to shorts is how badly most of them are worn. Isn't it obvious that shorts-wearing men look stupid in white socks extending to the middle of the calf? Shorts are best paired with espadrilles, boat shoes or slip-on casuals worn without socks. Second best, excuseable only when you're going to be walking five miles with a bag on your back, are those women's golf socks that just reach the top of a golf shoe.

On days when I can get past my childhood memories and the need to wear women's socks, I'm confounded by how difficult it is to find acceptable shorts without commisioning a bespoke pair from a tailor (profligate as I am, thousand dollar khakis have always seemed a step too far). The best ones for me would be self-belted and high waisted, like the ones in the drawing, but try to find a pair. Bill's Khakis offered a version they called Ghurka shorts for a while. They were marred by an extraneous pocket on the left leg, but that no longer matters. Bill's tells me that their manufacturer won't be making any more of them (I didn't find any remaining inventory with a cursory web search either, though I did come across a linen version at a previously unknown-to-me site called J L Powell). Less elegant, but considerably easier to find, are knee length models in khaki, seersucker, white duck or madras meant to be worn with belts. New England reds are OK too.

So anyway, shorts season is upon us. Be careful out there.