The London Lounge

Gentlemen:

Shorts - Other than on a boat, at the coast, playing tennis, working out, or lounging around your house, do you wear shorts and if so, where and with what?

Trey

From 1 April to 31st October at the very least on any and every occasion not classified as business or demanding evening dress. A flexible and comfortable item in one's wardrobe. Cut offs especially.

DFR wrote:From 1 April to 31st October at the very least on any and every occasion not classified as business or demanding evening dress. A flexible and comfortable item in one's wardrobe. Cut offs especially.

I note the dates with some amusement: you must be made of strong stuff to wear shorts on April 1st in the UK! Whatever happened to the sage advice
Ne'er shed a clout 'til May be out? Not to mention the quote (was it Byron?) The English summer begins in the last week of June; to end in the first week of July. I know, I know, this is merely sweating smugness....
NJS

NJS, this year I think you have it about right. We had mild and mostly sunny weather the last half of June in London and I gather it's been nonstop rain ever since over much of the island.

In Philadelphia I wear shorts frequently (no longer cutoffs, usually cotton twill Bermudas or Ghurka-style, or linen walking shorts) during the summer when at home or for informal brunching or errands in my neighborhood (Mt. Airy / Chestnut Hill) on weekends. This is still a pretty golden-retriever-and-boat-shoes sort of place, so I fit right in, although I don't currently have any Madras plaid or seersucker shorts in the rotation. At home wearing shorts allows me to run the air conditioner less and lower my carbon footprint a bit.

I wear shorts when it's summer weather, which in Spain means june to september. In June and September I only wear them occasionally, in July and August, regularly (but not all the time). My shorts are always plain in classic colours (light and dark blue, orange, light grey, tan, light and dark green...), and are either slightly shorter than knee-length, knee-length, or just longer than knee-length. They sometimes have four pockets (two patch pockets with buttonned flaps) and sometimes only the regular pockets. In July and August, I wear them with short-sleeve polos and short or long sleeve shirts, and rarely with t-shirts. In June and September, I wear them also with long sleeve polos, or short-sleeve polos/shirts with a light sweater/cardigan. I wear loafers or sport shoes depending on what I'm doing, and nearly always with a panama or straw hat.